Come Play Ending & What Happened To Sarah Explained

Summary Come Play's chilling ending reveals deeper thematic messages about technology and parental sacrifice.

Larry, the humanoid creature in the film, is a metaphor for the dangers of children's increasing reliance on screens.

Despite a divisive climax, Come Play's ending sets up potential for a sequel exploring the aftermath of Sarah's sacrifice.

The ending of horror movie Come Play is a chilling conclusion, but one that reveals much about the film's deeper meaning and thematic message. The Focus Features movie, a horror thriller released in October 2020, was written and directed by Jacob Chase, and based on his earlier short film called Larry. The movie follows the parents — Sarah and Marty, played by Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr. — of Oliver, a young, non-verbal autistic boy portrayed by Azhy Robertson.

Sarah and Marty must scramble to protect Oliver from getting abducted by a terrifying humanoid creature dubbed "Larry", who manifests thanks to an app on Oliver's tablet. Nearing the climax Come Play, Larry begins to stalk Oliver and Marty while they are out at night at Marty's parking lot attendant job. Through his son's tablet, Marty sees Larry picking up Oliver. It's at this point that both of Oliver's parents finally believe Larry is real; they break the tablet in the hope that it will end the fear and get rid of Larry. However, the Come Play ending suggests the nightmare isn't over.

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What Happens In Come Play's Ending

Oliver's Mother Makes The Ultimate Sacrifice

The ending of Come Play is an incredibly chilling climax given the threat the movie builds when it comes to the source of its horror, Larry. Larry feeds off of the innocence of children, and stalks Oliver and his family. Oliver first comes across Larry on his smartphone, an item he relies on to communicate with people. He downloads an app called "Misunderstood Monsters", which narrates the creature's story and explains that Larry needs a friend.

Once Oliver reads Larry's story, unexplained things begin happening. Among other occurrences, lights go off on their own and an unfamiliar face pops up on Oliver's tablet while he's trying out a photo app. When Oliver has a sleepover and his guests read Larry's story, the lights go out and the creature appears — seen only via the camera of Oliver's tablet. Larry even attacks one of the boys. Following this incident, Sarah also begins experiencing strange activity.

This makes Sarah's ultimate fate all the more tragic, though not quite surprising, given the lengths mothers will often go to for their offspring.

At the end of Come Play, it's discovered that Larry is still at large. He travels through electricity and can use any mobile device to communicate. He attacks Marty, and tries to attack Oliver in order to take him with him into his world. But Sarah does everything she can to save her son, disregarding everything else. She breaks all the electrical devices with a screen in the house. After that, Larry appears physically, and can suddenly be seen without the aid of a phone or tablet. Sarah takes Oliver, and they run to a field where there's no chance of electricity around.

Larry appears anyway, as Oliver's phone — which had been tossed by bullies earlier in the movie — is lying in the grass. Before the final scenes of Come Play, in which Sarah sacrifices herself for Oliver, the movie demonstrates the intense strength of the mother-son bond. Sarah is willing to do anything to keep Oliver safe, despite the difficulties she's faced as a mother. Gillian Jacobs' portrayal of a mother fighting to save her son is strong. This makes Sarah's ultimate fate all the more tragic, though not quite surprising, given the lengths mothers will often go to for their offspring.

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What Happened To Sarah?

Gillian Jacob's Come Play Character Becomes Part Of Larry's World

As Larry is about to take Oliver by the hand and bring him into his world, Sarah decides she must make the ultimate sacrifice herself for the sake of her son. She appears next to Larry, takes his hand, and says: "I'll be your friend, Larry." Then, after locking eyes with her son — a big moment, since eye contact is something Oliver struggles with throughout the story — both Sarah and the creature disappear.

After Sarah vanishes into Larry's world, Marty becomes a better father, one who is more involved in Oliver's life. Together, they reckon with the loss of a wife and a mother, respectively. Despite everything that's happened, it turns out Oliver didn't completely lose his mother. In fact, Sarah can still appear to and even play with Oliver, which Marty views through the camera of his phone in the final scene of the movie.

