Descendent (2025) Ending Explained - Was It Really Aliens?

Welcome to Knockout Horror. If you are new here, we review horror movies, explain horror movie endings, and put out horror movie ranking lists. We checked out the pseudo-alien horror, slash psychological parenthood anxiety horror Descendent the other day and thought it was.. well, it was okay, I suppose.

It’s one of those movies that is, obviously, full of question marks, though, so I figured I would bring you guys this Descendent (2025) Ending Explained article. I should add, as well, that this article has been insanely popular which speaks to the overly ambiguous nature of the film.

The temptation here might be to interpret the plot a few different ways, blurt it all out, and then try to make sense of the resulting mess afterwards. I really don’t want to do that as I am not a huge fan of spreading things so thin that I, ultimately, don’t end up explaining the ending at all. I am going to give you my concrete interpretation of the ending in its entirety. There are spoilers ahead so be warned.

Let’s Jump Straight In

I normally break down the whole plot but I really want to avoid this article being 8,000 words as I repeatedly type “was this in his head, or did it actually happen?” so I won’t do that. Let’s try and summarise in a couple of paragraphs then I will answer a few questions.

Sean is a security guard with aspirations of bigger things. He has a child on the way and his wife is suffering from a few pregnancy related issues, one being the fact that the baby is Right Occiput Anterior (ROA), or lying on the right side rather than the preferred left side, and the other being the very worrying pre-eclampsia. Naturally, Sean’s already heightened concern and anxiety levels are raised even further.

Sean feels pretty inadequate and hopes to score a job with a friend of his boss. This opportunity is struck down immediately, furthering his feelings of inadequacy. Sean’s mother died in childbirth and his father took his own life when Sean was very young.

After seeing a light in the sky while fixing something on the roof of his workplace, Sean is, apparently, abducted by aliens. While in, err, the spaceship, I guess? He is seemingly experimented on before being returned to earth. When he arrives back, he is changed. He has additional powers like being able to hear conversations from a distance and he is seeing disturbing visions. On top of that, a dog randomly turns up in the middle of the night which actually appears to be Sean’s dog from childhood. Weird!

Things Go From Bad To Worse

As the visions progress, Sean begins to become physically and mentally unwell. His feelings of inadequacy grow, he purchases a gun for protection, and inadvertently upsets his wife over and over. Sessions with a psychologist don’t offer much help but do lead to him drawing the things he sees. Many of which are images of a young boy and a man, seemingly a parent and child, and a series of homes and shops from a strange place.

Sean’s behaviour becomes so unpredictable that his wife eventually, asks him to leave. Sean stays with his adopted brother and carries on painting. After a visit with his psychologist, he becomes unwell and, apparently, passes out. While in a semi-conscious state, he sees his pregnant wife deceased on a gurney. The baby having passed away, as well.

He eventually manages to piece together the location of the places he has been sketching. He heads back there and finds his childhood home. The dog cage sits empty and his dad is sitting in the garden drinking a beer. He spends some time with his father before re-entering the house. In the background, he hears a gunshot indicating that his father has killed himself.

Moments later, Sean wakes up on the ground outside of where he fell earlier in the movie. He is helped by a man who takes him into his car, crosses his name off a list, while commenting on how the aliens had been rooting around in his brain.

Sean returns home to find nothing has changed. His wife is fine, the baby room is painted, and it as nothing that he had experienced ever happened. He falls asleep next to his pregnant wife with the sketches still above them on the wall.

Time To Clear Some Stuff Up

It would be real easy to go deep in on Descendent’s plot and try to weave it into something it is not. Is it an allegorical story where none of this happened and he is actually mentally ill and suffering from psychosis or did the abduction actually happen? The truth of the matter is, it would be a waste of time because this story, whether by design or not, is very straight forward.

It is, at its core, a story about aliens abducting a man and subjecting him to an imagined experience, or simulation, that helped him deal with his childhood trauma. There is no ambiguity, despite the suggestion that this could have all been inside his head.

A few changes here and there and you would be able to weave the two themes together in a way that left the viewer able to conclusively, and satisfactorily, say it was either/or. The alien abduction arc would make just as much sense as the allegorical “it was all in his head” arc but the two themes wouldn’t cross over leaving a delicious hint of ambiguity, if that’s your kind of thing.

Take The Shining, for example. You can take that movie as a supernatural story about spirits driving a man to kill and it makes just as much sense as it being a story about an isolated alcoholic with violent tendencies losing his mind. It never has to be both but it absolutely can be, it is partly up to the viewer to decide. You can’t do that with Descendent. There is a full stop on the end of the story that wraps things up conclusively.

Was Sean Actually Abducted?

Yes, Sean is actually abducted. This is a movie about aliens, despite how much it wants to lean into the allegorical, metaphorical, stuff. Descendent’s story doesn’t work as an allegorical horror. We actually see Sean being physically abducted, returned to earth, and the abduction being referenced by a third-party character. That’s puts the question to bed. That third person is key because that actually happened and Sean didn’t imagine it.

