What is Abigail about?
Abigail is mostly a fun, comedic horror-thriller but it does have a deeper commentary about parents being present for their children and facing your demons. You can view Joey’s journey as representative of her struggle with addiction and overcoming a craving and urge to relapse. Abigail also connects subtly to the universe of Ready or Not while setting up potential sequels around the ballerina vampire.
Cast
- Abigail – Alisha Weir
- Joey – Melissa Barrera
- Frank – Dan Stevens
- Peter – Kevin Durand
- Sammy – Kathryn Newton
- Rickles – William Catlett
- Dean – Angus Cloud
- Lambert – Giancarlo Esposito
- Kristof Lazar – Matthew Goode
- Written by – Stephen Shields | Guy Busick
- Directed by – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin | Tyler Gillett
The ending of Abigail explained
Recap
The end of Abigail begins after Joey and Frank defeat the vampirized Sammy. A bookcase in the library opens to reveal a hidden hallway. Down the hallway is a control room for the entire mansion. It turns out that Lambert has been there the entire time. Abigail had turned him two years ago, having discovered it was Lambert that gave Frank the information that led to the arrest of Lazar’s lieutenants, and threatened his family if he didn’t become her loyal servant. But, he has a plan. He believes if Frank joins him as a vampire that the two of them can destroy Abigail and take out Lazar and seize control of his entire criminal empire.
Lambert turns Frank. Frank turns on Lambert, exploding him with a stake through the back. Frank’s now the big bad. He attacks Abigail and seemingly kills her. Joey, fearing that she doesn’t have long to live, finally calls her son, Caleb. Even though he doesn’t answer the phone, she sends him what she believes will be a final message, telling him: I love you so much. And I’m so proud of you. You’re the one good thing I did in life. And I just needed you to hear that. I love you so much. My sweet, sweet boy. And I always have.
Frank plans to turn Joey into a vampire puppet, the way Abigail did to Sammy. Abigail reappears, explaining that Frank has to drain all the blood in her body (why reveal something like that?). She and Joey team up. It’s not an easy fight, but they succeed. Even though Frank bites Joey, his destruction negates the vampiric transformation, so she’ll be okay. So everything seems cool and like Joey can finally leave. Then Lazar appears. He seems ready to eat Joey but Abigail begs him to let her go.
Abigail: She saved my life! She was here. When you weren’t.
Lazar: I came when you needed me. [He notices how upset Abigail is and changes his tone]. I’m here now.
Abigail has finally reunited with Lazar. And Joey gets into her van, ready, you can imagine, to go see Caleb. She takes out the lollipop she had at the beginning of the movie, puts it in her mouth, then drives off.
Meaning
The opening moment of Abigail crosscut between Abigail dancing ballet and Joey waiting for the team to pick her up. This establishes, right away, a connection between these two characters. A connection that’s reinforced after the initial kidnapping when Joey takes on the role of Abigail’s point of contact and avowed protector. After the whole vampire reveal, the nature of the relationship changes. But, by the end, we eventually come back to a parent-child dynamic between the two.
That parent-child dynamic is Abigail’s main theme. With the nuance that each is standing-in for the figure that’s been missing. Abigail’s father, Kristoff Lazar, hasn’t paid attention to her for years. So she’s been on this crusade to punish his enemies in the hopes that it wins back his affection, or even just his attention. And then Joey had been in the throes of addiction, so gave up Caleb so he could have a more stable life. Now that she’s clean, she hasn’t had the courage to reconnect with him.
So taking care of Abigail becomes Joey’s way of working through her fears with Caleb. It’s not like Caleb will be a vampire. But he might be incredibly mad at her, angry with her, mean to her, distant, dismissive, cruel. The film defamiliarizes that emotional and existential turmoil through Abigail’s threat of physical violence. Ultimately, though, the “child” still needs their parents. And Joey’s being there for Abigail is what saves both of them. You can translate that back to Caleb. Even if he’s initially resentful, there will come a time where he simply needs his mom. If Joey can weather the storm (that she created), they can, like she and Abigail, end up in a good spot.
