Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Totally Killer’ is a perfect Halloween watch, with its mix of sci-fi with slasher horror and comedy. A combination such as this is generally not easy to pull off, and while ‘Totally Killer’ stumbles sometimes, it is, overall, a very fun watch. It plays with the elements that could have hindered its storytelling and brings a fresh and fun take to the film, especially the part set in the 80s. With so much going on in the movie, there are several things that a viewer might miss if they’re not paying attention. Here, we take a look at everything that happens in the end and what it means for the protagonist. SPOILERS AHEAD
Totally Killer Plot Synopsis
16-year-old Jamie lives in a town where three 16-year-old girls were killed by a serial killer 35 years ago. These were the only brutal killings in town and have become a local legend because the killer was never caught. Her mother, Pam, is worried about her, which irritates Jamie because she thinks Pam is blowing things out of proportion. However, on Halloween, the Sweet 16 killer returns and kills Pam. He also targets Jamie, and while running away from him, she gets into a time machine that takes her back to the day of the first killing. This is Jamie’s chance to catch the killer and stop him from killing the three girls and her mother in the future.
Totally Killer Ending: Who is the Sweet 16 Killer?
In 1987, Jamie gets to know more about the three girls— Tiffany, Heather, and Marisa, who were killed in the original timeline. She also discovers that her mother, Pam, was close with the girls, which is why perhaps she came on the radar of the killer. Jamie figures that someone must have a grudge against the four girls, collectively referred to as the Mollys, which is why the killer didn’t go after anyone else.
It’s clear that the Mollys are the mean girls of the school. They are known to be rude and insensitive and don’t care if they are hurting other people’s feelings. One of the girls that they hurt through their words was Trish. The Mollys made fun of her weight and called her Fat Trish, who later died in a car accident. It isn’t until much later that Jamie discovers that the Mollys, except Pam, got Trish drunk on the night she died.
There were rumors about Trish having an affair with the coach and sleeping with him. The Mollys wanted to confirm it, so they got her drunk, following which she confessed to everything. When they made fun of her, she called her boyfriend and then drove away. No one stopped her, even when they knew Trish was too drunk to drive. This led her to crash the car, and she died the same night. No one knew about this except the three Mollys and Trish’s boyfriend, and he’s the one who exacts revenge by killing them.
Trish’s boyfriend was Doug Summers, who is the school’s principal in the future. Very few people knew that he and Trish were dating each other, which is why perhaps he stayed out of the radar. His beef was only with Tiffany, Heather, and Marisa, who had bullied Trish and were responsible for her death. So, he killed them to avenge his girlfriend’s death. Pam was not involved in this incident, which is why he didn’t kill her.
Who Killed Jamie’s Mom?
When Doug’s identity is revealed, his motive comes to light, too. It makes sense why he’d want to kill Tiffany, Heather, and Marisa, but why would he go after Pam if she had nothing to do with Trish’s death? Why would he leave the note for her, saying he’ll come for her someday? Why would he wait 35 years to do that? The truth is he didn’t kill Pam. Doug’s killing spree ended 35 years ago. He never meant to kill Pam, and he didn’t leave any note in her locker in an attempt to terrorize her. It was Chris, the true crime podcaster who also served as a tourist guide who walked people through the crimes committed by the Sweet 16 Killer.
Chris’ father was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and Chris wanted to be just like him. However, he didn’t have the talent or the charisma to be that kind of reporter, which is why he is still stuck in Vernon, obsessed with a 35-year-old case. The problem was that no one cared about it anymore. The Sweet 16 killer never returned, and because there were no clues to catch him, he would probably stay in the shadows forever. The only other person still interested in catching him was Pam, who wanted to know what happened to her friends.
When nothing worked out for Chris, he decided that the only way to make his podcast and investigation relevant again was to bring the killer back. He didn’t know who it was, so he became it. When it came to the victims, he figured that Pam should be the one to die. Her friends were killed 35 years ago, and if she dies, it will link to the previous case, creating an exciting narrative for Chris to report on. He faked the note, claiming the killer dropped into Pam’s locker following his last killing to create another link.
While Jamie is in the past trying to solve the case, her friend, Amelia, is trying to fix the machine to get her back. When Chris finds out about it, he stays in touch with Amelia. When the machine is fixed, he uses it to travel in the past, possibly to find out the killer’s real identity. When Doug is killed and Marisa is still alive, Chris finishes the job, confirming Jamie’s theory that there were two killers.
With the three girls dead and the day about to end, Lauren tells Jamie to use the time machine and return to the past; otherwise, she’ll be stuck there forever. As she runs towards the machine, Chris follows her. They get into the machine, where he tries to kill her, but in the end, she manages to overpower him and kills him.
Does Jamie Save Her Mom? Does She Change the Future?
When Jamie lands in the future, she realizes that things have changed because of her actions in the past. Thankfully, her parents, who got together years before they were supposed to in the original timeline, are still together. Pam is also in touch with her mother, with whom she had a fraught relationship in the original timeline. The only catch, perhaps, is that Jamie has an older brother now.
In the original timeline, Pam and Blake knew each other in school but didn’t get together until after they’d finished college. Blake believed it was for the better because they might have broken up if they got together in school. When Jamie goes to 1987, she tells Pam that she and Blake will end up together, but realizes that this is a mistake when Pam actively chases Blake. This tweaks the timeline, but fortunately, Blake was wrong. He and Pam stick together, unlike what he thought might have happened.
Because they got together in school, Pam gets pregnant soon after and gives birth to a boy whom they name Jamie. Years later, they have a daughter, who was the girl Jamie in the original timeline, but in this timeline, they name her Colette. Jamie’s actions affected the past, and it’s lucky that her mother doesn’t remember the face of the girl who was in their school for the brief period when the killings happened. Lauren and Amelia, however, remember everything, and Lauren catches Jamie up on everything that has changed in the new timeline.
The most significant change is Chris’s fate in the new timeline. While returning from 1987, Jamie had killed the older Chris, who had killed her mom. However, the older Chris also killed his father in 1987 while posing as the Sweet 16 killer. The older Chris hated his father and lamented that he could never live up to his father’s legacy. He was tired of trying to prove himself and always staying in his father’s Pulitzer-winning shadow. So, when he’s in the past, he jumps on the opportunity to vent his frustrations and kills his father while the latter is on live TV.
For the younger Chris, the future is a clean slate. He hasn’t yet developed the despise his older version has for their father. When his father is killed on live TV, he is deeply traumatized. This leads him on a different journey. In the original timeline, he became an investigative journalist, but in the new timeline, he loses his father too early and turns towards spirituality to deal with his grief. The last Lauren heard of him, he was living in a monastery in India. In the new timeline, he has no reason to go after Pam, which means she is safe. Still, Lauren says she keeps tabs on him, just in case.
Read More: Best Classic Halloween Movies
