The Turning Ending Explained

Summary The Turning is a reimagined version of The Turn of the Screw with significant differences in setting and character development.

The movie doesn't confirm the existence of ghosts haunting the mansion, leaving Kate mentally shaken and unsure of reality.

The ambiguous ending of The Turning, criticized by many, prompts an alternate ending where Miles' possession by Peter Quint is left unresolved.

When The Turning was released in 2020, it was panned by critics and left many viewers confused about its ending. Based on the 1898 Henry James horror novella, The Turn of the Screw, The Turning follows Kate Mandell (Mackenzie Davis), a young woman who is hired to become the governess for Miles (Finn Wolfhard) and Flora Fairchild (Brooklynn Prince), the children of a wealthy family after the death of their parents. Kate's primary responsibility is to take care of the children, but that task soon becomes difficult when ghosts suddenly start haunting Miles and Flora.

The film began as a passion project for legendary director Steven Spielberg, who wanted to be involved in another horror movie as a producer since 1982's Poltergeist (via Slash Film). The film was originally called Haunting and was supposed to be directed by 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and star Game of Thrones actress Rose Leslie (via Looper). However, the project would eventually be scrapped and the script was heavily rewritten. A couple of years later, it was rebranded as The Turning and featured not only a new director and cast but also a new, very polarizing ending.

Cast of The Turning Characters Actors Kate Mandell Mackenzie Davis Miles Fairchild Finn Wolfhard Flora Fairchild Brooklynn Prince Darla Mandell Joely Richardson Mrs. Grose Barbara Marten Bert Mark Huberman Peter Quint Niall Greig Fulton Miss Jessel Denna Thomsen Rose Kim Adis Nancy Karen Egan Holly Darlene Garr

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Similarities And Differences Between The Turning and The Turn Of The Screw

The Movie Is Based On Henry James Classic Horror Novella

While the film is based on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, The Turning takes many creative liberties with its source material. While the basic premise of a governess trying to protect the children of a wealthy family from ghosts is the same in both The Turning and The Turn of the Screw, that is essentially where the similarities end. For example, The Turn of the Screw takes place in Victorian-era England while The Turning is set in 1994. Additionally, the children in The Turning are older than in the novella.

However, one of the biggest differences between the movie and the novella is the portrayal of the protagonist. In The Turn of the Screw, she does not have a name and is simply referred to as "The Governess." In The Turning, the main character's name is not only Kate, but she also has an extended backstory that plays a role in the overall narrative.

Additionally, The Turning also does not mention Bly Manor, which is the name of the mansion that The Turn of the Screw takes place in. Fortunately, this setting would later be explored in Mike Flanagan's Netflix horror series, The Haunting of Bly Manor.

There May Or May Not Be Ghosts In The Turning

Kate Believes The Ghosts Are Real

While The Turning itself does not confirm whether ghosts are haunting the mansion, Kate most certainly believes that they exist. Since the beginning of the film, Kate has repeatedly witnessed the ghosts of two former residents of the mansion: Miss Jessel, the former governess of the Fairchild family, and Peter Quint, the former stable master and horse riding teacher. These hauntings soon become much worse when, one day after Kate receives a drawing from her mother Darla (Joely Richardson) who lives in a psychiatric hospital, she gets a vivid image from the ghost of Miss Jessel.

Kate discovers that Miss Jessel was sexually assaulted and then killed by Peter Quint, who was later killed himself by the caretaker of the mansion, Mrs. Grose. Since their deaths, the ghosts of Miss Jessel and Peter Quint have been roaming the Fairchild estate. Kate takes this both as a sign that the ghosts are real and a warning that the children are in danger and that they need to leave as soon as possible.

The Turning Does Not Confirm If Miles Is Possessed

Miles Claims That Peter Won't Let Him Leave

Another important plot point that the film leaves ambiguous is whether Miles was possessed, or at the very least influenced by the ghost of Peter Quint. Near the end of The Turning when Kate attempts to leave the mansion with Miles and Flora, Miles claims that he is unable to leave because Peter will not allow him. While the movie does not confirm whether this is true, Kate very much believes so, as earlier she had a dream in which she was running around a maze with Miles, but at one point he briefly morphed into Peter Quint.

Miles confesses that when Peter was still alive, he was very close to him.

