David F. Sandberg’s horror film cleverly adapts the popular 2015 video game of the same name.

Until Dawn ending explained: Who survives the night — and is a sequel on the way?

David F. Sandberg's horror film cleverly adapts the popular 2015 video game of the same name.

By Allison DeGrushe

Allison DeGrushe

Allison DeGrushe is an SEO timely writer at **. She joined the team in 2025.

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Published on July 25, 2025 06:00PM EDT

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(L-R) Belmont Cameli as Abe, Michael Cimino as Max, Ella Rubin as Clover, and Odessa A'zion as Nina in 'Until Dawn'. Credit:

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Entertainment

- *Until Dawn *follows a group of friends trapped in a deadly time loop.

- Peter Stormare's Dr. Hill proves instrumental to understanding the mechanics of the world.

- Director David F. Sandberg has said he's open to a sequel, but not anytime soon.

Horror is having a killer year at the box office, with the seismic *Sinners* scaring up huge audiences alongside long-awaited sequels like *Final Destination: Bloodlines* and *28 Years Later*.

Joining the fun is *Until Dawn*, a big-screen adaptation of the 2015 video game, directed by *Lights Out* and *Annabelle: Creation* filmmaker David F. Sandberg. This survival horror thriller follows a group of friends that find themselves trapped in an isolated, time-loop torture chamber where the only goal is to make it to sunrise.

While the film takes place in the same universe as the game, it spins its own twisted tale, expanding the mythology with an original story and new stakes.

So, do they survive until dawn? And could this be the beginning of a new horror franchise? Let's break down *Until Dawn*'s ending and whether a sequel might be lurking in the shadows.

What is *Until Dawn *about?

(L-R) Odessa A'zion as Nina, Belmont Cameli as Abe, Ella Rubin as Clover, Michael Cimino as Max, and Ji-young Yoo as Megan in 'Until Dawn'.

Courtesy Sony Pictures Entertainment

One year after Clover's (Ella Rubin) older sister Melanie (Maia Mitchell) mysteriously vanished, Clover and her pals journey to the remote valley where she was last seen. The group is looking for answers, but what they find is something sinister that bends the rules of reality.

"Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they find themselves stalked by a masked killer and horrifically murdered one by one... only to wake up and find themselves back at the beginning of the same evening," reads the official synopsis. "Trapped in the valley, they're forced to relive the night again and again — only each time the killer threat is different, each more terrifying than the last. Hope dwindling, the group soon realizes they have a limited number of deaths left, and the only way to escape is to survive until dawn."

Who is Dr. Hill?

Peter Stormare as Dr. Hill and Ella Rubin as Clover in 'Until Dawn'.

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Entertainment

On their way to the remote valley where Melanie vanished, Clover, Max (Michael Cimino), Megan (Ji-young Yoo), Nina (Odessa A'zion), and Abe (Belmont Cameli) stop at a gas station. There, they meet an eerie attendant played by Peter Stormare, reprising his role from the game. The attendant warns Clover about a string of mysterious disappearances linked to Glore Valley.

Clover and her friends press forward anyway, stumbling upon an abandoned visitor center filled with unsettling signs, including a missing-person flyer for Melanie.

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Soon, each member of the group is brutally murdered, only to wake up at the start of the same night. Trapped in a time loop, they begin reliving their final hours again and again.

On her third loop, Clover is visited by the gas station clerk, who reveals himself as Dr. Hill. He mocks Clover, hinting at his knowledge of the repeating nightmare. Clover is killed shortly after, but manages to alert her friends about Hill in the next cycle.

Digging deeper, the group uncovers files and old VHS tapes exposing Hill's role in the operation. After a devastating mining accident decimated the town, Hill arrived under the guise of helping survivors. Instead, he began conducting twisted experiments, observing how victims trapped in the valley's loop mutated into wendigo creatures after dying 13 times.

What happened to Melanie?

Ella Rubin as Clover in 'Until Dawn'.

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Entertainment

Prior to the events of the film, sisters Melanie and Clover lost their mother, prompting Melanie to leave home and explore the world.

In the film's prologue (set a year before the main story), Melanie is seen fleeing from a masked figure in the woods. Desperate, she begs, "I can't die again," before being killed. Later, we realize this was a hint that her loop had already begun.

Fast-forward to Clover and her friends' fourth looped night. Clover escapes into the woods only to come face-to-face with Melanie, now fully transformed into a wendigo. Melanie was trapped in the time loop but failed to survive until dawn. After 13 deaths, the loop consumed her, turning her into a monster.

Toward the film's climax, Clover confronts the wendigo version of her sister one last time. In a brutal and emotional sequence, she stabs Melanie in the gut, saying she loves her, but she and her friends are "getting the f--- out of this hellhole."**

What happens at the end of Until Dawn?

Ella Rubin as Clover in 'Until Dawn'.

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Entertainment

In the film's third act, Megan chooses to follow Hill through a mysterious door that the group had previously discovered. As the others wake up and realize it's their last night in the loop, they decide to go after Megan and confront Hill once and for all.

After a run-in with several wendigos, Clover becomes separated from the others. She finds Megan locked in a cell and enters Hill's office in search of a key.

Inside, she sees a wall of monitors showing live security feeds tracking the group's every move. Hill appears, locking Clover in and revealing *everything*.

Hill admits that the horrors the group faced are not just random; they're actually manifestations of Clover's trauma. He claims that everything they've encountered, from the masked killers and witches to the threat of spontaneous combustion, is tied to her subconscious. He specifically references her past suicide attempts, suggesting the loop feeds off her pain.

But Clover turns the tables. Spotting a leaking pipe above Hill's desk, she surreptitiously places his coffee mug beneath the drip. Earlier in the film, we learned that the water in Glore Valley is tainted, and causes anyone who consumes it to swell and explode. And that's exactly what happens to Hill when he takes a sip moments later.

With Hill defeated, Clover grabs the keys, frees Megan, and never looks back.

As Clover, Max, Megan, Nina, and Abe drive away from Glore Valley, it seems all is well. However, *Until Dawn* ends on an ominous note. In the final scene, a new car pulls into the driveway of the house the group just fled. Hill's faint whistling can be heard in the background, hinting that the time loop may be far from broken, and Hill may not be gone after all.

Will there be an *Until Dawn *sequel?

Michael Cimino as Max and Ella Rubin as Clover in 'Until Dawn'.

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Entertainment

As of now, an *Until Dawn* movie sequel isn't in active development, and, based on Sandberg's recent remarks, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon.

"I'm always open to anything. I just want to focus on one movie, get it done, and then take a break to catch my breath before seeing what happens," he explained in an interview with *The Hollywood Reporter*.* *"But, for sure, you could do much more with *Until Dawn*. You could again have different horror genres involving another group of people. You could do almost anything with this, so it's certainly possible."

He continued, "But whenever I finish a movie, I feel like I never want to do a movie again. It's such a challenge, and it's so tough. There's so much anxiety and lack of sleep, but then I just can't stay away from it. I *have* to make movies. So, right now, I feel like, 'I don't want to make another movie ever,' but then I'll do another movie."

Writer Gary Dauberman also weighed in on the idea of future installments, telling *Variety*, "I'd work with David on anything. What we want to try is not to make the video games over here and then the movies over here. It'd be cool if they're all part of the same stew, so they don't feel like they're on separate tracks. They're actually on the same track, pushing the story further and further. That would be my hope."

Where can I watch Until Dawn?

Ella Rubin as Clover in 'Until Dawn'.

Kerry Brown/Sony Pictures Entertainment

*Until Dawn *is now streaming on Netflix.

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Source: “AOL Movies”