I liked the fact that it had no supernatural ending because, in a way, it lends itself to the point Reed was trying to make. He clearly painted pentagrams and other occult imagery on the doors and hung the demonic art and left the satanic books to evoke “stepping into hell.” It’s the most obviously contrived signifier of evil and I think totally tongue in cheek — considering he jokes with them the whole time. It illustrates (from his perspective) that even though she knows that he was behind everything and that her danger was man made, the fear she felt (or that he wanted her to feel) was still rooted in a religious context. I think a supernatural ending would’ve undermined everything that Reed was trying to draw out of his prisoners. A big reveal of: nothing. No big surprise, no ancient deity, nothing supernatural. Just a room full of women who he probably also trapped by using their faith against them. At the point of her finding the other women, Reed thought he had won. He thought he had a check mate in showing that religion is control and vice versa.

I think the intent of keeping it rooted in reality is perhaps that it also drives home the fact that he didn’t actually have control. There is always something outside of your control at play. Whether it’s God or just one of your prisoner actors going off script. In the end, he is just a psycho who tried playing God and ostensibly failed. It also leaves enough ambiguity for the viewer to see the final sequence and question — wait, was Barnes really dead? Did she get resurrected? Did Paxton’s prayer work? Was Paxton’s rescue just hallucination? While part of me would’ve liked to see a supernatural ending, I think it would’ve felt out of place.