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Floria Sigismondi's The Turning doesn't really have an ending. It just stops, leaving viewers to puzzle over the surreal images that close out the film. If you, like everyone else, were baffled by the horror flick's bizarre ending, we're here to help.
The Turning offers two explanations for the spooky events at Bly Manor. Either Bly is haunted by the ghosts of its late stablemaster, Quint, and Flora's former governess, Miss Jessel, or Kate has gone completely crazy.
In a sense, the film has it both ways. After Kate receives a package full of paintings from her mother, who's mentally ill, The Turning quickly devolves into a frantic chase through a haunted house. In this version, everything has a clear and obvious answer. Quint assaulted Miss Jessel, then killed her when she tried to flee. Bly Manor's caretaker, Mrs. Grose, killed Quint a few weeks later. Quint and Miss Jessel's spirits now haunt the manor, and when the ghost of Quint turns violent, Kate loads the kids into the car and flees. Simple, right?
Here's the twist: Once Kate escapes Bly, the film cuts back to the scene in which she's looking at her mother's paintings. It ends differently. This time, instead of running, Kate confronts the children, clearly insane. Miles taunts Kate, and then Kate has a vision of her mother painting. As Mom lifts her head to Kate, Kate screams. Cue credits.
The way the film is structured implies that the second ending is the "real" one. At the end of the movie, Kate is insane. It's not clear if the first ending was a prophetic vision or crazy person's fantasy, and we don't know if Bly is actually haunted. It doesn't matter. Either way, Kate has lost her mind.
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A tale of two endings | 0:14
Going back to the source | 1:33
Following in Henry James' footsteps | 2:29
Lingering questions | 3:57