'Dead Ringers' Ending Explained: Eerie post-credits scene adds creepy twist to tragic tale of twins
Spoilers for 'Dead Ringers'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Fans of David Cronenberg's 1988 film 'Dead Ringers' would have been curious about how the Mantle twins would turn out in the gender-flipped iteration presented in the Prime Video series of the same name. Although based on the OG film, novel, and the true story that inspired it, the series does not end with the twins' joint death, as one would have expected.
Throughout the six episodes, Rachel Weisz gives a remarkable performance, portraying vastly different personalities within the characters of Elliot and Beverly Mantle. As their birthing center gains popularity, their personal lives begin to unravel. Beverly and Genevieve (Britne Oldford) fall deeply in love, and their newfound romance threatens to disrupt the close bond that Elliot and Beverly have shared their entire lives. As secrets are revealed, we gain insight into their childhood and witness Elliot's disregard for medical ethics in the name of scientific advancement. Journalist Silas Jordan (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) follows the twins around for what he believes will be a "fluff piece," but he gets too close and ends up witnessing their eventual downfall and the mishap that puts an end to one of their careers.
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Beverly's gruesome death
In the final moments of 'Dead Ringers', Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Silas Jordan is set to publish his report exposing the Mantle twins' corrupt practices, including their involvement in the death of a homeless woman and their strange relationship with the Parker family. Despite attempts to intimidate and threaten Silas, he refuses to back down.
Rebecca Parker decides to sever all ties with Elliot but wants the truth to come out from a reliable source. She enlists Beverly to publicly distance herself from Elliot, which she does at an award show. However, Beverly realizes that she is not truly happy and is not as innocent as she has portrayed herself to be. She confesses to Elliot that she wants the same things as her sister but lacks her talent and daring. Beverly asks Elliot to take her identity and end her misery, which she does by making an incision on Beverly's belly and delivering her twins while Beverly bleeds to death.
Elliot now lives as Beverly and tells Rebecca and Susan that Elliot helped deliver the babies, but when they ask where Elliot is, she simply says that her sister is gone. Silas' report is published, Tom leaves town, and Genevieve returns to the birthing center, calling out for Beverly before realizing that Elliot is now posing as her sister. The series ends on a haunting note, with the full extent of the twins' deception and Beverly's tragic end revealed.
Post-credits scene adds a creepy twist
The post-credits scene ends 'Dead Ringers' on an ever creepier note. We see Elliot, now living as Beverly, with Genevieve and the twins enjoying a peaceful moment in the park. However, a stranger approaches them, congratulating Elliot on the birth of her twins and claiming to know her from a bereavement group where she had been talking about her deceased sister for years. Elliot is shocked by this revelation, as it implies that Beverly had been planning their identity switch for a long time, and that the counseling was just a coping mechanism.
When Genevieve returns to the bench, Elliot brushes off the stranger and tells Genevieve that she thought she was "my sister." Genevieve looks uncomfortable, but doesn't realize that she's actually sitting next to the other Mantle sister. The scene then cuts to a boardroom meeting, where a man greets Elliot as Beverly and asks her to talk about her sister. Elliot is left dumbfounded as she realizes that the stranger in the park was not just a coincidence, and that her sister's plan was even more elaborate than she had imagined.
'Dead Ringers' is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.