Likewise, Abigail’s toying with Joey and the others was her working through her own issues. By the time Lazar arrives, she’s used up a lot of her anger. And there’s that switch in how he addresses her. Initially, he is haughty, self-important. Quote, “I came when you needed me.” As if he should be applauded. But then he reads the sadness in Abigail’s eyes (and maybe can feel deeper into her heart/soul due to their bond). The line changes to “I”m here, now.”
The former implies “I’ve done my part” while the latter conveys a promise to do more. To be present. In real life, you might have a kid who tells their workaholic parent something like “I feel like you’re never around” and the parent responds with “I took you to Disney World just last year.” Or “Did I not come to your baseball game yesterday?” Those are nice gestures. But it doesn’t address the root issue—inconsistency and a sense of abandonment. If Lazar was willing to try, then Abigail is willing to give him a chance.
We don’t know how Caleb will react when Joey shows up. But, typically, movies like this employ the transitive property. Meaning that what we see between Abigail and Lazar embodies what we can expect to see between Joey and Caleb. He’ll be willing to give her a chance, as long as she’s willing to be there.
The themes, message, and meaning of Abigail
Parents being present for their children
Abigail is a child who doesn’t have a parent who is present. And Joey is a parent who hasn’t been present. One acts out because she wants attention. And the other has been too afraid to actually face her son. By facing down a murderous vampire, Joey’s essentially conquering the fear of reaching out to Caleb. Ultimately, what she sees with Abigail is that being there and making the effort matters more than being perfect.
Running away from our demons
Each of the characters in the house has some baggage that’s caused them to run away from regular life.
Frank was a detective who had his biggest case go to hell after Abigail murdered the key witnesses. He changed his name and left his family behind. Not to save them but to save himself.
Peter was bullied as a kid and had an abusive father. So he actively pursued physical size and strength to feel power over others. That led to a life of being muscle, because beating people up meant he wasn’t the weak, bullied kid anymore.
Sammy came from money. Her privilege has kept her at a distance from people and their problems, something she’s maintained by being a hacker rather than in the field. It’s left her with a degree of innocence that allows her to ignore the reality of damage she causes through her criminal activities. It’s a different kind of baggage from the others. Instead of running away, she’s blindly running towards something that will traumatize her. As Joey says, “You use a keyboard instead of a gun and tell yourself that makes what you do not as bad. Good luck when the illusion wears off.”
Rickles was a Marine and it seems had been through or done some very bad things, which is why Joey tells him he’s getting off easy by her not saying anything more.
Dean is a sociopath, so struggles to connect with other people. That’s left him disconnected from others and often pushing their buttons.
Joey, of course, is a recovering addict.
Ostensibly, each character is there because they did something to betray Lazar’s organization. That’s the story reason. But the narrative reason is having the characters face their demons and see if any of them can change for the better. Dean won’t stop doing sociopathic things—he’s the first one gone. Rickles has that final conversation with Joey where he begins to treat the situation like a Marine would, then immediately dies. Sammy’s naïveté results in being bit and becoming a puppet. All of Peter’s strength doesn’t help him against a transformed Sammy. And Frank’s selfishness brings about his own demise.
Joey, the former addict, is the only one we see actively attempting to curb her demons. Substance abuse usually leads to sugar cravings. So Joey eating candy is her actively fighting against her addiction. And when she tries to mother Abigail, it’s another sign of her trying to step up in a way she has been too afraid to do with Caleb. Her continuously putting the best foot forward, trying to do right by others and herself, is what ultimately leads to her making it out alive.
You can even see Frank as a reflection of Joey. Abigail, while “trapped” in the elevator, makes that connection herself. “But you and Detective Barrett have something in common. You never went back for your son.” So both Joey and Frank messed up and left their families behind. Joey could be the kind of person who never goes back, which is the path Frank decides to take. If she were to join him, or if he were to successfully turn her into the puppet, it would symbolize her choosing that path of total abandonment. But her fight against Frank represents her fight with her own demons and desire to make it back to her son. She faces and defeats her demon.
Why is the movie called Abigail?
Titles with a character’s name highlight the importance of that character. Donnie Darko is about the character Donnie Darko. Napoleon Dynamite is about a guy with the crazy name of Napoleon Dynamite. The movie Logan had nuance to it because the character is often known by his superhero name, Wolverine. When you call the movie Logan, you’re signaling that it’s less about the hero and more about the human.
