Spoilers · the ending
Nosferatu: the ending, explained
F.W. Murnau · 1922
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
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Spoilers · the ending
F.W. Murnau · 1922
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
What happens
Ellen invites Orlok to her room and keeps him there until morning. He loses track of time while feeding, and the sunrise destroys him. Ellen dies in Hutter's arms, and the plague that gripped Wisborg ends.
The last image
The ending is not ambiguous in plot: Orlok is gone with the dawn, and the stricken town is left in the light that has freed it.
What it says
The ending says that love, in the form of sacrifice, is the only thing that can stand against a force you cannot reason with. Light, the opposite of the shadows Orlok lives in, becomes the film's moral power, and the cost of victory is Ellen's life.