Viewers want to know more about the ending of Kit Karrington's The Beast Within movie.
The Beast Within is a new thriller directed by Alexander J. Farrell, based on Edward Levy's novel of the same name.
The film, starring Harington, Ashleigh Cummings, and Caoilinn Springall, follows a young girl named Willow as she uncovers her family's dark ancestral secret in the English wilds.
It has received mixed reviews since its release, as it currently holds a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In addition, some viewers who recently watched the
The Beast Within Ending Meaning Explained
The Beast Within initially presents itself as a straightforward werewolf tale, where Noah (Kit Harington) is burdened by a family curse that turns him into a monster each full moon.
Curious about her parents' mysterious late-night excursions, his daughter Willow (Springall) secretly follows them into the ancient forest, where she witnesses her father's horrifying transformation.
When she eventually discovers this dark secret in the climactic finale, Willow kills her father to protect her mother, Imogen. However, the film’s ending introduces a twist that questions everything the audience has believed up to that point.
Willow experiences a disturbing vision where her father, in human form, behaves like a monster, imitating a wolf and addressing her as a "little monster." This scene suggests that Noah may never have been a werewolf in the literal sense; instead, he might have been a deeply abusive man whose behavior Willow interpreted through the lens of a supernatural narrative.
The film implies that the werewolf story might have been a creation of Willow's mind, a way for her to make sense of the abuse she witnessed and endured.
Throughout The Beast Within, the story unfolds from Willow's perspective, making her an unreliable narrator. The possibility that Noah’s "curse" was actually a severe psychological disorder, perhaps clinical lycanthropy, is hinted at, with his violent outbursts and paranoid behavior being rooted in generational trauma rather than a supernatural curse.
The concept of a "family curse" in the film can be interpreted as the cycle of abuse passed down through generations in the Avery family. Noah, like his father before him, grew up in a toxic environment filled with cold and brutal men, and he eventually became one himself.
The film subtly suggests that Noah's actions were influenced by his own childhood trauma, and this abuse created a cycle that Willow feared she might continue.
The image of Willow using her father's photo as a bookmark in White Fang suggests that she is struggling to reconcile the reality of her father’s abuse with the fantasy she created to survive it.
The novel, which explores themes of wild ancestry and taming the beast within, mirrors Willow’s journey of accepting or denying her own "wild" inheritance.
Ultimately, The Beast Within blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, leaving the audience to decide whether Noah was truly a monster in the literal or metaphorical sense.
The film’s ambiguous ending allows for multiple interpretations, with the possibility that Willow may one day turn into a werewolf herself—or that she may have already succumbed to the same psychological demons that plagued her father.
The Beast Within raises questions about the nature of trauma, the impact of generational abuse, and the ways in which the mind can create alternate realities to cope with unbearable truths.
The Beast Within is available to buy or rent online.
