Speed Demon Movie Ending Explained And Full Story: Is Sister Lu Alive?

If you’re stuck on a moving train with the king of demons on the loose, what are the chances that two of the best exorcists (certified by the freaking Vatican) are also your co-passengers. Jon Keeyes’ supernatural thriller “Speed Demon” starts with this simple idea, and no matter what people are writing on IMDb, if you’re a corny horror watcher, this one’s for you. Katie Cassidy as the protagonist hits it out of the park, and ever since I saw her playing Ruby in the earlier seasons of CW’s “Supernatural,” I’ve had a soft corner for the actress all these years, sorry. The film doesn’t have anything in it that will blow your mind, but it does have a bunch of everyman characters who are easy to root for, and a kid who’s exceptionally smart for her age, which is always a fun thing to see. Clocking in at just one hour and thirty minutes, “Speed Demon” is the perfect weekend watch, the kind of pizza-on-the-couch movie that doesn’t ask for much and gives you exactly what you came for. And in times like these, what more do you really need? 

Spoilers Ahead

Sister Lu is a nun who works for the Vatican, under Father Novak, who is among the best exorcists in the world. Now, she’s been through a lot when she was just a kid, as her father was possessed and killed by a demon. Father Novak and the church took on the responsibility of raising Lu, and Novak thought that she was the best student he’d ever had. However, Lu’s life hasn’t exactly been great, as the trauma of losing her father and the church’s patriarchal values stopped her from reaching her full potential. To cope with her problems, Lu turned to drugs, alcohol, and men. The first time we see her, she is taking the walk of shame, heading straight to meet Father Novak, as they’re supposed to go perform an exorcism. Novak isn’t pleased with how Lu lives her life, and he’s even more furious when he sees the report she was supposed to do, which is all wrong. Now, you need to get familiar with a few other passengers on this train. A man named Gabriel leaves his Parisian girlfriend after spending a week with her, and she gives him a present, a box which looks like it was stolen from a museum. She asks Gabriel to only open the present when he is on the train. There’s also a pickpocket named Louis, and a smart and witty kid named Sofia, who is travelling with her sitter, Nancy. After Father Novak berates her, Lu befriends a girl named Vicky, who’s travelling with her boyfriend, David. He is a former marine who suffers from heart problems, and too much stimulation sends his heart into a frenzy. Lu and Vicky hit the bar, as Lu’s drinking capacity surprises Vicky, the two immediately hit it off. But Gabriel finally opens his present, and it’s a statue of Asmodeus, the king of demons. While Gabriel tries to understand the meaning of such a gift, he accidentally gets a small cut on the finger, and some of his blood touches the statue. This is where things start to go wrong, and Gabriel is soon possessed by Asmodeus himself. 

As soon as Gabriel is possessed, a murder of crows start slamming into the window of the train, and you can imagine the terror amongst the passengers. After one of the windows is covered with blood, Lu sees a glimpse of a demonic face in it. Father Novak realizes that a demonic presence is nearby, and he tells Lu to hold the fort while he tries to get to the source of it. Sofia realizes the train is going too fast, and when Lu and Vicky go to check on the conductor, they find him dead, and the operator’s console is completely destroyed. Before Lu can do anything, she’s transported to a nightmarish state, where Asmodeus, in Gabriel’s body, tells her that he’s been waiting for her a long time. Father Novak appears in this same vision to inform Lu that Asmodeus is the demon who possessed and killed her father all those years ago. He tries to subdue Asmodeus, but Asmodeus stabs him in a blink. Lu comes back to reality, and people around her just saw her pass out all this while. She rushes to look for Novak, only to find him dead in his seat. Asmodeus’ voice over the announcement system declares that the train is now his, and at the end of the line, he’ll claim the souls of everyone on the train! 