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How The Come Play Ending Sets Up A Sequel

The Ending Of Come Play Created Several Avenues For A Follow-Up

So far there haven't been any plans for Come Play 2. However, it does seem that the ending to Come Play, in which Oliver can still communicate with his mother, is setting up a sequel. It seems like Larry could easily return to this world. Also, he didn't end up preying on a child as he needed to — he took Sarah instead.

The filmmakers thought up creative ways in which Larry could appear throughout Come Play — like through phone cameras — and surely have many more ideas stowed away for a follow-up film. Plus, a sequel could explore Marty's stab at being a single father, and could examine exactly where Sarah is — maybe Oliver will try to find her, an idea reminiscent of the movie Insidious, with its inclusion of "The Further".

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Come Play's Real Meaning Explained

The Horror Movie Is About Much More Than A Monster That Lives In Smartphones

There is an ample amount of hidden meaning evident throughout Come Play. For one, the phenomenon of Larry only being seen through a smartphone or other mobile device can perhaps be seen as a symbol of the dangers that these devices pose to modern children, who are becoming increasingly attached to technology in their day-to-day lives. As such, Come Play is a story about people's — and children's — increasing reliance on screens and technology in the contemporary world.

The character of "Larry" might have a deeper meaning; he could be more than just a frightening monster that preys on young children.

Additionally, the character of "Larry" might have a deeper meaning; he could be more than just a frightening monster that preys on young children. Larry could potentially be a representation of Sarah and Marty's difficulty coping with the challenges of raising Oliver. By the end of Come Play, viewers might understand that Larry wasn't even the real villain in the movie.

Instead, the real villain — what Larry embodies — is isolation, loneliness, and fear. Whatever the case, Come Play certainly takes an interesting approach at the monster movie sub-genre by giving it an autistic lead character and an authentic, emotional arc to the story.

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How The Come Play Ending Was Received

Critics And Viewers Had Mixed Feelings About The Climax

Come Play received middling reviews when it released, and this was in part due to the ending being somewhat divisive. Many critics and viewers had mixed feelings about various aspects of the ending — as evidenced by its 56% critic rating and 67% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Some felt that the choices made by director Jacob Chase were ambitious and subversive. Having Oliver able to communicate with Sarah on his tablet after she'd gone with Larry into the digital realm was taken as an interesting narrative direction, one that was more satisfying than a perhaps more stereotypical reveal of Larry going on to stalk his next victim.

While it was certainly uplifting to see that Oliver and Sarah could still have a relationship after she'd vanished with Larry, this development was off-putting for many.

However, there were also some critics and viewers who felt that this ending was too happy given the plot of the movie up until the ending of Come Play. Happy endings for horror movies are always a gamble, as the genre typically concludes on less-than-positive notes for its characters. While it was certainly uplifting to see that Oliver and Sarah could still have a relationship after she'd vanished with Larry, this development was off-putting for many, and they felt it nulled the suspense built by the preceding scenes and the emotional impact of Sarah's sacrifice.

Come Play star Gillian Jacobs had an interesting take on the ending (via CinemaBlend), which captures why Larry was such an intriguing monster, but also why the conclusion of his story and his ultimate goal may have drawn such mixed responses:

I go back to the origin of this kind of online storybook misunderstood monster and I often go back to some of the great monsters – Creature from the Black Lagoon, King Kong and some of the most terrifying Universal horror era creatures. They were just that, they were acting instinctively and impulsively, they didn’t necessarily have a real evil impulse and I feel like Larry shares in that. Larry doesn’t think he’s doing some evil thing, he’s trying to play this game and reach out, but he doesn’t have the faculty to do that in a way without knowing that he’s causing harm. So I think he’s a misunderstood monster.