Rosemary's Baby ending explained

What happens

Rosemary learns her husband and neighbours have given her child to Satan. Told the baby died, she follows its cry through a hidden door and finds a coven worshipping her son. Horrified, she looks into the cradle.

The last image

Rosemary, surrounded by the coven, begins to rock the black cradle.

Three readings

1 · Maternal love winsShe sees only her child, and a mother's instinct outweighs the horror of what he is.

2 · Defeat and surrenderAlone, disbelieved and outnumbered, she has no other choice and gives in.

3 · Evil made ordinaryHer calm acceptance shows the devil's triumph meeting no resistance, only indifference.

What it says

The film refuses a comforting resolution. No one saves Rosemary and no good power intervenes, so the horror is that she is left to accept what was decided for her, and that the world she lives in barely notices.