He was abducted, there were aliens, and he was returned to earth a changed man. That’s the only way to see it. But what about the sketches on the wall at the end? We will get to that in a minute because there is an explanation.

The movie is set in Los Angeles, which, along with the entirety of California, is a UFO sighting hotspot. Sean climbs on the roof, sees a light, and the next minute he is abducted. He finds himself restrained by some extra-terrestrial gloop and being surrounded by creatures. The entire presentation of Sean’s experience tracks with those of other supposed abductees who have recounted their own personal experiences.

Why Did The Aliens Abduct Sean?

This is a good question and one that kind of makes me chuckle just a little but there is a little logic behind it if you are fan of aliens. It would seem as though the aliens kidnapped Sean to help him deal with his trauma around becoming a dad.

I know, it sounds absolutely crazy, right. I am not the biggest alien nerd in the world, it’s not a subject I follow but I do know a little. Many abductees report that their encounters with aliens were actually kind of positive. In fact, some would suggest that aliens can be quite altruistic.

Aliens have, supposedly, warned abductees of impending disasters, related concerns about humanity’s proclivity for war, and even cured people of diseases and cancers. What’s to say that an alien wouldn’t abduct a human to give them a quick dose of psychotherapy and help them through their personal issues?

Let’s remember, as well, Sean was altruistic himself. He saved the life of a deer that was trapped, even when it meant he could get hurt. The deer acts as a handy metaphor for what the aliens are doing for Sean. They are saving him.

The easiest way to look at this is that the aliens abducted Sean, restrained him, used a tool on him that would allow them to explore his mind and manipulate his thoughts. And then they began placing him through an imagined experience, a simulation if you will, to help him confront his childhood trauma.

What’s With Sean’s Drawings

The drawings are the small pieces of Sean’s fragmented trauma being visually brought to life. They are the symbolic representation of working through your trauma from childhood piece by piece. He draws his fears around his mother dying during childbirth; he draws places from his childhood that he doesn’t remember because he has repressed them; he draws himself with his dad.

Each sketch gets a little more detailed and a little more obvious as he grows more and more in touch with the things that have been, inadvertently, impacting his life ever since they happened. This is very similar to how people tend to progress in psychotherapy. The process is designed to gradually unravel a person’s childhood piece by piece or, in this case, sketch by sketch.

It’s important to note that none of this ever actually happened. Sean isn’t really sketching these things. They are simply part of the implanted experience that is helping him gradually come to terms with the childhood trauma he suffered. Much of which comes as the result of feeling abandoned by his father which leads us onto the next point.

Why Is Sean Anxious About Parenthood?

Sean is anxious about parenthood for a couple of reasons, all associated with his own childhood. He is particularly concerned about his wife and child passing away. This is because his mother died during childbirth. Even though he wasn’t cognisant of it happening, the result will have devastated him and left him traumatised for life. This is particularly true when it comes to his own wife being pregnant.

He wants to feel like he has some control over the situation and can prevent bad things from happening to his wife. This isn’t entirely possible, though. He can only do so much and the rest is in the hands of chance. This, obviously, leaves him feeling scared, again, because he lost his mother while she was pregnant.

This is why he sees his wife and baby dead in the simulation. This is his ultimate fear, he even sees a vision of his new born baby drowning. Drowning being a common vision in the nightmares of trauma sufferers.

Sean likely feels like he can’t be a capable parent, as well. He wants a better job and can’t provide as well as he would like. He also doesn’t have any experience to draw from because his dad took his own life when Sean was young. All he knows related to parenthood is grief and tragedy. He feels like he will never be capable of becoming a good parent due to his trauma and that scares him.

Why Did Sean Buy a Gun?

This is an interesting little element that, I think, goes a couple of different ways. First, let’s state the obvious. Sean feels like he can’t protect his wife and his unborn child. In his mind, purchasing the gun is a way to take back some control and have some sense of capability when it comes to preventing bad things from happening.

Remember how he imagines his wife being snatched by some invisible force? He wants to be prepared should that happen. There is the hint that he is thinking of taking his own life but I don’t think that is the intended point of him buying the gun, initially.

I think this is a consequence of him reaching a point in the simulation where his trauma was becoming too much for him. Remember, it gets worse before it gets better with any kind of therapy. He throws the gun away and that marks a big step in dealing with it.

The second potential reason is a little more interesting. Many alien abductees report feeling incredibly paranoid when they returned. They claim to have never felt safe in their homes and always feared becoming a victim again. Sean buying a gun is, possibly, a two pronged story element that ties into his anxieties and the fact that he is currently in a simulation created by aliens.

Remember, he believes that he has been abducted and then returned to earth. He doesn’t realise he is in a simulation created by the aliens, still. He is terrified and wants to protect himself should the aliens return, hence, he buys a gun.

Why Did Sean See People As Aliens?

So, Sean repeatedly saw the people around him as looking like aliens. Huge eyes, creepy voices, etc. He also sketched some of the people in his drawings to look almost alien like. Why did he do this? Well, it’s quite simple and it actually ties in pretty nicely with people in real life who have been placed into induced comas.

