Netflix's 2018 action thriller Hold the Dark certainly lived up to its billing as a mystery story, as there was plenty that went unexplained. Director Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room) touched on quite a few cinematic styles, shaping the narrative as part action and part suspense/horror. However, viewers were mostly preoccupied with trying to solve riddles and puzzles about the core characters and premise.
Sure, Saulnier focused on the case of a missing boy, Bailey Slone (Beckham Crawford). But the ending left numerous questions unanswered about the Alaskan town of Keelut and its eccentric residents. So, here is an explainer of Hold the Dark's ending.
What Happened to the Other Missing Kids in Hold the Dark?
Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright), an expert in wolf behavior, was summoned by Medora Slone (Riley Keough) to find the body of her 6-year-old son, Bailey, whom she claimed was taken by wolves. Although this was the third such reported missing child case in the past few years, Russell assured Medora that it wasn't typical wolf behavior; he nevertheless set off to track the animals. Thus, when it's revealed Medora strangled Bailey, believing she needed to stop the darkness within him, it wasn't a complete surprise.
However, the mystery of what happened to the other two missing kids was never resolved. Russell wondered whether Medora murdered them, too, but she had no motive. Julian Black Antelope's Cheeon, a friend of Medora's husband Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård), whose child was abducted years earlier, didn't think so; he went on a shooting spree, blaming the town's police for his loss. It was never confirmed who actually took the children, and they were never found. However, Russell didn't think wolves were ever involved, leaving audiences to guess about their fates.
Were Medora and Vernon Supernaturally Connected?
The other big twist in Hold the Dark was the revelation that Medora and her husband were actually siblings, and she killed Bailey while Vernon was deployed in Iraq. Ironically, he was injured at the same time his son died and was sent back to Keelut, where he subsequently went on a killing spree and hunted his wife.
A local shaman, Illanaq (Tantoo Cardinal), contended Medora was possessed by a wolf-demon called a tournaq, while another said Vernon was a dark soul, opening up the possibility that the incestuous couple was mystically connected. After all, Medora and Vernon both wore ritualistic wolf masks when they went into kill mode and were both into blood rituals. They were likened to the Fenris wolf from Norse mythology and even to European werewolves. Saulnier kept Hold the Dark so vague that it was impossible to discern what they really were.
What Was the Plan for Bailey's Body?
When Vernon returned from Iraq, he killed everyone he believed complicit in his son's murder, from police officers to the people who knew where Medora fled. He also executed a bloodbath at the town's morgue before placing Bailey's body in a box and performing a blood ritual.
He buried his son in the snow, only to return for the body when reconciled with Medora. They dug up the corpse and dragged it into a forest as the film ended. Were they going to resurrect the boy in another ritual or offer the body as a sacrifice? One may also assume they wanted to give Bailey a proper burial, but by this time, both parents were behaving more like animals than humans, so it's uncertain what they were really up to.
Why Did Medora Kill Bailey?
In William Giraldi's 2014 novel on which Hold the Dark is based, Medora's guilt over her incest with Vernon led to her mental breakdown, which was exacerbated by her subsequent pregnancy. That eventually led her to strangle the 6-year-old Bailey. In the Netflix film, however, her motive was never revealed. Saulnier didn't even explicitly state that Medora and Vernon were siblings, leaving the audience to fill in the blanks based on clues while following Russell's perspective.
Given the timing of Vern returning home just after Medora murdered their son, viewers have speculated that Bailey's death may have been part of some dark ritual to lure her husband back from war. Fans have theorized that's why Vernon stored the boy's body, having unfinished business with it. However, he needed his wife, which was why they went into the woods in the final scene with Bailey's body. Maybe this was her way of calling her husband home to care for her.