Upamanyu Biswas
After the loss of Lucas and Elise in Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg’s horror film ‘Tarot,‘ Haley, Grant, Paige, Madeline, and Paxton seek the help of an occult expert named Alma Astrom to determine whether the deaths of their friends have anything to do with the supernatural. In Astrom’s dim cottage, the group learns that their tarot readings in the mansion in the Catskills unleashed a powerful curse that traces back to an Astrologer during the 18th century whose spirit lives on through her antique cards. Consequently, the group heads to the mansion to destroy the cards, a perilous decision that becomes pivotal to the film’s conclusion and each character’s fate! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Astrologer and Haley Confront Each Other
‘Tarot’ ends with Haley performing a reading on the Astrologer using her cards in the mansion in the Catskills. After Grant is dragged away by The Devil and Paige is killed by The Magician, Haley is the only one capable of saving them by destroying the cards. Unfortunately, the cards are impervious to burning or any other form of ruination, owing to the powerful curse binding them to the Astrologer’s spirit. With time ticking away and Grant’s life hanging by a thread, Haley uses her knowledge of divination and horoscopes to perform a reading of the Astrologer’s card. She draws the card of The Death for the haunted spirit, the same card the university student drew for herself, which proves to be a killing blow for the latter, who is finally freed from the pain of losing her child and vanquished from her tortured existence.
The act of exorcising the Astrologer breaks her connection to the tarot cards, which burn to a crisp the moment the spirit of their owner leaves them. Haley manages to do this by tapping into her own unresolved trauma related to the loss of her mother. The death of her loved one incited Haley to pick up the art of reading horoscopes and diving into people’s futures through tarot cards. When drawing the Astrologer’s cards, Haley notices a connection between her own pain and the pain harbored by the spirit, who has become a corrupted soul owing to her daughter’s murder. Thus, when the card of The Death, a symbol of a new beginning or the death of something, surfaces in the Astrologer’s reading, it alludes to a kindred bond between the two characters.
In Haley’s case, she has managed to move past her mother’s death. However, for the Astrologer, the haunted spirit has remained attached to her tragedy. She is unwilling to heal herself and inflicts pain on others whenever they use her cards for divination. Consequently, when The Death’s card surfaces in her reading, it signifies not a new beginning but the death of whatever binds her to the tarot cards. Because of her inability to move past the grief of losing her child, she has turned into a tormented spirit. Haley’s divination in the film’s final moments ruptures the Astrologer’s connection to the mortal world, and she perishes.
The Curse Ceases With the Tarot Cards’ Destruction
The death of the Astrologer signifies not only the end of the spirit haunting Haley and her friends but also the incineration of the tarot cards. Since the cards have been the vessel for the powerful curse fueled by the Astrologer, their annihilation means that it has finally been lifted and no further threat exists. While walking out of the mansion, Haley and Grant are stunned to discover that even Paxton survived his elevator close call with The Fool. As they drive away, Haley denounces the notion of fate, looking back at the disturbing ways in which the deaths of her friends were forewarned through the tarot cards. The curse’s destruction conveys a deeper message within the narrative: a tug-of-war between destiny and free will.
Haley started doing tarot readings to gain insight into her mother’s uncertain future while the latter was hospitalized. However, during that time, no matter the divination, the answer always predicted her mother’s death, and there was nothing she could do to change it. At the center of the film’s narrative lies this obsession with knowing the future. The curse of the tarot cards was born from this unhealthy fixation on certainty. Therefore, the curse finally lifting at the end of the film symbolizes how the surviving characters have moved past their obstacles and learned to embrace an uncertain future. Fortunately, they can do so without fearing the return of the Astrologer or her cursed tarot cards.
