The ending


my interpretation of the ending is that huo tu doesn't die but is brought back to life by the love of his wife and daughter. remember the word chart and the line-and-circle diagram? the cultists and the wannabe-immortal arranged the diagram wrongly, which identified the words that said that huo tu was the catalyst that would make her immortal as he was a truly good man (he exposed the corruption etc etc). however the correct way to arrange the words would be "where there is love, there is life", meaning that immortality is achieved through love, and not by the bizarre ritual killings of 'unbelievers', 'evil-doers', 'adulterors' etc. the cultists have been doing all the while.

the ending sequence is actually a long, drawn-out hallucination because huo tu had inhaled a large amount of the fungus. all the while he was in the temple with the girl, and only the final scene was reality.

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I came to a similiar conclusion.

A very well made film with a distinctive convergence of genres that makes it very different from typical East Asian horror and thriller movies.

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