The Old Ways (2020) is a supernatural horror film directed by Christopher Alender & started with Brigitte Kali Canales. The film wins Panic Festival 2021 and ReFrame 2021 awards.
The Old Ways (2020) Ending Explained in Full Plot Story
* * * Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now! * * *
The movie starts with a demonically possessed woman laid in bed. Some healers are trying to rescue the woman from the demon. There is a young girl named Cristina standing near the woman who is very afraid. Cristina is the daughter of the woman.
The possessed woman repeatedly became unconscious. She looks at the girl and tries to comfort her. The woman assures Cristina that everything will be fine.
The woman again becomes possessed, and this time she attacks Cristina. The healers somehow manage to save her but in all of this, Cristina gets scratches on her hand.
Scene changes to 20 years later.
In the Mexican city of Veracruz, a young girl is chained to an abandoned building. Her head is covered by a bag. After a while, a man named Javi appears and uncovers her.
As a result of their conversation, it emerges that the girl is Cristina. According to her, she thinks some criminals kidnapped her for cash, and she told Javi that all the money they want would be given to them. Just release her.
However, Javi continues to ask why she moved to La Boca. Cristina replied that La Boca was her village and she once lived there, but now, she cuts through the village.
The reason she went to La Boca for a professional purpose, is because she is a journalist now. She stayed at her old cottage. Cristina informs them all about Javi and asks him why it matters to him.
A very strange-looking woman named Luz enters the room at that moment. She approaches Cristina very closely and observes her. Luz turns back to Javi and says, “she has it.” Javi and Luz seem very concerned about the situation.
Cristina doesn’t understand what they are talking about.
Cristina is forced to drink goat’s milk by Javi, who brings it to her. The milk is supposed to cleanse her soul.
She dreams in her sleep at night. She is in a cave of La Boca and feels someone is looking at her. But the cave is empty.
She wakes up and notices a stone behind her. She picks up the stone and starts hitting the chain. However, nothing changes.
Cristina hears a strange sound, like an animal growling. Then, she feels something whispering to her.
A shadow and an eye are watching her closely near the door, and we can see it as an audience.
The next morning, Javi comes in and gives Cristina a bucket. She tells Javi if they decide to not leave her from the village then at least inform her cousin Miranda, who lives in the same village. Javi leaves the place without responding.
After some time, Miranda enters the room. It is clear that Miranda knew about Cristina is prisoned. Luz and Javi were familiar to her as well. Miranda tells Cristina that all these starts happening from when she enters the cave of La Boca.
Cristina went to La Boca to cover an ancient cult story. Miranda told her to avoid all caves near the forest, especially La Boca cave. Because it was said to be haunted and many bad spirits were said to stay there. However, Cristina did not heed Miranda’s advice.
Later Miranda found her unconscious in the cave. She took Cristina to Luz cottage.
Luz is a Nahuatl Bruja. Who doesn’t know about Bruja let me clear for them, Bruja is an ancient healer? By their cults, they can see and maintain demons. They help people to free themselves from the demon and heal them with white energy.
Luz was certain Cristina was possessed by a demon upon first seeing her. Luz’s son, Javi, brought Cristina here for an exorcism to free her from the demon.
The next day, Javi returns Cristian’s handbag. While she is alone, the mobile rings, it is her boss. She yearningly tells her situation but in the middle of the conversation, Javi comes into the room and takes the phone from her.
At night, Cristina is sitting on the floor and the room is full of candles. She opens a box which is taken from the bag and opens it. There are a few syringes in the box. Suddenly she notices a child at the window who is looking at her.
There is a flashback that comes in the scene. After the death of Cristina’s mother, she became so depressed inside. Cristina didn’t believe in demons and any kind of exorcism. She believed her mother needed proper medical treatment and she blamed the healers for the death. In her opinion, her mother died because of some sort of unprofessional & false practice of exorcism.
Cristina became a serious drug addict and took them by syringes. Those drugs are in that box.
Cristina takes a shot of a drug and falls asleep.
She finds herself chained in a strange room after waking up. Her body is covered with many strange marks drawn with blood. Javi and Luz chanting some spells.
Luz comes near Cristina and tells her that she has to cooperate with them. After the ritual, they can discover the name of the demon who possessed her.
Luz also tells her that during the ceremony Cristina might face some delusion. When this happens, the demon will appear. Cristina must inform Luz about that otherwise; the ritual won’t lead them to any advantage.
Cristina sees two snakes approaching, and she becomes very frightened. Thus, she is tied with a chain and can’t move so she screams.
Luz & Javi arrive to help her, and Luz draws some shapes on the wall. Suddenly, snakes vanish and Luz tells them that the ritual has succeeded. Luz has identified the demon.
Even though she doesn’t believe these things, she can’t do anything else but help them.
Cristina again can’t sleep that night so she takes another shot of the drug. After a while, she starts hallucinating and starts hearing an animal growling. Suddenly, the blanket moves away from her. When she goes to retrieve it, she discovers a dead bird under it.
Miranda meets Cristina in the morning with some old books. These books are about the Bruja cult. Luz sends Cristina these books to help her clearly understand what happened to her and what is to come.
