Netflix's 'Hypnotic' Is Too Enticing to Look Away From — What About the Ending? (SPOILERS)
By Anna GarrisonOct. 28 2021, Published 6:09 p.m. ET
Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the Netflix thriller Hypnotic.
Lately, it feels like every horror and thriller movie trope on Netflix has been done, from vampires to ghosts to dystopian children's games. Thankfully, Netflix's latest thriller film, Hypnotic, is here to break the mold and offer a different take on a classic tale of possession and paranoia.
Fans of the flick are enjoying what they're watching but have more than a few questions about the end of the movie. Here's everything we know about the Hypnotic ending, explained.
Here's the 'Hypnotic' ending, explained.
Hypnotic stars Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) as Jenn, an anxious and newly-single young woman. To alleviate her stress, Jenn seeks out psychotherapist Dr. Collin Meade (Jason O'Mara), recommended to her by friend Gina (Lucie Guest) after they meet at a party.
Dr. Meade suggests she try hypnotherapy, and after some resistance, Jenn agrees. She wakes up, and an hour has gone by, but she remembers nothing and feels better. Jenn begins attending weekly hypnotherapy sessions. After one of her weekly sessions, she is encouraged to get dinner with her ex-fiancé Brian (Jaime M. Callica). Before dinner, she gets a call from an unknown number and blacks out. Jenn discovers Brian unconscious in the bathroom, having consumed the one food he's allergic to — sesame.
When Jenn is concerned that her blackouts are the cause of Brian's illness, she attempts to stop hypnotherapy, to which Dr. Meade strongly objects. Suspicious, she finds a receipt confirming she purchased sesame oil and begins looking into Dr. Meade's practice. Jenn finds a pattern of women who have died after his treatment and brings the information to her friend Gina and Detective Rollins (Dulé Hill).
Jenn attempts to outfox Dr. Meade by recording him before she goes under, but he coaxes the information out of her while she is in a suggestive state. Jenn attempts to alert Gina to Dr. Meade's misdeeds, but he has already gotten to her. Detective Rollins attempts to investigate Meade and is attacked by another patient of his, ending up in the hospital. Jenn visits Rollins and switches to a new hypnotherapist, Dr. Stella Graham (Tanja Dixon-Warren).
Through a vision from Dr. Meade, Jenn eventually learns he is the son of Xavier Sullivan, who worked on Project MK Ultra, a CIA mind control program from the 1950s and '60s. Jenn decides to visit the Sullivan home right as the fingerprints Rollins captured before he was attacked appear to belong to someone named Julian Sullivan, confirming the father-son theory.
Detective Rollins attempts to rescue Jenn before it's too late, but Jenn has been kidnapped in the Sullivan home and dressed up to resemble Meade's deceased wife. Jenn can only watch as Meade and Rollins battle it out but eventually overcomes her hypnotic suggestion to remain sitting and shoots someone. When she wakes, she realizes she shot Rollins instead of Meade.
Thankfully, Rollins is not in critical condition, and Jenn comes to her senses after being released by a failsafe phrase planted by Dr. Graham: "My love." She hits Meade with a plate and then shoots him. The end of the film reveals a week later that Brian is still in recovery from his poisoning, but Rollins has been promoted.
Hypnotic is now streaming on Netflix.
