Editor's Note: The following article contains spoilers for The Invitation (2022). Continue at your own risk.

The Invitation came to theaters as an update of the Dracula mythos, one which exposes the sexist and classist undertones of a wealthy vampire lord being served by immortal women. However, while the political debate at the core of The Invitation cannot be ignored, the movie also reimagines the rules of vampirism to make the creatures deadlier than usual. So, when the time comes for protagonist Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) to face the bloodsucking monsters, there are a lot of supernatural elements to keep track of. So, now that we all been ensnared by the delights of The Invitation's Gothic tale, it’s time to talk about that explosive ending, what it means, and where Evie’s story might be going next.

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Family Gatherings Are Weird

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Image via Sony

In The Invitation, Evie discovers she’s a lost relative of a wealthy English family who owes their fortune to real estate. Evie is worried about her family being composed of rich pricks, but they are all very welcoming, inviting her over for a wedding in the U.K., with all expenses paid. During the weekend, Evie feels like she might actually create a deep emotional bond with her recently-found family, and her life seems to be turning for the better when she starts to flirt with the owner of the mansion where the wedding is supposed to happen, Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty). Walter seems to have fallen in love with Evie at first sight, and the young woman allows herself to dream about a life of luxury in the arms of a handsome man, surrounded by caring family members. Unfortunately for Evie, some dreams turn into nightmares.

After being tricked by Walter into accepting a marriage proposal, Evie finds out the truth about his host and her family. As it turns out, Walter is actually Dracula, the Son of the Dragon, the most iconic vampire to ever walk on Earth. As for Evie’s relatives, the Alexanders are one of the three families who are sworn to serve Dracula in exchange for his protection and their fair share of the wealth the vampire hauled for centuries. As part of their deal, each family must offer one of their women to be Dracula’s wife.

Ever since Evie’s grandmother killed herself for being unable to keep drinking the blood of innocents, the Alexanders were incapable of birthing a woman, shaking the relationship with Dracula. However, Evie's arrival means the family can finally fulfill their oath and give her hand to Dracula. As for Viktoria (Stephanie Corneliussen) and Lucy (Alana Boden), they are already brides of Dracula, coming from the two other families under the vampire lord’s rule.

After the initial shock, Evie learns a few useful things about Dracula and vampires in general, knowledge that helps her plan her escape. First, most vampires tropes do not apply. They are not scared of crucifixes, garlic does not affect their health, and they can even walk freely in the sunlight. There’s some truth to the myths, though, as the only way to kill a vampire is to stab them in their heart, cut their heads off, or set them on fire. And, in order to become a vampire, you must drink the blood of another vampire, gaining the creature's strength and durability. However, once Dracula drinks the blood of one of his vampire brides, he becomes stronger still, to the point of being barely killable. With all that in mind, Evie prepares for her final confrontation against the vampire lord.

A Red Wedding Indeed

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Image via Sony Pictures

During their wedding ceremony, Evie bites Dracula’s arm, sucks his blood, and turns into a vampire. Dracula thinks she has finally accepted her fate, but it’s all a ruse. As soon as she’s powered up by Dracula’s blood, but before she gives her own blood away, Evie attacks Dracula, setting the church on fire and stabbing the vampire lord in his heart.

Evie tries to escape but is soon attacked by Viktoria. After spending five hundred years as a vampire, Viktoria is used to her power and doesn’t want to lose her prestigious position. So, to protect Dracula, she decides to kill Evie with her own claws. Evie is lucky that Lucy, the younger bride, doesn’t feel the same way. Lucy and Viktoria literally jump on each other’s necks, and for a moment, it looks like the older vampire has the upper hand. However, Lucy sacrifices her own life to impale herself and Viktoria onto the spear of a huge Saint George statue.

After the two vampire brides die, Dracula comes back to attack Evie. The stab in his chest has obviously drained a lot of energy, and the vampire can’t even keep his human features. The creature crawls over ceilings and walls in pursuit of Evie until it finally grabs her neck, threatening to choke the life out of her undead body. As a last resort, Evie kicks Dracula in the groin, pushing him into the fire that consumes the manor. The vampire screams in pain while Evie’s vampiric traits disappear. Dracula is dead, Evie is once again human, and a long history of death is finally over. Or is it?

Although Dracula is dead, the families that supported him for centuries got out of the wedding unscathed. The wealth of these families was collected in exchange for the blood of the innocent, and Evie cannot stand the thought of allowing these people to move forward with their lives without paying for their sins. So, after slaying Dracula, Evie decides it’s her responsibility to hunt down the vampire’s servants and bring them to justice.

In the last scene of The Invitation, Evie and her best friend Grace (Courtney Taylor) are stalking Oliver (Hugh Skinner). Evie's cousin is on the run and doing what he can to escape the authorities. But Evie is unwilling to forgive her cousin, so the two women decide to pay him a visit with a baseball bat. It’s a cathartic ending where people from the lower classes decide to hunt down the people who get rich by exploiting the poor, and a moment that reflects the movie’s overall message. Old money comes from pain, and the people who enjoy it nowadays must still take responsibility for those they help to oppress.

The Invitation is currently available in theaters.