Lately, it feels like every movie has us thinking, “What the fuck did I just watch?” In this series, we will break down exactly what happened in all those wild, mind-bendy, and just plain strange flicks...in a way that’s much easier to understand than the actual film.
This post contains spoilers for Netflix’s Eli.
I have to admit, when I started watching Eli, I already knew there was going to be a twist ending. It wasn’t just that horror flicks on Netflix are almost always fueled by some sort of bizarre revelation but because I actually saw a headline saying, “Netflix’s horror flick Eli leaves fans VERY divided due to shock twist.” Don’t worry, I didn’t click it. I wanted to go in fresh for YOU GUYS. You’re welcome.
That being said, I spent most of the movie trying to predict where it was going...and I am proud to say I was at least half right. Let’s dive in.
So, the movie starts with this kid Eli (Charlie Shotwell), a bubble boy whose face and body tend to burn TF up when exposed to, like, anything. But don’t worry, his family is on their way to some sort of experimental treatment. On the trip, his parents (Kelly Reilly and Max Martini) set up some kind of quarantine in their dirty motel room and have him put on a makeshift hazmat suit to get from the room to the car. Sounds very sterile....
Netflix
When they do move him, a group of grown-ass trailer-dwelling jerks throws some kind of firecracker at the kid, causing him to tear his special suit. This is where I decided the illness must be all in his head. His face becomes covered in rashes and he can’t breathe, but once his dad is able to cover the tear with duct tape and he’s talked down from his panic attack, it’s all good. I feel like that’s not how diseases work, but I’m not a doctor.
Again, because I’m looking for clues, I notice the billboard as they peel out of the parking lot. It reads, “Proverb 19:9 the false witness will not go unpunished...and he who tells lies shall perish.” Now I’m on the lookout for LIES.
Netflix
Anyway, they show up at this creepy-ass mansion that’s supposedly a “clean house,” where he’ll undergo experimental treatment by a doctor (Lili Taylor) and a couple of nurses who are very suspicious. They cut him open and do all kinds of things without anesthesia, and it’s very unclear what his illness actually is. Apparently, it’s some kind of immune deficiency? I don’t know why you’d have to cut into the brain for that....Clearly, something is off. I’m not going to get too into the nitty-gritty for the rest of this post—I know you’re very busy—but basically, everyone involved should lose their medical licenses.
Almost immediately, Eli is haunted by ghosts and/or demons (the creepy contortionist kind that give me the heebie-jeebies), but his parents and doctor swear it’s a side effect of his medication. I’m not so sure. These ghosts are also trying to tell him something, because when he draws his name, “ELI,” into the fog on his window, they switch the letters around to say “LIE.” Later, they carve it over and over into a wooden closet. In case I haven’t stressed this enough, someone is LYING.
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Maybe it’s Mad Max from Stranger Things (Sadie Sink), who just hangs outside of the manor at all hours and talks to Eli through a window. From her, we find out that at least one patient named Perry has died from this set of treatments—the third surgery, to be exact. Guess what number treatment Eli is on? You’re right!
Eli’s not trying to die, so he causes all sorts of chaos until his mom makes him take a mysterious sleeping pill. TG this kid is smart and hides it under his tongue like a pro. From his bed, he noticed that the carvings might not say “LIE” at all. Instead, upside down, it looks like they say “371.” Obviously, like all perfectly normal kids, he jumps to the exact right conclusion about the numbers on his first try. 371 is the code to a locked file room in the makeshift OR. He sneaks out of his room to check it out.
So, at this point, who do you think is lying? Trick question: It’s everyone...except Eli. Here’s where things get weird. Yes, every single patient has died during the third treatment, but when Eli freaks out and tries to explain that to his parents, they lock him in an actual crypt! I thought this kid was supposed to be allergic to dust?
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Not so much. He quickly realizes he can breathe and screams to be let out. Finally, his mom comes down to talk to him, but he fakes being passed out. When she comes in to see if he’s okay, he knocks her over the head with a GD crucifix. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that he found a picture with the doctor dressed as a nun?
At this point, it seems like Eli and his parents have been hoodwinked by psychos, but not so fast. Eli’s dad is in on it and helps the women tie our boy down. Eli’s not sick, he’s a freaking demon and this is an exorcism (see, half right!). The last treatment killed the other kids because the doctor was never trying to save them, she was saving their souls. I guess they’re the good guys? It doesn’t matter, though, because Eli is able to overpower them with his mind and kill everyone. That billboard wasn’t lying.
Netflix
But if you think his mom was innocent in all this because she had no idea the third treatment was going to kill her son—you’re wrong! She knew he was a demon because she slept with the actual devil to have a child. WTF? The cure she was looking for was for evil, because the devil promised Eli wouldn’t turn out like him.
So, demon Eli and his mom peace TF out and Eli sets the house on fire. Stranger Things is waiting outside. Turns out, she’s not a neighbor from next door (more lies) but Eli’s half-sister from another mister...Satan. Now, they’re going to take a family road trip to find him. The end?
To be honest, the “twist ending” was far from fulfilling because there wasn’t enough foreshadowing or hints that this kid would turn out to be the Omen. His biggest moment of “evil” was when he gave those rednecks from the beginning the finger and said he wished he could beat them up. If that makes him a demon, I’m Lucifer. Still, it’s ~spooky szn~ and the jump scares mostly worked on me, so I’ll give this one a thumbs medium.
The most WTF moments of Eli:
- Those trailer guys who made fun of Eli and his hazmat suit. Honestly, I wish he killed them.
- Remember when Eli had no reaction to being sliced open with a scalpel?
- The fact that Eli is a demon but sucks so hard at magic tricks.
- When Eli levitated the doctor and nurses, hung them upside down, then set them on fire.
- When you realize that when Eli’s “dad” yelled “How dare I?! After what YOU did?!” at his wife, he was talking about the time she cheated on him with the literal devil.
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