Portal In The Pines Movie Recap And Ending Explained: What Happens To Jesse And Charlie?

Eric Gibson’s latest movie, “Portal In The Pines,” effortlessly blends sci-fi with horror, while keeping the plot intriguing, rich and full of jump scares. I did not expect this combo to work but I ended up liking the story, which revolves around a helpless father’s efforts to close a portal to hell and saving his beloved son’s life. This does not sum up what “Portal In The Pines” presents because the film plays around with some popular conspiracy theories about colliders, parallel dimensions and of course, life beyond our dear planet.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Film?

In the year 1985, scientists are seen operating on a particle collider inside a military base to open a portal to another world. However, an anomaly forces the collider to explode, and a young female scientist gets sucked into the newly formed portal. Clint, who seems to be in the forest near the base, watches in awe as the bright portal in the sky emanates colorful lights. He also witnesses people’s bodies lying around but Mike, the radio host, doesn’t believe his words. In the present day, Blackguard, a governmental agency, has acquired rights to the property and sealed off the military base. Clint’s son, Jesse, has grown up to be a rural firefighter who lost his parents and suffers from PTSD. Jesse visits his ex-wife, Ashley and his son, Charlie to spend some time there. That evening, Charlie spots a strange white light in the sky, shows it to Jesse and the two of them drive towards its direction. Shortly after, Jesse stops his car and sees the light speeding away from the base. To their surprise, a speeding car almost hits them while making its way towards the restricted area.

Are Bo And Evelyn Dead?

Bo was out on a date with Evelyn and he decided to take her to the abandoned military base because it was his hangout spot. Bo, while trying to show his driving skills off, almost hit Charlie and Jesse while going there, something that Evelyn did not like at all. Both of them made a huge mistake coming down there since they probably ignored the fact that the base was Blackguard’s property. This company was a black government wing that still operated the collider while trying to contact extraterrestrial four-dimensional beings. Bo and Evelyn were unaware of all these. Most likely, the white light that we saw was a successful contact with those astral demons. When the couple sits down in the forest, Evelyn hears a shuffling sound in the distance. Just before returning, Bo gets attacked by an unseen monstrous entity that takes control of his body, with his skin turning pale, and eyes fully white. Evelyn tries to run away but just before the morning, she also gets possessed by some kind of a demon. Charles and Jesse discover her upon their return. When the police arrive, they  fail to find Bo’s body and only discover huge splatters of blood all over the car. Evelyn shows off strange symptoms as she lays motionless for hours and when Dr. Omario comes to see her, an unknown entity sends an eerie signal on the monitor. Evelyn is clearly not dead, but she is certainly being controlled by the same entity that took over Bo in the forest. 

Where Is Charlie?

Before going back to the base, Jesse discovered a strange black cube at a parking lot which was actually a Kryptonite for the extraterrestrial demons. None of them knew it back then and Jesse kept it in the car while going to look at Bo’s car. Charlie sees the cube glow while the bright light appears at a distance, which makes him walk to the pine woods. He comes back soon, and looking at his spaced out state of mind, Jesse takes him home, unable to comprehend the impending doom. That night, a demonic shadowy figure scares Charlie to his core. Jesse comes into his room when he hears his screams but fails to notice Charlie anywhere. Before he can do anything, the creature appears again, scaring him so much that he strikes his head, losing consciousness. When Jesse wakes up, he finds Charlie in the same state that we saw Bo earlier. Dr. Omario starts treating him at the hospital and even he finds these coincidental symptoms scary. 

What’s Wrong With Jesse?

