‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ Ending, Explained: How Did Gretchen Get Possessed by a Demon?
Welcome to the Ending Explained for My Best Friend’s Exorcism, the new Amazon Prime film of the week and their first offering for the incoming Halloween season. The film tells the story of two friends, Abby and Gretchen, who are navigating through the mess that is their high school lives. However, things get even worse for them when Gretchen gets possessed by a demon that will try to destroy her life and the lives of everyone else surrounding Gretchen. Abby will try to save his friend, no matter what.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism might have been marketed as a horror movie, but it is more in line with what a teen drama would be like. Yes, there are some horror elements, but for most of the film, they remain in the background. The movie offers a good level of entertainment. However, some weak acting and a script that is just too familiar stop the film from achieving any sort of memorable moment. It is hard to innovate in a genre such as horror, we understand that. We have to keep waiting for that next big step forward in the future.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for My Best Friend’s Exorcism. Read at your own risk.
How Did Gretchen Get Possessed By A Demon?
The film starts by introducing us to Abby and Gretchen. They are best friends, although, by following film school rules, you would think they would never talk to each other. Gretchen is the classical school beauty, all blonde, all pretty, confident, and interesting. Meanwhile, Abby’s appearance leaves much to be desired, and she has a terrible acne problem. She is also very timid. However, none of this stops them from being amazing friends. They even swear loyalty to each other forever and ever. The movie really establishes that these two are an item.
We also get introduced to the pair’s other friends. Glee and Margaret. The four of them make quite a group. One night, while staying at Margaret’s house, they start playing with a Ouija board. Without knowing it, they summoned a demon named Andras. Later, they take acid and go outside the house to see how it affects them. While entering an abandoned house, both Abby and Gretchen lost track of each other. Gretchen comes face to-face with an entity, and she is attacked by it.
The group later finds Gretchen, who is clearly disturbed about something. Margaret thinks it is just because of the acid, but Abby is unsure. The next day, at school, Gretchen started to act strange. She is rude, and she doesn’t take care of her looks. Abby notices it, but Gretchen says there is nothing wrong. At school, they are visited by the Lemon Brothers, a motivational Christian group. Christian, one of the brothers, looks at Gretchen and leaves the performance with a face full of fear.
Gretchen finally confesses to Abby, but Abby concludes that her confession is about being raped. She tells Gretchen’s parents and the school but no one believes her. She says there is something wrong with Gretchen. Abby finds herself isolated as Gretchen begins to turn her friends against her.
Is Abby Able To Save Gretchen From The Demon?
Gretchen begins to hurt her friends one by one. She isolated Abby and humiliated her in front of the school. Later, she manipulates Glee into confessing she likes girls to Margaret. And even worse, she gives her a brownie with peanuts in it, knowing that Glee is allergic to peanuts. Glee almost dies in the process. She has also manipulated Margaret into losing weight in a very unhealthy manner. Later, Margaret cannot even eat without feeling the need to vomit. Abby tries to give her ice cream, but she vomits huge and terrifying worms from her mouth.
Abby cannot take it anymore and goes to find help. She goes to find the Lemon brothers. Christian, specifically, as she noted how he saw Gretchen during his school visit. Gretchen manages to convince him to help her. He says that Gretchen has been possessed by a demon, and the only solution is to have an exorcism. The pair goes to Gretchen’s house and kidnaps her. They take her to a faraway cabin and then start the exorcism to rid Gretchen of the demon.
The exorcism begins, and there are some ups and lows. In the end, Christian is not able to continue as he gets frightened when Andras, the demon, takes the shape of his dead mother. He leaves Abby alone to finish the exorcism. Following Christian’s advice, Abby faces the demon with the truth, and she starts revealing her happiest moments with Gretchen. The love Abby feels for her friend sets her free from the demon. When the demon is out and takes the shape of a dark little man with horns, Abby uses a lighter to kill it in fire, sending it back to hell.
Gretchen is safe and sound, but the event has left her traumatized, and her family too. Abby and Gretchen have one last goodbye, and they promise to always be friends no matter what. The film ends as we see Abby getting into her car, leaving Gretchen behind.