Hush (2016) Ending Explained

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Hush is a gore-horror film directed by Mike Flanagan released in 2016. The movie collects good critic reviews like Emelie (2015), and Smile (2022), for its unique direction, proper management as a low-budget movie, and outstanding performance of Kate Seigel.

The movie Hush (2016) contains less than 15 minutes of dialogue and the rest of the time is just a story without any words. It’s almost 70 minutes and it has only scenes but no dialogue.

Hush Ending Explained in Details

* * * Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now! * * *

The primary character of Mike Flanagan’s movie Hush is a young author named Maddie. But she is unable to hear and speak from age 13. After an unsuccessful surgery, she lost her voice and hearing. Now she communicates with sign language.

Even after so much, Maddie is a successful writer. She writes crime novels and people enjoy them. For a better writing environment, she leaves NYC and isolates herself into a cottage in the middle of a forest.

Maddie’s neighbor Sarah is highly influenced by the books which were given by Maddie to read. One of them is Midnight Mass and after releasing five years later Mike Flanagan made a Netflix series Midnight Mass in 2021.

Back to the story, Sarah also starts to love Maddie and we can see Sarah starts to learn sign language for communicating with Maddie.

At night a mysterious killer who covers his face with a mask kills Sarah. Then he goes to Maddie’s house and realizes that Maddie is unable to hear & speak. So he decides to make her the next shikar. But he wants to play with her so that his hunting becomes more enjoyable.

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He steals her phone by sneaking into her house. Then he takes pictures from behind with the phone and sends them to her laptop.

When Maddie checks, she realizes someone is chasing her. She tries calling the police, but she can’t because the killer already cut the power line of the house. So she completely locks herself inside the house.

Then Maddie tries to escape two times but fails and after a long time, her boyfriend comes to the house. But the killer also killed him.

hush 2016 film casts

After that Maddie thinks about her opportunities and weakness, equal to the killer from her point of view. She gets a plan.

As the killer approaches Maddie outside, he threatens her with a knife. She shoots him with the crossbow that she snatched earlier.

A killer slams the sliding door on Maddie’s wrist as she retreats into the house and crushes her hand underneath his boot. Maddie is allowed to pull her mangled hand inside and close and lock the door. Using her laptop, Maddie types up a description of the man and a message to her family as the killer smashes the door with a tire iron. She locks herself into her bathroom with a knife, as the killer smashes the door with a tire iron.

The killer decides to crash through the bathroom skylight after failing to break through the door. Maddie does not notice him until he breathes inadvertently against her neck. Then she stabs him in the knee after narrowly avoiding his attack. As she blasts him with insecticide and uses her visual smoke alarm to disorient him, he follows her into the kitchen. After strangling her, she stabs him with a corkscrew in the neck, killing him. Maddie retrieves her cell phone from the man’s body and calls 911. As the police approach here, Maddie pets her cat and smiles.

Is the killer real or just an imaginary killer of Maddie?

The Man in hush 2016

There is no strong evidence from Flanagan that the killer is real neither just an imagination for Maddie’s next crime novel.

We notice that Maddie tells Sarah that she makes seven individual plots ending for her story and chooses the best one. So, there is a big possibility that the whole nightmarish encounter is just an imagination inside Maddie’s vision. But who knows that is correct?

Who plays the role of Maddie?

Kate Siegel plays the role of Maddie in the Hush movie of 2016. Her acting was so realistic that people still asked that is she deaf in real life or not. The answer is, no she is not a deaf girl in reality.

Kate Seigel is the wife of famous horror director Mike Flanagan and she also works on other movies and series like Midnight Mass (2021 miniseries), Gerald’s Game (2017), Hypnotic (2021).

Who is the killer in hush?

John Gallagher Jr. played the role of the mysterious killer in the Hush film of 2016. The killer in the movie is a Hedonistic serial killer who loves to kill people for his own pleasure but lacks motive.

Why is the killer after Maddie?

The killer in the Hush movie first appears in Sarah’s house when he tries to hunt her with an X-bow. Then Sarah ran to Maddie’s house for help. But as Maddie is only dependent on visionary communication so she missed her help and the psycho killed her.

hush movie Sarah

After executing Sarah, the killer notices Maddie and realizes that she is a deaf girl and alone in the house. So, he decided to make her the next victim.

Since director Flanagan does not expose the details of any characters’ past so it is unclear that there was a connection between Maddie and the Killer from their past. But killers’ approaches make a sense inside the viewer’s subconscious mind that they didn’t know before.

Does Maddie Survive in Hush Film?

Yes. Maddie survived the hedonistic serial killer in the movie Hush. Maddie lastly stabs him with a corkscrew and killed for defensive purposes. After some time we see police is coming. And this way Maddie survived the terrible night.

Why Did Maddie Smile at The End of The Hush?

At the end of the film, Maddie smiles when the police arrive. However, this could be simply an expression of relief. Or it could also mean that she reached the end of her novel that she wanted.

Is Hush based on a true story?

The movie Hush was not based on a true story. It is a horror thriller, which was released on April 8th, 2016. The movie is written by Mike Flanagan and stars Kate Siegel as Maddie Young and John Gallagher Jr. as her kidnapper.

The film takes place in a secluded cabin where Maddie is staying for the weekend. She is trying to recover from some traumatic events that took place in her life recently and has decided to spend some time alone in the woods. Unfortunately for her, she finds herself being stalked by a masked killer who forces her to listen to him and obey his orders if she wants to survive.

Does the cat die in Hush?

No, the cat named Bitch survived the full movie.

There is a white Persian cat in the movie whose name is Bitch. Maddie is the owner of the cat.

In the movie, the masked protagonist tries to kill the cat but Maddie shoots him with one of his own arrows. This makes the cat survived. It also becomes clear at the end of the movie when cat enters the scene.

Summary

Original Title Hush

Other Titles Tiho (Croatia), Silencio (Mexico), Sukunat (Uzbekistan)

Genre Slasher/ Psychological horror

Runtime 1hr 22min

Original Language English

Directed by Mike Flanagan

Written by Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel

TaglineSilence can be killer.’

Release date April 8, 2016 (USA)

Filming locations Fairhope, Alabama, USA

Origin Country United States

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Cast of Characters

Actor/Actress Name Character Name
Kate Siegel Maddie
John Gallagher Jr. The Man/ The Killer
Michael Trucco John
Samantha Sloyan Sarah
Emma Graves Max (Text Only)

Official Trailer


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