In this case, Abigail is not the main character. Joey is. Yes, Abigail is prominent and has backstory and a character journey. It’s not like she’s a mere monster with no real narrative. But she’s not the perspective character. So why name the movie after her?
We’ve seen this before. Films like Terminator, Alien, M3GAN, Predator, etc. all use the name of the “monster” rather than the perspective character. In the short-term, that title choice can add flavor that gets someone to see the movie. Like Predator implies the idea of a game of cat and mouse, a hunter and their prey. Terminator implies an emphasis on elimination that carries with it action and violence. But the power of this kind of title comes from the brand recognition. M3GAN doesn’t mean anything. Until people see the first one and think the AI doll is terrifying and a great villain so pay attention when they hear about M3GAN 2.
So I’m pretty sure they named the movie Abigail because they’re hoping it creates a franchise that follows Abigail on different adventures as a kind of vampiric anti-hero. Especially after the success of M3GAN.
You could also read the title as putting an emphasis on the “child” in the film (as much as an undead vampire that’s lived for decades/centuries is a child), when the main theme is about parents who have abandoned their children. It adds a degree of sympathy and importance that causes us to empathize, weirdly, with Abigail’s plight of feeling forgotten by her father. Lazar is worried about himself, but he should be more concerned with Abigail. Frank is worried about himself, but he should be more concerned with his son. Likewise, Joey has been focused on herself. When she should have been taking care of Caleb. It’s like by calling the movie Abigail it’s implicitly called Caleb and saying “Kids come first.”
Important motifs in Abigail
Abigail dancing Swan Lake
The movie opens with Abigail performing ballet from Swan Lake. This may seem like a superficial choice. But Swan Lake is about duality. The main character is Princess Odette. She’s under the spell of a sorcerer that means she’s a swan by day and a human by night. It can only be undone by true love, pure love. This prince, Siegfried, sees Odette in human form and immediately falls in love with her. But that night he’s supposed to pick a bride. The evil sorcerer, Rothbart, shows up with his daughter, Odile, and casts a spell so that she looks like Odette. Odile dances pretty seductively. Siegfried thinks he’s picking the woman he loves, but it’s not and that means his love for Odette is no longer pure.
A lot of melodrama follows that results in Odette sacrificing herself and Siegfried doing the same to prove his love. That breaks the spell for the other girls Rothbart had cursed, it also destroys Rothbart, and the lovers end up in the afterlife together.
Odette is considered the White Swan while her look-alike, Odile, is considered the Black Swan. This duality was popularized in the Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan. You can see how that duality would apply to Abigail. She’s a little girl but also a vampire. But it also extends to our characters and the demons they have. Frank was a detective, that’s noble and good—but he then abandoned his family and became a criminal. That’s bad. Joey was a combat medic for the U.S. Army but got hooked on morphine after an injury, gave up her son, then worked for a crime syndicate. That’s bad. So we see that Black Swan/White Swan duality represented throughout the film.
Joey’s candy
Drug addiction is a byproduct of drug’s triggering dopamine release. Repeated use rewires the brain so that it demands more and more dopamine. Part of withdrawal and addiction is the brain craving that chemical. The brain never returns to normal but if you can stay clean long enough it does attempt to normalize, meaning cravings happen less frequently and diminish in intensity.
Sugar also triggers dopamine release. That’s why people get sugar cravings and have sugar crashes. It also means that addicts can get hooked on sugar and that sugar consumption can actually lead to relapse. All Points North, a company that treats addiction, sas: High-sugar foods feel much more rewarding and pleasurable than other more nutritious foods, making them harder to avoid and more tempting to people whose dopamine reward networks have been compromised by addiction.
But All Points North continues: Sugary foods can help those in recovery because they affect the brain like addictive drugs. During the early days of addiction recovery, people often battle intense drug cravings and may be calorically deficient. Eating sweet foods can reduce the intensity of these drug cravings by giving a short dopamine boost, which could be the difference between remaining in recovery or experiencing a relapse. A chocolate bar is far less harmful than returning to active addiction.
So everytime we see Joey eat candy, she’s actively battling her addiction. And when she runs out of candy, things become much more intense in the film. Meaning that you could describe the climactic fight against Frank as Joey overcoming a full on craving that would otherwise cause her to relapse.