You remember that a strange prophet was screaming at Jesse when he found that cube in the parking lot, right? He was a member of the Blackguard Cult, who knew everything about the portal and the demons. According to the old man, Jesse was the “key” to something grand. Since he was Clint’s son, it was most likely the multiverse’s choice to guide Jesse through the dark. When Jesse discovered the cube, he saw a strange woman who was signaling him, but she disappeared after a brief moment. Jesse was not delusional, because the woman was real, just not from the present timeline. It was the same woman scientist who got sucked into the portal back in 1985. After Ashley comes at the hospital and drives Jesse out, he breaks into the military base, only to find it swarming with cult members all around. The young scientist also visits Jessie there and lets him know that the cult is planning to open the portal to hell on the upcoming blood moon. Upon returning to the hospital, Jesse realizes that the cube can protect Charlie, no matter how insane it seems to Ashley. When Jesse is asleep on the couch, he thinks that he is having a nightmare, but he is actually traversing to the future. Remember the vision he comes across where Evelyn is sitting on Charlie’s bed with a sinister smile and a needle in her hand? The exact thing happens later, when Dr. Omario comes to visit Charlie. He uses the cube to fend Evelyn off, and she stabs herself to death with the needle.

How Did Clint Die?

Clint’s death was one of the most confusing, sad and surprising memories Jesse had. When he was a child, he always remembered his father as a crazy man who used to bicker about a portal in the pines. Clint was a genius who figured out everything about these portals but his eccentric nature made everyone think that he was a madman. He figured out that the collider created an immense surge of energy and that impulse tore a hole through the fabric of space-time. Like our realities, there have been infinite alternate dimensions, mostly identical in natures. Clint understood that Blackguard was trying to open the portal to hell, where astral beings or shadowy creatures lived. They had the power to consume the emotional intelligence of humans and take control of them, turning them into a darker alternate version of themselves. Since he had so much information and occasionally talked with Herby, owner of the local bar and his friend, the police silenced him. Clint never died by suicide, he was trying to protect himself when the police came and Hawkins, Jesse’s former father-in-law, shot him dead.

Is Hawkins Alive?

Hawkins worked with Blackguard for years and he was loyal to them since he had an image to protect. Hawkins cheated on his wife, and the company kept tabs on all of his affairs. From the very beginning, Hawkins tried to drive Jesse away from breaking into the base because he knew how dangerous the company was. He also wanted to save his grandson and daughter’s lives at any cost knowing that they could be caught in the crossfire. When he tells Jesse to meet in Clint’s cabin, he confesses everything to him which of course, infuriates him. Jesse has already dealt with a lot since Blackguard sent men to follow him around. His firefighter friend who worked for the company even attacked him but walked out of it. Days before, Jesse even saw Ronan, the top brass of Blackguard, meeting with Hawkins. Jesse tries to kill Hawkins, but he fails as his morals are still in the right place. Hawkins agrees to help him while he sneaks into the collider to shut the ritual down and he keeps his word.

What Happens To Jesse And Charlie In The End?

Jesse tries blending in but gets caught when the old prophet recognized him right away. They try to sacrifice Jesse by projecting the portal’s energy on him but the scientist from the past pulls the strings by messing with the protocol switchboard of the collider. Since she is visible only to Jesse, the team of scientists take those actions as a strange anomaly. As the portal hovers above his head, Jesse sees Clint in the pine forest since he is taken back to the night, the exact moment before the collider exploded in 1985. Clint hands him the rifle and proudly tells his son to fix the situation. Jesse fights the other men and despite Ronan stabbing him, he manages to overpower them all. He knows that he must protect Charlie and stop this ritual once and for all before more four-dimensional shadowy beings are let loose by the collider. The scientist has already warned Jesse that if he cuts the cable, this will be a one-way tour for him. Jesse does not think much of it since he is more concerned to save his family and ultimately cuts the power cable before blacking out. When the collider stops, it resets his timeline in a very unsettling manner, something that Jesse does not understand right away. He finds himself in the perfect alternate dimension where Ashley is still with him, Charlie is fine, Duke is still his friend, Hawkins is not harsh on him and most importantly, Clint is alive. When Jesse sees the blinding light in the sky, he thinks that it is too good to be true and steps inside the house. He gets startled when he sees a demonic reflection on the photo frame and looks into the mirror, only to find a possessed version of him staring back. It is a foreshadowing that pretty soon, Jesse will no longer be a human since everyone around him in this dimension are aliens, being controlled by those shadow creatures.

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