Additionally, Miles confesses that when Peter was still alive, he was very close to him as Peter taught him various skills, such as how to ride and flog a horse. However, because Kate often has trouble discerning between reality and fantasy throughout the film, Miles may simply be a bad kid. It is revealed that Miles was expelled from school after nearly beating a fellow student to death. Additionally, Miles is a spoiled kid who often looks down on people and is used to getting his way. Ultimately, Miles' fate is left unclear.

Kate Attempts To Escape The Mansion With Miles and Flora

Kate Only Imagines The Escape

Once Kate realizes the danger that both she and the children are in, she quickly puts Miles and Flora into the car and drives away from the mansion. The Turning attempts to make it seem like this is its ending, but instead, the film surprises the audience and reveals that none of this actually happened. Instead, Kate had simply visualized the idea of putting the children in the car and driving away after examining the strange picture that she received from Darla.

This leaves Kate wondering if she has the same mental condition as her mother and questions if there are even ghosts haunting the mansion.

Kate Doesn't Know What's Real Anymore

The Turning Ending Suggests It Was All Kate's Dream

After the dream/nightmare sequence, Kate finds Miles and Flora, who are strangely located in the old room of Peter Quint, which is filled with various creepy pictures of young women who have previously lived on the Fairchild estate. Kate confronts the young children and asks if they have seen any ghosts. The children proceed to berate her for believing in such nonsense, and their ridicule becomes so great that Kate curls up in a ball and begs them to stop mocking her.

It so ambiguous that it doesn't provide a satisfying answer to the various questions it establishes

Once the mocking stops, Kate stands up and discovers she is in her old childhood home. She finds her mother sitting and facing away from her. Kate's mother asks if she has seen the pictures she sent. When Kate turns her mother around, she screams at the sight of her face before the end credits roll. The Turning ending was maligned by critics and left audiences frustrated because not only is it so ambiguous that it doesn't provide a satisfying answer to the various questions it asks, but it leans into the unpopular "it's all a dream" trope.

The Alternate Ending of The Turning

Kate Battles The "Ghosts" Of The House

Due to the film's negative reception during its theatrical release, with a lot of the backlash directed at the ending, Universal attempted to rectify this mistake by releasing an alternate ending of The Turning on Blu-Ray. This new ending features a scene in which the ghost of Peter Quint attacks Kate. Kate eventually defeats the ghost by choking it to death. However, Flora begs Kate to stop as Kate realizes she's not choking Peter Quint, but Miles. When Kate lets go of Miles, a spider crawls out of him, and the young boy is brought back to life.

What is particularly eerie about this ending is that, after this moment, both Flora and Miles act as if nothing happened. Miles gives Kate a strange look, which causes Kate to scream and the credits to roll. While this alternate ending does not radically improve the quality of The Turning, it nonetheless gives the audience some closure while leaving the question of Miles' possession by Peter ambiguous.

The Real Meaning of The Turning Ending

The Horror Lies In Kate Not Trusting Her Perception Of Reality

Close

In the vein of horror movies like Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things and Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue, The Turning is a film that plays with the perception of reality. While the script isn't perfect, it does an excellent job of showcasing Kate's mindset and how she is unable to properly discern what is happening from what is in her head. The Turning never makes clear if ghosts are haunting the mansion and that fear of being unable to figure out whether something is real is the true horror of this 2020 movie.

How The Turning Ending Was Received

Critics & Audience Members Hated It Equally

Critics shredded The Turning with scathing reviews. It sits at a low 12% on Rotten Tomatoes while the audience score is almost just as low at 15%. When breaking down The Turning, most critics complained that the movie took The Tale of the Screw and turned it into something that was dull and lifeless. There was some praise for the pacing, and the great cast and visuals, but most critics and audiences pointed to the ending as what finally turned them against the horror movie.

When reviewing the film for Riot Material, critic Kristy Puchko praised the social commentary and the scares that most fans look for in haunted house horror movies. However, she writes that it all falls apart with the ending:

The Turning throws all this richness and festering terror away with an ending that goes wildly off-book into the inexplicable... All the good will earned by a crackerjack cast, elegantly elegiac visuals, and a thought-provoking subtext is scuttled by a clumsy and confounding conclusion.

This was something widely repeated by various film critics, and the audiences were even angrier. Even viewers who enjoyed it hated the ending, with one Rotten Tomatoes audience review stating, "Was very good in the beginning but went downhill after the second part of the movie. What happened?? The whole "it was all in there head" trope is annoying and very disappointing." This carried over to IMDb, where The Turning has a very low 3.9 rating, and Letterboxd, which has an abysmal 1.8.