Cristina tells Miranda that she doesn’t believe in these things, so she won’t read them. Then Miranda reminds Cristina about her mother. She was also possessed and is now dead. Therefore, if she doesn’t take this seriously, it will be worse for her as well.
Cristina becomes so angry and grabs Miranda’s hand so roughly. Miranda’s hand gets scratched up and she flees. Before leaving the room, Miranda asks Cristina to at least read them. She pointed to a red-colored book.
When Cristina calms down, she realizes that she was too rough with Miranda and feels sorry for it. Then she opens the red book for reading. According to the book, she is possessed by a demon called Postheki.
Suddenly, all the lights go out and the room is pitch black. But Cristina feels like someone is looking at her from the corner of the room and a circle of energy surrounds her.
In the morning, Cristina sees the child again through the window. After some time, Miranda visits Cristina and talks about the demon. Demons usually try to control human minds with negative energy. Therefore, they force humans to think about their worst memories and experiences. As a result, the person becomes depressed and when mental weakness sets in, demons take over the full control of that person.
Miranda tells her that Luz is preparing to perform a psychic surgery on Cristina. This will make it a little bit strong to fight with a demon.
At night Luz performs the psychic surgery and she removes some rotten teeth & a tiny snake from her belly.
At the sleeping time again Cristina can’t sleep. There is darkness everywhere. Suddenly a demonic hand appears from the dark and smashes a rat. Some blood drips at her hand. Cristina becomes so scared and determined to escape from the place.
So the next day when Javi comes to the room Cristina attacks him and makes her free. She runs towards the door but a strange thing happens then.
The door is open and nothing is there in front of her but she can’t take a single step outside. An invisible wall is preventing her from going outside.
Cristina notices there is a thin salt line drawn just outside of the door. It’s Luz’s protection that seals the demon inside the house.
Cristina now believes she is possessed by demonic forces, and there is no doubt that she has a demon inside. Then she vomits a bunch of hair with black liquid.
Meanwhile, Luz arrives there and Cristina tells her that she read a ritual named broken man which is used for destroying the demon. She wants to perform that ritual.
Luz tells her that the broken man ritual is too dangerous for performing in old ways and there is a high chance that she could be killed by the demon. But Cristina wants to end these things with the ritual.
At night Luz prepares Cristina for the broken man ritual. It is an ancient and secret ritual. Only a few healers are capable of performing it. Luz is one of them.
The ritual starts and Cristina is sitting inside a pentagram. Luz strikes the drawing with her nails and with each strike Cristina is tied with an invisible rope. She hurts a lot and screams.
Finally, by the ritual, she reaches the La Boca cave and sees the demon. She also finds the boy who is seen for the last few days outside of her window. The demon scratches one eye and she return to the ritual room.
Cristina opens her eyes and sees the boy in the room. Luz also can see the boy now. But gradually the boy turns into a demon.
Luz chants some old spells and tries to stop the demon. Suddenly an explosion happens and the demon vanishes. It seems they succeeded in destroying the demon. But sadly, Luz is also dead.
Cristina becomes free from demonic possession. But after Luz’s death, she decides to stay a few more days in the village.
From the scratches of demons, Cristina gets a supernatural power to see demons and evil spirits, as Luz did. By the power, she figures out that the demon was not destroyed rather it hides inside Miranda’s body.
Miranda also can feel that she is losing control of herself. So she wants help from Cristina to recover her. But Cristina becomes tense because she doesn’t know any ritual to fight with demons. There was only one person Luz who knew the process.
Then a miracle happens. Cristina sees Luz’s spirit who comes to teach how to perform rituals and heal the people.
After that Cristina succeeds to heal Miranda and finds her life’s purpose. She is destined to heal people from evil possessions.
Then Cristina decides to live in the village for her entire life and takes on the responsibilities of Luz.
In the final scene, a man is taken by Javi who is found unconscious inside the La Boca cave. It is Cristina’s editor who comes to the village to rescue her. He has drugs as well.
Cristina observes her closely and tells ‘he has it.’
Then she starts the ritual and seems uninterested in heroin.
Cristina appears determined to fulfill the role of Luz as a new Bruja.
The movie ends here.
Synopsis
A Mexican journalist, Cristina, investigates a story of sorcery and healing in her ancestral home in Veracruz. In that place, she’s kidnapped by locals who believe she’s the devil incarnate.
Summary
Original Title The Old Ways
Other Titles Las Viejas Formas (Mexico), Eski Ayinler (Turkey), Dawne rytuały (Poland)
Genre Supernatural Horror/ Thriller
Runtime 1hr 30min
Original Language English
Directed by Christopher Alender
Written by Marcos Gabriel
Produced by David Grove Churchill Viste, Christa Boarini, T. Justin Ross
Production Company Soapbox Films
Release date October 12, 2020 (USA)
Cast of Characters
| Actor/Actress Name | Character Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Brigitte Kali Canales | Cristina | Journalist of Chicago |
| Julia Vera | Luz | Mexican Bruja |
| Andrea Cortés | Miranda | Cousin of Cristina |
| Sal Lopez | Javi | Son of Luz |
