Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Ending Explained

The Stephen King prequel film Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is now streaming on Paramount+, a project that has the difficult task of telling an unsettling story set within the iconic world of the original 1983 book that amplifies the effectiveness of that story without impacting the overall canon of that narrative. Not only does the new film feature younger versions of familiar characters, but it also goes back hundreds of years into the town of Ludlow, Maine’s history, with its ending offering up important thematic elements that would help set the stage of how everything unfolded in that original storyline.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

In the original novel, the young Gage Creed is hit by a car and, knowing the supernatural nature of the nearby burial grounds, Gage is buried by his father Louis in a place that results in him coming back from the dead. Gage isn’t the only character who has been revived in these grounds, as Jud Crandall experienced something similar with his friend Timmy Baterman. It’s the story of Timmy that ignites the events of Bloodlines.

In the original book, Timmy had been drafted for World War II, but in Bloodlines, the timeline has been shifted so he is instead drafted into the Vietnam War, where he was killed. The opening scenes of the movie show his father Bill (David Duchovny) burying Timmy in the cursed grounds, resulting in Timmy’s (Jack Mulhern) resurrection. Jud (Jackson White) had a falling out with Timmy prior, and while audiences know Timmy’s creepy behavior — and penchant for flesh — is due to his death and rebirth, Jud assumes Timmy’s attitude is based on the psychological impact of the Vietnam War.

As bizarre events begin to unfold around the town, Jud and another former friend Manny (Forrest Goodluck) dig into the town’s records to discover that, dating back to the first settlers entering the Maine lands, the ground was deemed “sour” and people would come back to life when buried in certain areas. Namely, a diary kept by Jud’s father Dan (Henry Thomas) offers insight and instructions on watching over the land for future generations. 

Despite Dan and Bill both being killed in the film’s deadly finale, Jud and Manny are able to kill Timmy and other figures who have been brought back to life, with Manny opting to abandon Ludlow in the wake of his sister’s death, rebirth, and subsequent death. While Jud confirmed early on in the picture that he also wanted to leave Ludlow with his girlfriend to join the Peace Corps, his dad’s death and the cursed nature of Ludlow instead see him taking on a guardianship of the area to prevent anyone else from being brought back to life. This explains how he both lived near the pet “sematary” in the original story (and movie adaptations) and how he could explain to Louis Creed the possible dangers of bringing back his dead child.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is now streaming on Paramount+.

What did you think of the movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!