Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Until Dawn!

With the movie ending on a very haunting, and revealing, sH๏τ, director David F. Sandberg has offered some clarification on Until Dawn‘s ending. Serving as an adaptation of Supermᴀssive Games’ horror тιтle of the same name, the movie follows a group of friends, led by Ella Rubin’s Clover, as they search for her missing sister, only to become trapped in a time loop in which they’re killed every night by different threats. Having discovered the source of their predicament, the Until Dawn movie’s ending does see the group escaping, albeit one major threat still remaining.

In honor of the movie’s release, Dexerto interviewed Sandberg to discuss Until Dawn. When asked about the movie’s ending scene, in which Peter Stormare’s Dr. Hill is revealed to still be alive and monitoring a snowy cabin, the director confirmed “it’s an Easter egg” for the game’s setting, though when discussing how that ties the movie to the game’s timeline, he remained a little more in the middle, feeling “it can be left open” until a sequel is ordered by the studio. Check out Sandberg’s explanation below:

It’s an interesting question. I mean, it’s an Easter egg, sort of… it’s a little tricky because while we were shooting it, we actually sort of said it takes place after the game, but what we’re doing at the end implies that it could take place before the game. To be honest, it’s not something I’ve sort of said completely… I think it can be left open, at least until they want to do a sequel, and we have to figure out exactly what that is. To me, whenever I make a movie, I just focus on making the best that movie. I would say the same with Shazam, where we had a post-credits scene with Mr. Mind and set up a thing, and then the sequel didn’t really do anything with that. But we could have… you have that option.

What Sandberg’s Comments Mean For Until Dawn’s Ending

The Movie Does Seemingly Establish Its Timeline

With the movie featuring a very different plot from its source material, there were a lot of questions as to how Until Dawn connected to the game, with the sole apparent tie being Peter Stormare’s Hill, who Sandberg confirmed prior to release was the same as Dr. Hill, albeit with some kind of twist. The movie would confirm this as, after being introduced as a local gas station attendant, it was revealed Stormare’s Hill was conducting experiments on those who get trapped in the time loop, aiming to turn them into Wendigos while studying the concept of horror.

Unlike the game, in which he did have a sense of awareness of the psychological influence the situation was having on players, Hill is actually a villain in the Until Dawn movie, with his apparent death from the exploding water allowing Clover and her friends to escape. Just prior to his death, though, a patient file was seen for Rami Malek’s Josh from the video game, seemingly confirming it to be a sequel to the game, as Sandberg indicated prior to the film’s release.

That being said, the director’s comments that the snowy cabin seen in Until Dawn‘s ending may be more than an Easter egg proves interesting when reflecting on the franchise’s wider timeline. The game saw the cabin explode as players blew it up to kill the Wendigos, which makes it unlikely the one seen in the film is the same. However, considering the similar layout and Hill’s continued interest in it, a sequel to the film and game could reveal a new property was built in its stead.

Our Take On Until Dawn’s Ending

A Sequel Should Move To A Different Location

While the movie will still need to turn a profit before anything moves forward, I can’t deny a lot of the worldbuilding seen in Until Dawn made me excited to see what a sequel could do. That being said, given the already tricky nature of the timeline tying the movie and game together, I think it would be better if a follow-up shifts to a completely different location from the cabin teased at the end of the film, but still explicitly confirm it takes place after both the movie and game.

The expansion of Dr. Hill’s backstory and motivations makes for an ominous revisit of the source material, and his teased survival would make his role make far more sense in the game. However, after Until Dawn‘s ending, it’s also really important that the sequel doesn’t get too caught up in revealing more about him, as the mystery about idenтιтy is part of the fun of the character.

Source: Dexerto