Explaining the end of Insidious 5 (2024)

Insidious: The Red Door ending spoilers follow.

We've gone back into The Further in Insidious: The Red Door for the final chapter in the story of the Lambert family.

Nearly a decade after the traumatic events of Insidious: Chapter 2, Dalton (Ty Simpkins) is off to art college, but he can't escape his past. Both Dalton and his father Josh (Patrick Wilson) start to be haunted by the demons of The Further.

In order to end their troubles once and for all, Dalton and Josh have to head back into The Further and confront their biggest threat: the Lipstick-Face Demon.

But if you were too busy hiding behind your hands, we're here to delve into the end of Insidious: The Red Door. Major spoilers await so don't read on if you haven't seen the new movie yet.

After Dalton is told to delve deep into his memories for his art, he starts to draw the red door and rediscovers his ability to travel into The Further. He initially thinks it's all fun and games, until he starts to encounter the Lipstick-Face Demon again.

Around the same time, Josh starts to be haunted by his dead father, Ben Burton, who Josh discovers could also astral project into The Further. Before Ben died by suicide, he left Josh's mother a note that read: "This ends with me."

In The Further, Dalton manages to revisit the events of Insidious: Chapter 2's finale where Josh attacked his family while possessed by The Bride in Black. In a retcon, it's revealed that Dalton attacking his father is what saved his younger self from being killed by Josh.

Unfortunately for Dalton, revisiting this trauma leaves him vulnerable to possession by the Lipstick-Face Demon. Luckily for Dalton, Josh is told by Renai (Rose Byrne) what he did to the family a decade ago, and he heads back into The Further to save his son.

Josh finds Dalton in the Lipstick-Face Demon's lair and frees his son. They escape through the red door, but the demon is chasing them, so Josh tells Dalton to leave while he holds the door closed. Josh believes that this is what his father's note meant, it ends with him and he must sacrifice himself to save his family.

However, now back in the real world, Dalton starts to paint his image of the red door black which replicates itself in The Further, sealing it shut. Josh then sees the spirit of his father in The Further who then turns into a lantern to help guide Josh back to his body.

In the final scenes, Josh sees the spirit of Elise (Lin Shaye) who tells him that he has a "bright future ahead", while Dalton hangs up a new painting of his father carrying him to safety as a child. "You have to remember, even the things that hurt," Dalton explains.

So even though the Lamberts have been through a lot, all's well that ends well.

Even though it might be the end of the franchise, Insidious: The Red Door does have a post-credit scene.

It's a very brief scene at the end of the credits that cuts back to the door in The Further and we see a light flickering, hinting that the Lipstick-Face Demon isn't done with the Lamberts just yet...

Insidious: The Red Door is out now in cinemas.

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