The following contains spoilers for Locked, now playing in theatersLocked‘s ending is a surprisingly upbeat moment of personal growth for Bill Skarsgård’s Eddie following a pretty bleak storyline. Locked focuses on Eddie, a street-level criminal who has been taking his family for granted. While trying to scrounge up enough money to get his van fixed, Eddie ends up locked inside a luxury car he intended to rob. This car turns out to be an advanced model remotely-controlled by the vicious William, who seeks to take out his anger at the world on Eddie. An adaptation of the Argentian film 4×4, Locked is largely kept inside the car with Eddie.
As the film progresses, more is revealed about William and why he wants to lash out at the world, eventually explaining why he’s trapped Eddie in his car. It all builds to a darkly satisfying conclusion, with Eddie finally getting the better of William at a crucial junction in the plot. This plays into the joint themes of the film, which are highlighted by the growth and eventual fate of both Eddie and William. Here’s what happens in the ending of Locked and how it reinforces the themes of the film.
Why William Is Torturing Eddie In Locked, Explained
Eddie Was In The Wrong Place At The Wong Time
Eddie is the victim of bad timing in Locked, as he’s the unlucky victim who falls into William’s trap. As Eddie (and the audience) slowly learn over the course of Locked, William is a wealthy doctor who lives a life of luxury compared to the gritty reality that Eddie finds himself in. William eventually reveals that he had a daughter who was killed during a mugging. Developing a deep hatred for criminals and dying from a terminal illness, William arranged for his remote-controlled car to be left unlocked in a public parking lot, hopefully luring in someone he could torture.
His intention was to torment whoever ended up in the car, taking out his vengeance against the system on one poor unfortunate criminal. This ended up being Eddie, whose desperate search for any cash results in him breaking into the car and get promptly locked in. William’s supremacist personality and judgment of those “beneath” him becomes more evident during his conversations with Eddie. It’s more unsettling than if William was targeting Eddie for a specific reason, as it gives an unpredictable and dangerous edge to William’s brutal methods.
How Eddie Escapes William’s Car In Locked
Eddie Uses His One Opening To Turn The Tables Against William
Despite all of his efforts, Eddie never finds a way out of William’s car on his own. Instead, he has to wait for the ideal time to surprise William, giving him a very small window to escape. All of Eddie’s efforts to find a weakness in the car itself fails, leading William to move forward with the final part of the plan — taking Eddie into the woods to dispose of him. While the security measures on the car means Eddie can never find a way out on his own, he does locate one advantage: the power function for the car.
It’s a clever way for the film to give William his comeuppance, his own confidence in his advantage leading to his fall.
Distracting William, Eddie is able to activate the switch just as William is about to turn on a winding mountain road. All the advanced technology in the world can’t save William’s car from being seriously damaged in the ensuing crash, a surprisingly but effectively grounded way for Eddie to get the better of William. The bullet-proof glᴀss even ends up being William’s undoing, as his gunsH๏τ in the crash ricochets until it fatally hits him. It’s a clever way for the film to give William his comeuppance, his own confidence in his advantage leading to his fall.
What Happens To Eddie After He Escapes William In Locked
Eddie Earns His Happy Ending
The climax of Locked sees Bill Skarsgård’s Eddie barely manage to escape the flaming wreckage of William’s car, leaving the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ villain to burn. Eddie has spent all of Locked reflecting on his failures as a father to his daughter Sarah, something his family has repeatedly called him out on before he’s trapped in William’s car. William also frequently belittles Eddie’s abilities as a parent. The film makes this theme particularly clear when William uses his auto-control over the car to almost run over Sarah.
Eddie’s big growth in the film is to stop taking his responsibilities as a parent for granted, selling his van and purchasing a bike for Sarah as a sign that he’s willing to be present in her life. This gives the ending of Locked an uplifting aspect that contrasts against the otherwise bleak tone of the film. Locked is a morality lesson for Eddie, forcing him to confront what he’s willing to do to be with his family. While Eddie’s relationship with his daughter seems to be reaffirmed, it’s unknown how things will be between Eddie and Sarah’s mother.
Who Else Does William Kill In Locked?
William Does Earn Two Kills In The Film
While Eddie is able to escape William’s grasp and survive the events of Locked, William has two other targets who aren’t so lucky. The unnamed victims are a pair of street-level criminals who Eddie encounters while William is remotely driving the car. Finding the pair in the middle of an attack on another citizen, William uses the car to run them down. While the first one is run over quickly and ingloriously dispatched by the car, the second criminal is almost able to escape William.
William only formally appears in Locked in the final stretch of the film, with Anthony Hopkins’ performance in the film largely a voice-over role.
Despite Eddie’s pleas, William uses the car to gruesomely pin the criminal to a fence and crush him. It’s a brutal moment that underscores the true danger posed by William. The fact that William frequently quotes the Bible or cites his experience as a doctor while torturing and killing people “beneath him” proves this isn’t a man that Eddie can reason with. Even as his threats gradually turn into pleas for mercy, William is established as a genuine threat. It makes the otherwise shifty Eddie a more relatable character for the audience and elevates the threat posed by William.
The True Meaning Of Locked’s Ending
Eddie And William Both Have Their Own Thematic Arcs In Locked
Locked is ultimately about two themes, fitting one each into Eddie and William’s story. For Eddie, the core of his arc is learning to accept responsibility for his actions. Finally in a situation he can’t talk his way out of, Eddie initially struggles to do anything. However, he’s able to endure pain for the sake of seeing his daughter again, finding a way to turn the tables on William but showing forethought and patience in using it. Eddie is rewarded for his personal growth and actualization of potential, escaping William and reuniting with Sarah in Locked‘s emotional final moments.
On the other hand, William is a tragic monster in the narrative. His sympathetic anger at the world over his daughter’s death has morphed into something vile. The street-level perspective of Locked is bleak, with Eddie voicing his belief that the lower class is stepped on and ignored by the upper class, an accusation William brushes off and embraces for the sake of his own power fantasy. William is a dark mirror to a society that sees others as vermin, making his fate in Locked a powerful reminder that the hatred fueling that fury has nothing but destructive ends.
