Imagine surviving a nightmare that claws at your soul, only to realize the terror might never truly end— that's the chilling heart of the 2025 horror flick Vicious, and director Bryan Bertino is pulling back the curtain on its haunting conclusion.
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Image: Paramount Pictures
From the moment it hits the screen, Vicious drags its lead character, Polly—brilliantly played by Dakota Fanning—through an unrelenting gauntlet of fear and desperation. She's plagued by an unseen, sinister presence that compels her to commit unthinkable acts just to stay alive, leading to scenes filled with raw anguish, cries of terror, and visceral injury as the pressure mounts higher and higher. For newcomers to horror, think of it like being trapped in a psychological vice: the scares aren't just jumps; they're a slow burn of emotional torment that mirrors real-life dread.
The movie's wrap-up appears to tie up one chapter while hinting at a fresh wave of horror, but dig deeper, and you'll find layers of meaning that linger. During my chat with writer-director Bryan Bertino at the 2025 Fantastic Fest— the same visionary behind the spine-tingling 2008 home-invasion chiller The Strangers— he opened up about his creative vision and the uncertain road ahead for Polly and her world.
[Ed. note: Major spoilers for Vicious' ending ahead—proceed with caution if you haven't seen it yet.]
Bertino devotes much of Vicious' runtime to Polly's harrowing ordeal at the hands of this dark, overwhelming force. Its exact origins remain shrouded in mystery, adding to the film's eerie ambiguity, but everything kicks off with a peculiar box handed to her by a enigmatic stranger (portrayed by Kathryn Hunter, who you might recognize as the stern mother of Syril Karn from the Star Wars series Andor). Once Polly has the box, this entity starts reaching out through her phone, issuing cruel commands that chip away at her sanity, relationships, and very existence— all culminating in the demand to pass the cursed object to yet another unsuspecting soul.
Enter Tara (Devyn Nekoda), the unfortunate young woman who opens her door at the worst possible time, becoming Polly's desperate target for unloading the box. As the credits loom, Polly discovers from Hunter's character that simply handing it off to Tara doesn't break the bond; the force will keep exacting its toll indefinitely. Yet, she also uncovers a glimmer of power: by tuning out the calls and confronting her fear head-on, she can push back. But is this a true victory, or just a temporary reprieve in an endless struggle?
"I do believe this film carries a certain optimism that sets it apart from some of my earlier works," Bertino shared with us at Polygon. "At its core, though, the takeaway is that full escape might be impossible— you simply have to press on, day by day."
Image: Paramount Pictures
Following the premiere screening at Fantastic Fest, in a lively Q&A session, Bertino revealed how Vicious draws from his own battles with mental health. "A few years back, right before I dove into the screenplay, I began experiencing panic attacks for the first time— intense episodes of anxiety that hit differently than anything I'd known," he explained. "It sharpened my awareness of how all your senses can overload during those crises: heart racing, mind spinning, everything amplified. I aimed to immerse viewers and Polly in that chaos, hoping to evoke even a fraction of what I'd gone through." For those unfamiliar, panic attacks can feel like a sudden storm in your body and brain— overwhelming fear without an obvious trigger, often leaving you exhausted and on edge.
Polly emerges from her nightmare with a bit more command over her fears, but the lingering implication that the fight continues is intentional, echoing the persistent nature of anxiety in everyday life. It's not a tidy resolution; it's real, raw, and relatable.
"Picture her at the film's close, paused on that desolate road, phone buzzing relentlessly, fully aware the demands won't cease— she'll face choice after choice," Bertino reflected. "In my experience, we don't often vanquish our inner demons completely. Or at least, I haven't. It's more like an ongoing skirmish, one I keep waging."
Image: Paramount Pictures
There's a pivotal moment where Polly tries to reclaim the box from Tara, owning up to the danger she's unleashed and perhaps ready to sacrifice herself to trap the evil once more. But Tara feigns ignorance, brushes her off with eerie courtesy, and shuts the door. Peeking inside, we see the grim truth: Tara has followed the box's orders by killing her own parents, with fresh blood scrawled on the walls as a stark warning against trusting outsiders. It's a gut-punch twist that underscores isolation's horror.
"By the story's absolute tail end, Tara's ensnared in her private hell," Bertino noted. "This mirrors those times we've all tried warning loved ones— 'Hey, steer clear, I've walked that path'— but ultimately, everyone must navigate their own storms, learning through trial and error."
But here's where it gets controversial: Bertino draws direct inspiration for Polly's final moments from one of horror's most iconic survivors in Tobe Hooper's groundbreaking 1974 classic, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre— a film that redefined slasher terror with its gritty realism (check out our deep dive on the franchise's highs and lows for more). In it, a band of carefree teens encounters a cannibalistic clan and gets picked off brutally. The lone escapee, Sally (Marilyn Burns), blood-soaked and broken, hitches a ride to safety after horrors that shatter her spirit— laughing and screaming in a mix of relief and madness.
"I often revisit that image of Sally in the truck bed, her survival hard-won but at a devastating price," Bertino said. "She's triumphed, sure, but transformed. Polly's much the same— rooted in that road, irrevocably altered by trauma, just like any of us after life's big hits. You could argue it's a win, but existence marches on, throwing new challenges your way. And this is the part most people miss: is survival enough, or does the cost make it feel like a loss?"
Image: Paramount Pictures
Vicious is currently streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus, or you can grab it digitally for keeps on various platforms.
What do you think— does Polly's 'ending' offer real hope, or is it a subtle nod to horror's cynical truth that some evils are unbeatable? And how does Bertino's anxiety angle change your view of the film? Drop your takes in the comments below; I'd love to hear if you side with the optimists or the realists!
