Set on a ship crossing the River Niger, the Netflix original thriller Blood Vessel (2023) follows six people bound by chance who are trying to escape their region affected by oil pollution. Tekena and Olotu are two brothers trying to emigrate for financial purposes. The other set of siblings, Boma and Degbe, are running from the authorities after accidentally killing a man while protesting the oil company’s damage to their community. Abbey and Oyin are star-crossed lovers hoping to start a life together away from her disapproving father. The group pays a local sailor for safe passage to Brazil but finds themselves at the mercy of the ship’s sadistically deranged owner, Igor. At first, Igor appears kind and even offers them food. Soon enough, he shows his true colors by shooting an unsuspecting Debge in the head. The film soon devolves into horror, with Igor murdering the group one by one. Does anyone survive the blood vessel? Let’s break down the ending.
Blood Vessel (2023) Ending Explained
After skinning poor Boma alive (off-screen, thankfully) in retaliation for his sister’s death, Igor prepares more gruesomely inventive ways of handling the four remaining stowaways.
Igor takes Tekena and Olotu outside and orders them to fight to the death, but only the younger sibling seems willing to play into the Russian’s deranged game. The two fight, but when it comes down to it, the young man is unable to murder his own flesh and blood.
Why does Olotu kill himself?
When Igor demands the two continue his twisted version of Battle Royale, Olotu sacrifices himself for his younger sibling. Igor does keep his end of the deal; he allows the surviving Tekena to leave the boat alive. By that, I mean he shoots him in the leg and throws him overboard.
The following day, Abbey makes his way to the cabin where poor Oyin is still being held but has to hide before he’s able to free her.
How does Oyin die?
Abbey finds the ship’s captain also tied up inside a cabin. It seems Igor didn’t appreciate the captain protesting his senseless murders of the stowaways. The two men don’t have much time to bond, as Igor announces over the speaker that he’ll kill Oyin if Abbey doesn’t surrender.
Left with no other choice, Abbey turns himself in, only to helplessly watch Igor shoot Oyin in the head.
One of Igor’s henchmen takes a heartbroken Abbey into the abattoir to finish him off. Luckily, Boma just about survived being skinned alive earlier in the movie and stabs the henchman with a meat hook before he does more harm to Abbey. Before Boma succumbs to his wounds, he instructs his new friend to “fight.”
Why was Oyin’s father against her relationship with Abbey?
A flashback shows why Oyin’s father was so against her dating Abbey. When she was a baby, her mother promised her to the water spirit, meaning that if Oyin were to ever marry or have a child, she would die.
Now armed, Abbey kills another one of Igor’s henchmen and finds a place to hide. But the young man passes out from his injuries and ends up back in the abattoir, where Igor plans to skin him alive. Not ready to die yet, Abbey gathers the last of his strength, overpowers Igor, and ends the villain’s reign of terror once and for all.
After contemplating the loss of his friends, Abbey takes a lot of money from Igor’s stash and returns to his village. He meets with the other bereaved families and gives them some cash along with the terrible news of their loved ones passings.
Who survived the Blood Vessel?
But when he visits Olotu and Tekema’s mother, he’s surprised to learn that the younger sibling survived his ordeal and made it home. However, the young man’s leg had to be amputated.
After telling Oyin’s father the news with the help of other villagers, Abbey packs up and gets ready to leave his home and his pain behind. Within seconds of Abbey’s car leaving, Oyin’s father arrives at his house with a shotgun, ready to avenge his daughter.
What did you think of the ending of Blood Vessel (2023)? Comment below.
