Abandoned: the ending, explained – Is the farmhouse haunted?

Spencer Squire in her directorial debut relates the story of a couple moving into a haunted house in the countryside with unopened secrets in a loosely put-up film. The film follows the lives of Alex (John Gallagher Jr) and Sara (Emma Roberts), who have just given birth to a baby boy and wanted a change of location after she is diagnosed with postpartum depression. 

The film follows her struggle to discern the real from the fake scenarios her mind makes up in a movie that leaves some questions unanswered. 

Alex and Sara move into a house with a mysterious history 

The film starts on a bleak night with a woman screaming as two gunshots are fired. It then fasts forwards to 40 years after this incident where a young couple is browsing around the house with a realtor.

Introduced as Sara and Alex, they reveal that they are deciding to move into the countryside, expecting a change of environment to suit Sara’s medical condition. Sara suffers from postpartum depression, a type of illness that mothers get after delivering a baby. 

The couple meets with Cindy, the realtor who is selling a farmhouse and they ask why the house hasn’t been sold for a long time. Cindy reveals that the house was previously owned by a family called Solomons where the daughter, Anna had killed both her father and daughter and had committed suicide inside the house. 

Although reluctant, they still proceed with the purchase and moves into the house. 

Sara starts experiencing strange events as more mysteries are unfolded

After the couple moves in, the newly born baby starts crying incessantly, making the couple wonder about the house. They also find a locked room in the house and when they manage to open it, they discover another locked room hidden behind the wardrobe. 

They also come across a mysterious neighbour called Chris Renner, who comes inside the house without any invitation. Sara is later left alone inside the house while Alex goes to work, making her experience more hallucinations of Anna, the girl who killed both her father and daughter.

Chris explains that Anna’s mother was killed during childbirth and the father kept raping Anna to mourn his wife’s death. Anna had later given birth to her father’s child and had then committed suicide after killing them both.

However, Sara also discovers about Anna’s brother from the report the realtor gave her. Upon further inspections, the realtor reveals that he had been in foster care and now lives as their neighbour taking a new name called Chris Renner. 

With time, Sara’s hallucinations start getting worse and on one occasion she throws out the milk and drops her baby who almost falls down the stairs. Alex darts in and latches onto the newly born and prevents a further scare. 

Alex finds an expert to help as Sara’s situation gets worse

Alex decides that Sara shouldn’t be kept alone with the baby and takes brings a psychiatrist to the house who recommends some antipsychotic drugs. However, Sara somehow manages to throw them away and lie to her husband by saying she took all the drugs. 

After some time, Alex being a veterinarian receives an urgent call but declines to visit the client fearing for the safety of Sara and the baby. Sara, however, manages to convince him to go and stays inside the house, confident that she will be fine. 

However, after some time, she hallucinates again and sees the murdered father and son. They accuse Sara of neglecting her duties as a mother and trying to murder her son. Sara starts pleading with them and the hallucination drives an axe toward the baby while Sara screams, ending the scene.

In the bleak darkness, Sara mutters the words,

“He’s mine.”

What happened at the end?

In the next scene, Alex comes home to see Sara having breakfast with the baby and they all share a meal. She reaches for Alex’s hand and tells him that it is all over. The couple starts redecorating their house and they start to dance. While the recording plays, the film fast forwards and the next shot shows a young Liam asking to go in the swing. The three of them start playing in the Swing and Sara is revealed to be pregnant again. 

The film ends on a suspenseful note with Sara getting worried again about the baby inside her. 

Is the farmhouse haunted?

Given the evidence presented in the film, there is not much to go on to claim that the house is haunted. Rather, the gist of the film is to reveal the mental struggles of Sara who is going through depression. This depression is the reason behind Sara’s hallucinations, rather than the house and the history itself. 

Overall, the film manages to deliver a good scare with some strong acting performances but ultimately fails to deliver as one of the top echelons of the horror category.