The aliens were all around him as he was restrained. He had been abducted and placed into a simulation. Much like coma victims see nurses, doctors, and relatives in moments where they dream, Sean is seeing the aliens that are putting him through the simulation. Of course, not literally, but they are morphing into the people he sees.

Let’s not forget, as well, it is entirely possible that this is just the way the aliens wanted the simulations to look. Perhaps this is their way of passing along their message to help Sean deal with his trauma. It’s also an interesting visual representation of how the people around Sean feel alien to him in this simulation because they don’t understand what he is going through and can’t help him.

Did Sean Really Meet His Dead Dad?

No, again, Sean met his dead dad in the simulation but not in real life. This was an important part of coming to terms with the feeling of abandonment that he felt. Sean felt inadequate because he felt like he wasn’t wanted. Meeting his dad, he could hear first hand that his dad felt inadequate too.

He could finally hear that his dad did love him, he just didn’t feel capable of giving Sean the best life possible. He was grieving his lost wife and felt as though he was failing as a father. As a result, he took his own life.

In that moment, Sean got to hear something that he probably always wanted to hear – his own dad telling him that he was going to be a great father. This was the breakthrough moment that everything else had been leading up to.

All the pictures that Sean had sketched depicted his childhood home and his father. This, eventually, lead him back to the house he grew up in. He got to talk to his dad, understand why his dad took his own life and that he actually really loved his son, and realise that he doesn’t have to carry that trauma any further. He can move on and become the parent he always wanted to be.

But What’s With The Sketches on the Wall?

While it is pretty clear to see that this is an actual depiction of alien abduction, the sketches being stuck all over the wall above the bed in the final scene throws that into doubt. It shouldn’t, though. These sketches act as a symbolic metaphor of the fact that Sean’s lived experiences are still with him. They are merely a way to suggest that the things that Sean has spent time coming to terms with will always be there in the background.

Now that he has managed to isolate each of these issues and put together the fragments of his past, thus coming to terms with is trauma. They won’t simply go away. He will have to live with them every day and continue his journey towards good mental health. He can’t simply discard the problems and hope they don’t reappear.

In fact, that’s what made him so traumatised in the first place. Confronting the issues from your past are part of dealing with them. Living with them and understanding that, despite them being uncomfortable, they all make up the complex human that is you is extremely important. Sean can be a great dad while having these insecurities as long as he recognises them and doesn’t bury them deep inside.

What’s The Aster Thing All About? (Solved)

I like to cover everything that might be a bit confusing in these articles but this one is a bit weird. Sean leaves the gate at his work open and someone vandalises the wall with the words “Break Free From Aster”. Now, it’s clear that the person who painted that was Sean himself but what does it mean?

Well, I have to be honest, I kinda missed the point of that. Is it an anagram? Does it mean Break Free From Tears? As in, confront the things that are making you sad and move on with your life? I don’t know. It’s these little moments that make Descendent feel like it lost some stuff to the chopping room floor.

Edit: Okay, scratch all that. A very kind reader messaged to let me know that Aster is the street that Sean grew up on. Just going back through the movie and they are totally correct. For some reason, I realised I had completely missed that part of the film and I am not quite sure how. I went to grab a drink at one point and to put our pet hedgehog back in her bed at another. So, I am guessing that lined up perfectly with this important revelation.

I also totally skimmed past it when rewatching for this article because it didn’t seem all that important. So ignore everything above. Aster was the street in the desert that Sean grew up on – Aster Road. Sean was raised in a house there by his dad. Massive thanks, once again, for the tip from the reader.

Who Was The Guy At The End and Who Was The Psychologist?

Let’s start with the psychologist. Sean constantly mentioned recognising her. The reason for that is because he actually sees her during the simulation on a couple of occasions. She is tending to what appears to be a future version of Sean.

This version of Sean is, apparently, what Sean will become should he not confront his trauma and, perhaps, the version of Sean that he often imagines that he is. Helpless, frail, extremely mentally ill, and unable to cope so needs the help of a nurse.

The guy at the end of the movie, the one picks Sean up when he is returned to earth, is both kind of pivotal to the plot and kind of irrelevant. This guy, obviously, is tasked with retrieving the abduction subjects and making sure they are okay before returning them home.

He has a list of names with co-ordinates for where they will be dropped off. He comments on how “they have been rooting around” in Sean’s brain and how he got back quickly. Relating the strength of Sean and reinforcing the fact that he is a capable person who managed to deal with his problems quickly.

The reason this guy is so important is because he confirms that this wasn’t an allegorical story or a metaphor. This really happened.

In Short, Sean Was Abducted

So, to summarise, Sean was abducted by aliens, the aliens restrained him, and they put him through a simulation to help him come to terms with his trauma. They did this because they are altruistic and wanted to simply make him a better person.

The things that occurred during the middle of the film never happened, they were all part of the simulation. Sean pieced together the fragments of his past through the sketches, met his deceased father, and resolved his inner turmoil, though he will have to live with it for the rest of his life.

Again, I didn’t want to just spread myself thin on this and suggest a bunch of different explanations. This is my interpretation and I am sticking with it. Thank you very much for reading and spending some time at Knockout Horror.

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