What The Ending of ‘It Comes At Night’ Means

So I posted my review of ‘It Comes At Night’ a few days ago, and I’ve noticed a ton of people wondering what the hell the ending means. I figured that meant that it was time for me to share my completely unimportant opinion of this movies ending with the world. Obviously, spoilers ahead. 

So. This movie ends where the main family kills the new family of Will, Kim and Andrew because they are suspicious that Andrew has contracted the “disease/virus?”. We then see through Travis’s eyes what seems to be him dying from the disease, and then his parents sitting at the dinner table with the telltale blank look in their eyes. Then the screen goes to black. 

When that final scene ended, I was LIVID. How could they build up this whole mystery only to leave us with so many questions? Who killed the dog? How did it get back into the house? Did Travis give the virus to Andrew or vice versa? What exactly is this virus? Really the list kind of goes on and a lot of people get frustrated that none of these questions are answered. I was at first until I really started to figure out the answers for myself. 

I believe that Travis is sick for most of the movie.  He is having nightmares about his grandpa who also died from the disease and is also acting strangely throughout. This is why I believe that he gave the virus to his dog, and also let the dog in from being outside. It’s stated that the only people with a key to the door are Travis’s parents, but I think that Travis sleepwalked to the door and unlocked it for his dog. It would make sense that the dog got sick too, since Travis spends the most time with it. I also think that sleepwalking is actually a full blown symptom that both families are aware of, as the fact that Andrew sleepwalked into the grandpa’s was the alarm to the families that something was wrong. As far as the bleak ending with everybody basically dying, as much as that might not be pleasing to audiences, that’s really the most realistic. Gas masks can really only keep so much out if this virus spreads so quickly and easily. It really just drives home the futility of everyone’s situation in this world of few known survivors. 

I will fully admit that there are some things that I still can’t dream up answers to, like what the dog was barking at in the woods or who those guys were in the woods and why they shot at the car, but I don’t feel like at this moment those answers are vital. I think that this movie really opens its self up to creative minds, and I would love to know how anyone else interpreted this movie.