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Netflix's Girl on the Third Floor ending explained

From Digital Spy

Girl on the Third Floor has now landed on Netflix (although it's not a Netflix Original) and the horror movie has been freaking viewers out.

Phil Brooks, AKA wrestler and MMA fighter CM Punk, makes his acting debut as Don Koch, a man trying to make a fresh start. He's bought a rundown house in the suburbs to renovate for his pregnant wife, only to discover it has a dark past.

Supernatural events soon start to throw a spanner in the works, but what the hell is happening in the house and why?

Spoilers for Girl on the Third Floor's ending are ahead, so look away now if you haven't seen it yet.

Photo credit: Dark Sky Films
Photo credit: Dark Sky Films

It's clear pretty early on that there's something very wrong with the house that Don has bought, given that it's literally oozing bodily fluids.

Don's renovation work isn't going particularly well either, but that's not helped by the fact he's distracted by a mysterious woman called Sarah and that he's drinking, despite promising his wife Liz that he wouldn't.

He's warned that the house is "bad news for straight men" and the local pastor Ellie warns him that he should leave. Don doesn't though and he even cheats on Liz by sleeping with Sarah.

Things get worse when Don's former colleague Milo visits to help with the renovation. Milo is soon killed by Sarah and so is Don's dog, leading Don to snap and kill Sarah. Or at least he thinks he does.

Photo credit: Dark Sky Films
Photo credit: Dark Sky Films

After Sarah's body goes missing, Don encounters The Nymph, a girl with a badly disfigured face in the walls of the house, who has a penchant for marbles. The same marbles find their way under Don's skin and he tries to cut them out, only to seemingly bleed to death.

Shortly after, Liz comes to visit and can't find Don, although she does meet Sarah who claims she's helping Don with the renovation. Liz discovers a newspaper in the walls that reveals the house was a former brothel where a girl went missing back in 1909.

Ellie comes to the house and gives a similar warning to what she gave Don, before Liz starts to see weird stuff like hair in the sink and an eyeball looking at her. Unsurprisingly, it leads her to seek Ellie's advice, who advises her to get the hell away from there.

"This house has a habit of testing men. I've met families who've lived there happily for years, and others… who never make it a home. The difference seems to come down to the character and determination of the people moving in," Ellie tells her.

Photo credit: Dark Sky Films
Photo credit: Dark Sky Films

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When Liz goes back into the house, she sees a vision of a party from when the house was a brothel, with Sarah performing with a man in a plague mask who then gives a little girl a bag of marbles.

Sarah explains that "he played with her for months and then killed her, dumping her body at the train tracks", before he also killed Sarah.

"When he killed me, my body never left the house. I was a star, loved by the men who came through our doors," she said. "But not one of them questioned my disappearance. All men really love is the power you give them."

Photo credit: Dark Sky Films
Photo credit: Dark Sky Films

As Liz tries to escape, she sees a bloodied Don who apologises and says he "just wanted to be the man one more time". But it's not really Don, it's Sarah and Liz runs away, killing The Nymph and leaving the house.

Ellie tells Liz that she "did good", revealing that she's aware of the test that the house puts people through, which she is powerless to stop.

"You can't talk someone into doing the right thing or the wrong thing. I couldn't keep someone out of this house any more than those girls inside could keep someone out of mine. Need to lay the options out and see what they choose," she explains.

It all stems back to a Bible quote that Ellie told Don earlier in the movie: "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial."

Photo credit: Dark Sky Films
Photo credit: Dark Sky Films

That's absolutely not what Don did, given that he slept with Sarah, tried to kill her and lied to Liz about everything. It's unclear why Milo and Don's dog had to die too, but it was clearly all a part of his test.

Liz, on the other hand, refused to accept Don's apology (even if it was actually Sarah in a Don suit) and fought back.

She goes back into the house and finds Sarah's body to bury it. Six months later, Liz has renovated the house and given birth. The final scene sees Don looking down at his daughter from a vent and dropping marbles into her crib.

Don has now presumably taken the place of Sarah, ready to test the next unwitting person who buys the house after his family leaves.

Photo credit: Dark Sky Films
Photo credit: Dark Sky Films

Girl on the Third Floor is available to watch now on Netflix.


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