Outside (2024) Ending Explained – What happens to Francis at the end?

Plot Summary

Netflix’s Outside is a Filipino psychological horror film set during a zombie apocalypse, where a family of four—Francis, Iris, and their children, Josh and Lucas—move from the city to a rural countryside to survive. Despite rumors of a safe camp, Francis insists on staying at the farm where he grew up until it’s too late.

Why does Josh run away?

After arriving at the farm, Francis becomes increasingly authoritarian, demanding that the family stays at the farm. In a brief scene where Josh and Lucas are talking, it becomes clear that Francis is particularly harsh with Josh. Later in the film, it’s revealed that Josh is not Francis’ biological son. Feeling more suffocated by Francis’ paranoia about staying indoors in a fortified house, Josh decides to leave.

A soldier comes to the family for help and reveals that the camp is about an hour and a half away from their location. Surprisingly, he also mentions that there are almost no infected in the area between the house and the camp. Weighing his odds, Josh tells Iris about his plan to leave for the camp and follows through the next morning.

Why did Francis lock up Iris and Lucas?

As Francis becomes more and more paranoid about controlling his family, insisting they stay inside the house and pretending everything is fine, he loses trust in the others after realizing that Josh has left. After seeing the soldier eating, Francis bashes him in the head with a hammer, then locks Iris and Lucas in the basement, where Francis’ abusive father used to imprison him.

What happens to Francis at the end?

Unable to escape, Iris and Lucas devise a plan. Lucas screams, and assuming something terrible has happened to him, Francis lowers his guard and kneels beside him in the basement. Iris strikes Francis from behind, and they manage to lock him in the basement before escaping.

Unfortunately, as they go outside, they encounter a zombie that chases them back into the house. Iris calls out to Francis while fighting off the infected, but it’s too late as the zombie bites Lucas. Francis arrives and kills the zombie, but the damage is done.

Iris, being a nurse, injects Lucas with some first aid she had on hand, then amputates his infected arm. She tells Francis that Lucas needs medical attention, so Francis heads to the bridge to retrieve the car. There, he encounters Josh. Due to the darkness, Josh mistakes Francis for a zombie and shoots him, killing him. As Francis dies, it’s revealed that despite everything, he considered Josh to be his son too.

What happens to Lucas, Josh, and Iris?

After accidentally killing Francis, Josh returns to the house and drives back with the car. The film ends here, but it can be assumed that the trio eventually reaches the camp and survives the outbreak.


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