We discuss the ending of the 2023 Paramount+ film Death’s Roulette which will contain spoilers.
In Death’s Roulette, Seven hostages wake up in a bunker on an island surrounded by the ocean. Simon, a police officer. Teresa, a flight attendant with a drug problem; Jose, an old man. Armando, an arrogant surgeon. Lastly, a wealthy couple, Esteban and Marta, with their daughter Lupe, a human rights lawyer, are among the hostages.
They receive a message that they must play a deadly game with three rules. They receive a message that says they are about to play a deadly game with only three rules: First, they must choose one of them to die. Two, the one who is chosen must agree to their own death. And third, no one can offer themselves up to die.
Death’s Roulette Ending Explained
Who was the first hostage to die in Death’s Roulette?
Jose is the first hostage to die in Death’s Roulette. He laments about his past and, without going into detail, is grief-stricken over his actions. Jose then offered himself up as the one to die.
That’s when a door opened, and a man with white hair pulled out a rifle and shot Jose in the head. Jose was killed because he violated the third rule of offering himself up to die.
Who is behind Death’s Roulette?
The man behind Death’s Roulette is a murderer and sadist named Pablo Vega. When the group moves on to the second challenge, there is an envelope with each person’s name on it. Each one contains a dark secret that connects each hostage to Vega.
They play an acrostic or word puzzle that reveals that Esteban has a frontman for their business, “Pereira.” Each line fills out a dark fact. Underneath Pereira, Teresa admits she is addicted to “amphetamines,” and her dealer is “Elf.”
Lupe forged her “bachelor’s” degree diploma. Simon betrayed his partner, “Lorenzo.” Marta has a sister, “Ofelia,” that she never told her daughter about. The group thinks Jose’s secret is retirement, so they spell out “jubilado.” And Armando has a sexually transmitted disease, “gonorrhea.” Finally, the ninth line is “Alejandra,” for the woman Esteban slept with outside of marriage.
The first line, vertically, is highlighted in red and reads “Pablo Jega.” However, Simon knows it has to be “Pablo Vega,” and he replaces the “J” with a “V.”
How is each character connected to Pablo Vega?
Each person in the group affected Pablo Vega in some negative way. Simon had a tip on him but accidentally shot the murderer’s wife when they stormed his home. Teresa was high on drugs when she hit Vega’s mother with her car. The surgeon who worked on her was Armando, but he killed her by accidentally putting an oxygen tube down her throat that ripped her esophagus and caused her death.
Who is Pablo Vega to Marta?
At first, Esteban and Marta tell the group that Pablo’s mother was their maid, who quit when she became pregnant, but later Marta admits that Pablo is her nephew. Marta’s sister, Ofelia, was raped in an asylum by Jose, and when she had the baby, the nurse tried to give the child to Marta, who refused because she was afraid that her sister’s mental health struggles were genetic.
This causes the group to choose Marta, who accepts, but the door opens as she repents and begs for forgiveness. They are led to a table to eat dinner.
Why was Armando killed?
Armando is killed when he tries to stab Marta, but Esteban defends her and pushes the knife into his stomach. At dinner, Pablo attaches a note to do it themselves, meaning to kill the chosen one and tries to stab her with a sharp knife. Esteban defends her, and a struggle ensues, pushing the knife into Armando’s stomach.
While bleeding, the group chooses Armando to die. He accepts, reluctantly, to be the one chosen. This effectively saves the group. He has Esteban stab him in a way that will make him bleed out quickly, across from his esophagus.
Who is the real Pablo Vega?
It is revealed that Simon is Plabo Vega when Teressa is killed by Simon when he strikes her with a truck. The group is let out into a maze and chased by Vega’s two armed Henchmen. After escaping the maze and being hit by a truck, she begs for forgiveness. However, Vega climbs back into his truck and runs her over one more time.
When Esteban, Marta, and Lupe attempt to escape on a boat, Simon runs after them, asking them to wait for them. He climbs on board, takes off his jacket, and Marta notices the birthmark on his arm — the exact same one her nephew had as an infant. She now knows Simon is Vega.
Why is Lupe working with Pablo Vega?
It’s then revealed Lupe is on the plan with Vega because Esteban has sexually abused Lup’s young female classmates, and Lupe confirms she was as well. Vega gives Marta a gun to kill her husband, but she cannot do it. Vega provides the gun to Esteban to kill his wife and pulls the trigger, but there are no bullets.
Pablo then shoots Esteban in the head, killing him. Pablo tells Marta she should have tried “love” and has her back to the house and given shock treatment, just like her sister.
What did you think of the ending of the 2023 Paramount+ film Death’s Roulette? Comment below.
