Old People ending explained – do Ella and the kids make it out of geriatric zombie island?

By Lori Meek
Published: October 7, 2022 (Last updated: last month)
0
old-people-ending

This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film Old People and will contain spoilers.

Old People is a horror offering from Germany, directed by Andy Fetscher, centered on a small town where a bunch of nursing home residents got up from their wheelchairs and chose violence. The first half of the film follows Ella (Melika Foroutan), as she arrives back in her hometown for her sister’s wedding with her two children, Laura (Bianca Nawrath) and Noah (Otto Emil Koch). Ella’s ex-husband, Lukas (Stephan Luka), and his girlfriend, Kim (Anna Underberger), are also set to attend the wedding. Little do they know the nuptials will be followed by a ruthless attack from the town’s elderly population.

The first two to go are a few rather rude nursing home employees, followed by the newlyweds who just so happened to be in the middle of doing what couples do on their wedding night. Most of the town’s younger people meet a similar fate and the house where Ella and her kids were staying turns into the last stronghold. 

Old People ending explained

By the end of Old People, Ella, Lukas, the kids, and an out-of-place Kim are hiding in the big house hoping to attempt their escape at daybreak. However, Kim’s jealousy of her boyfriend’s ex leads to her trying to offer up her rival to the hoard of old people gathered outside the house. Ella just about escapes, while Kim gets her throat slashed. Lukas is injured in the struggle and dies. Our protagonist tries to escape a now-burning house with the kids through the tunnels Noah previously mentioned. Sadly, she doesn’t make it either as the zombie-like elders stab her to death. 

Laura calls her boyfriend who tells her to meet him at the beach where there’s a boat to get them off the zombie elderly island. However, as the kids get ready to run through the forest, they are intercepted by their own grandpa and another murderous older gentleman who overpowers Laura and puts a knife to her throat. Knowing she’s about to die in front of her younger brother, the girl starts singing the family’s song and Noah joins in. Listening to the two children cry-sing in a tear-jerker scene inundated with flashbacks finally wakes up grandpa from his daze. He shoots his older peer and runs off into the sunset with his beloved grandchildren. 

As the survivors are sailing away from the island, Laura’s voiceover explains that soon the whole world would become overpowered by the geriatric zombies. According to her, it’s the young’s fault for not honoring the older generation enough and causing them to snap. So, there we have it – Apocalypse by grandpa. 

What did you think of the ending of the Netflix film Old People? Comment below.

Endings Explained, Movies, Movies - Ending Explained, Netflix, Streaming Service