Everybody unanimously agrees that Sister Lu should try and fight the demon, except a man named Edwin, who says that nuns aren’t supposed to perform exorcisms. But Vicky and the others know that Lu is their only hope of survival, and despite doubting her own abilities, Lu realizes this is the moment she has spent her entire life preparing for. She brings everyone together to protect them from Asmodeus, and the only way to stay safe is by drinking the wine blessed by Lu. Even little Sofia gets a cup too, which is pretty thrilling for her. After the drinking is over, Sofia, who frequently travels on this train, tells them that in an hour they’ll hit a sharp curve, and with the speed the train is going at, there’s no way that it won’t derail. Lu decides to move the remaining passengers to the back of the train, and using Sofia’s knowledge of how trains work, they devise a plan where Lu lures the demon to the front while David and Vicky uncouple the carriages. Meanwhile, Lu asks Louis to grab the Asmodeus statue, as it’s easier to expel the demon from the vessel if the exorcist is in possession of the cursed statue. However, when Louis finds the statue and holds it, Asmodeus starts taking control of his mind. He tries to fight the demon in his head, but he simply isn’t strong enough, and Asmodeus slashes his throat. The demon king then comes to confront Lu once again, and he tells her that a sinner cannot fight against a demon, as she’s like one of them. He also tries to break her by showing her a vial of cocaine, and he also feels that she just doesn’t believe in herself enough to fight him. Somehow, Lu manages to hold him off, and she refuses to give up. On the other side of the train, Vicky and David face another problem, Nancy is possessed as well, and thousands of fireflies start coming out of her mouth. She kidnaps Sofia, and Lu arrives just in time to kick the demon out of her body. Turns out, she didn’t drink the blessed wine, but if you look at the other compartment, poor Louis is dead despite drinking plenty of it. 

With the curve that will derail the train and kill them all only ten to fifteen minutes away, Asmodeus calls Lu to the front of the train to settle the score once and for all. Edwin wants to help Lu, as he carries a lot of guilt over wasting his life and not having a good relationship with his son, but Lu locks the door on him, as this is her battle to fight. A quick flashback tells us that when Lu was young, she went to visit her father in a cell, as he was still possessed by Asmodeus. Just like Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter, and accidentally left a part of himself inside of Harry, Asmodeus grabbed Lu’s head to kill her, but failed and left some of his powers inside her. Now you can understand why the demon king is so spiteful, but he doesn’t have enough power to weaken Lu. She starts the exorcism on Gabriel, and despite Asmodeus’ best attempts, she manages to save him. When Lu lets Gabriel go and join the other passengers, Edwin volunteers to be Asmodeus’ vessel out of all his guilt, and now it’s him against Lu. She goes to the different plane of reality once again, where her father explains that she possesses the powers of Asmodeus, and that realization helps Lu get back up and fight Edwin. Meanwhile, David manages to uncouple the carriages and save the passengers, knowing that Lu is left behind, which makes poor Sofia cry. Lu starts dominating Asmodeus in the fight, and the demon thinks she’s only harming Edwin’s body, but that’s not the case. She has plot armor, so of course she finds the statue that set this mess in motion. When she cuts the body and tail of the statue, Asmodeus starts to howl and groan, and Lu banishes the demon for good! With the train about to hit the curve, Lu uses her newfound supernatural ability to teleport herself out of the train, and we see her attending Edwin’s funeral a few days later, much to Sofia’s delight. 

In the end of the film, Sister Lu is summoned by the Pope himself, and she goes to the Vatican to meet him. We find out that, just like Lu, the Pope is also someone who doesn’t care much for tradition, as he’s more concerned about getting the job done. He tells Lu that Father Novak left a file on her, which contains details about both her good and bad qualities, and impressed by her actions, the Pope promotes her to the highest echelons of the Vatican’s exorcist order. Soon, the Secretary of State of the United States shows up, and she needs Sister Lu’s help to exorcize the freaking President of the United States. I know that Lu is thrilled to have this new job, but the sheer amount of pressure that comes with it gave me second-hand anxiety attacks.