The Ending Of Wounds Explained
The Hulu Original "Wounds" is the kind of horror film whose unsettling images stay with the viewer long after they're finished watching it. These include a photo of bloody teeth, a man's open wound growing an eye, and an infestation of cockroaches no exterminator could ever deal with. (This is not a fun movie if you can't handle insects.) Based on Nathan Ballingrud's novella "The Visible Filth," "Wounds" belongs to the cosmic horror tradition of flawed characters dealing with evil beings they can't possibly comprehend.
In this case, New Orleans bartender Will (Armie Hammer) begins the story when he picks up a phone left behind in the bar by some college kids. He and his girlfriend Carrie (Dakota Johnson) then find disturbing images and texts on the device. Both Will and Carrie begin to hallucinate, and eventually Will is told by the enigmatic student Garrett (Alexander Biglane) that he has been "chosen." But chosen for what, exactly?
In the end, it's easy to get lost in the twisting plot of "Wounds." Here's a look at the occult ritual that figures heavily into the story, why Will gets selected to be a part of it, and just what happens in the movie's ending.
A ritual brings a monster into our world
"Wounds" takes place shortly after some college students take part in a spell to summon ... something. The name of the being is never revealed, but the creature appears to be extremely powerful. A transformed Garrett, his head pulsating, later tells Will, "We opened a portal. Something came and possessed us." The being is only represented on the screen by a large, fleshy eye, one which Will sees in visions and later inside of Eric's cheek.
This is partly explained by Carrie's research, as she spots a book in the phone's pictures, "The Translation of Wounds," which suggests that higher beings can enter our world through injuries and wounds. When customer Eric (Brad William Henke) gets into a fight while the students are present, his cut from a beer bottle automatically makes him a new host for this being. It's the kind of dark magic that's so strong even learning about the portals briefly puts Carrie into a catatonic state.
Eric isn't enough for the creature, though, and Garrett tells Will that he is, in fact, "the perfect vessel for more."
The shallow Will discovers his purpose
Over the course of the movie, the audience discovers that Will dropped out of school years ago, and is content to spend his days bartending and drinking heavily with the clientele. He also nurses a crush on his friend Alicia (Zazie Beetz), even though they're both in relationships with other people, and is resentful and suspicious of girlfriend Carrie for pursuing her degree. Will's main issue is that unlike Carrie or Alicia, he doesn't really have any greater ambitions in life, and he doesn't want to change, either. "You're just a body!" Carrie prophetically tells him when they break up.
No wonder that the being decides Will would be an excellent host. By the end of the movie, Will, having alienated everyone with selfish and aggressive behavior, is jobless, single, and desperate for meaning. He's lured to Eric's house by the students, and upon seeing the creature's eye inside Eric's cheek injury, he decides to become the thing's next vessel.
"Fix me. Make me whole," Will says as he opens his mouth wide to take in the entity that's leaving a screaming Eric. Will hopes that the monster will give him a purpose, and maybe in a horrific way, that's exactly what he is getting.