Questions & answers about Abigail
What was Joey’s real name?
Anna Lucia Cruz
Who was Valdez?
There was no “Valdez”. Abigail was Valdez. But it’s not clear on the origin of the myth. It could be actively cultivated so people looked for a scary man rather than a little girl. Or it could be something others created and spread in order to explain the hits and assassinations carried out by some mysterious underworld hitman.
Is Lazar actually Dracula? Is Abigail Dracula’s daughter?
This is an interesting one. So Abigail is a Universal Pictures film. Universal owns all the classic monster movies and have been slowly rolling out fresh takes on those concepts. The Invisible Man from 2020 was an example. As was Renfield. So there was a 1936 Universal film called Dracula’s Daughter. But that film is incredibly different. It takes place after Van Helsing defeats Dracula. The titular daughter, Countess Marya Zaleska, initially wants to cure her vampirism. When that doesn’t prove possible, she wants to live a normal life. When that’s hard, she embraces her vampirism and becomes a monster that needs defeated.
So very different from what we got with Abigail. And while Lazar could be Dracula, making Abigail Dracula’s Daughter, we don’t know enough about this world. If Lazar’s the original and oldest vampire, then, yeah, he’s Dracula but with a different name. But if there are other vampires in the world? Maybe one of them is actually Dracula. Just because it was initially conceived of as a remake of Dracula’s Daughter doesn’t mean it ended up that way.
Was there ever a ransom?
No. Abigail set-up her own kidnapping. Everyone in the crew was lured out because they had betrayed the Lazar syndicate in some way. Abigail hoped that by punishing people who betrayed her father that it would win her father’s favor and attention.
Was there a Ready or Not easter egg?
So the director-duo behind Abigail, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, known as Radio Silence, had a 2019 film called Ready or Not that was their breakout. The story involves a bride hunted by her groom’s family. It’s action, horror, and dark comedy. $6 million budget that grossed $57 million. That led to them directing Scream then Scream VI. Abigail is their first original film since Ready or Not. And there’s an easter egg that is either just a nice nod or actually sets Abigail in the same universe as Ready or Not. What is it?
The duo told Collider: There is a portrait, in the background of one of the scenes of Henry Czerny’s…great, great, great, great grandfather. There is a little bit of a tie to the Ready or Not universe within the movie. Henry Czerny played the patriarch of the family that hunted Samara Weaving’s character.
Is Abigail a ballerina because of M3GAN?
I 100% believe that’s the case. M3GAN came out January of 2023 and made $181 million on a $12 million budget. First reports of Radio Silence making a monster film for Universal happened in April of 2023. I bet money that Universal was like “We want someone to capitalize on the hype around M3GAN. You need a little girl to be a monster. And she has to dance.” And we ended up with this.
Why are they called a Rat Pack? How did Joey know their real identities?
A trope in heist movies like this is having people in archetypes. The bagman. The muscle. The hacker. The wheelman. And they often don’t use their real names. A famous example of that is Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, where every character is named after a color: Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Prink, etc.
The idea of the Rat Pack got started in the 1940s. Frank Sinatra had a group of celebrity friends and they’d been seen together and eventually people referred to them as the Rat Pack. Lots of people came and went. Humphrey Bogart was part of it, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Jerry Lewis, Nat King Cole. In the 1960s, a more formal version involved Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Don Rickles was often seen with them but not “official”.
So that’s where the names Frank, Joey, Sammy, Peter, Dean, and Rickles all come from. Why? Heist films tend to have a classic aesthetic to them. They want to cultivate a cool-factor. So you have the archetypes. You have the codenames. And you have this old school mansion. The Rat Pack names fit with the classic vibe of the genre and the mansion.
As to how Joey knew their real identities? It’s mostly a plot device. They wanted to provide the background exposition but do so in a way that wasn’t boring. So they have Joey inexplicably be great at reading people. It’s not tied to her being a medic or a mother or anything. Though it also characterizes her as perceptive and is one of the reasons we expect her to be able to navigate what’s ultimately a messed up situation.
Now it’s your turn
Have more unanswered questions about Abigail? Are there themes or motifs we missed? Is there more to explain about the ending? Please post your questions and thoughts in the comments section! We’ll do our best to address every one of them. If we like what you have to say, you could become part of our movie guide!
