Appendage, directed by Anna Zlokovic, is a psychological horror that makes us privy to the life of a young woman who isn’t able to cope with herself and lets her negative thoughts take over her life. Appendage wants to say something more through its imagery and symbolism, and that is what makes it stand apart from the plethora of nonsensical horror movies being made these days. The film has its heart in the right place, and Hadley Robinson, in the character of Hannah, has done a fabulous job. So, let’s find out what was happening in Hannah’s life and if she was able to resolve the issues she was encountering.
Spoiler Alert
What was happening with Hannah?
Hannah was struggling to cope with her stressful life, and she was also carrying a lot of emotional baggage from her childhood. Hannah always felt that her parents didn’t care about her, and at times, she felt that she didn’t exist. She felt like talking to them and telling them that she was drowning under the weight of their expectations but she was never able to initiate that conversation. Hannah noticed that something strange was happening with her birthmark, and she started experiencing acute pain in her appendix. It felt like something was inside her stomach, and it was trying to come out. Hannah didn’t tell anyone about it, and she thought that it must be some skin allergy that would subside eventually.
But then, one day, the most bizarre thing happened to her, and a horrifying-looking small creature came out of her belly. Hannah didn’t know what was happening to her, and she locked that creature in her cupboard. But Hannah weirdly felt inspired after that encounter, and ended up creating one of the best dresses she had ever made. Cristean, her boss, who was never happy with anybody, was astonished to see her work, and probably for the first time, he gave her a compliment. Esther, Hannah’s best friend and colleague, was getting a bit worried about her because she noticed that Hannah had not really been herself for the past few days. Even Kaelin, Hannah’s boyfriend, didn’t know what was happening with her, and he had tried having a conversation with her about it. Kaelin knew that Hannah was stressed due to her work, but he knew that as long as she didn’t open up to him, he wouldn’t be able to help her cause.
Hannah, meanwhile, found out that there was a support group for people experiencing the same thing as she was. She went to attend one of their meetings, and that’s when she got to know that she was not the only one who was experiencing the vanishing twin syndrome; and there were others who had dual DNA like her. Hannah got to know that unresolved issues, which she had plenty of, traumas of the past, stress, fear, and anxiety were a few causes of what was happening to her. It was as if her traumas had taken a physical form and come out in the form of that evil entity. The monster was like a parasite, and it used a hypnosis-like technique to make the person do as it wished. Hannah locked up that creature in her basement, and she drugged him so that it couldn’t control her brain.
What Were Claudia’s Real Intentions?
Hannah met Claudia at the support group, and she seemed to be a very nice and genuine human being. Hannah started hanging out with her, as she didn’t have to explain anything to her because, unlike Kaelin and Esther, Claudia didn’t look at Hannah as if she had lost her mind. Hannah had started having doubts about Esther and Kaelin, and she was getting really insecure about their closeness. A part of her believed that they were having an affair behind her back, and those insecurities increased even more after the creature told Hannah that whatever she was feeling was absolutely true. Claudia had told Hannah that though she should keep the creature locked at all times, she could use it for her benefit as well.
Claudia said that the creature had psychic powers and could see in the future and tell what was going to happen to a person. She also revealed that her appendage told her about her partner having an affair with another woman, and it proved to be right. Hannah’s curiosity once again led her to her basement, and she let the creature hypnotize her and tell her what was happening between Kaelin and Esther. The creature told her that though right now Kaelin was not having an affair, they both adored each other and would eventually realize that they were in love. When things started getting out of hand, Hannah tried injecting anesthesia in the creature, but she realized that the syringe was empty. The creature grew in size, and it escaped from the basement. Hannah called Claudia as soon as she came to her senses because she realized that she was becoming weaker and that she was vomiting a black glue-like substance because the creature was feeding on her. Claudia came to her house, and that’s when Hannah realized that she had been deceived all along. Claudia was an appendage, i.e., the parasite herself, and she had locked up her host and taken over her life. It was Claudia who had emptied her syringe because she wanted the creature to become stronger. The real Hannah was locked up in her basement, and the creature completely took over her life.
How Did Hannah Escape From The Basement?
Esther had always been there for Hannah whenever she needed her. Hannah might have felt that something was brewing between Esther and Kaelin, but in reality, it was not so. Esther was a pure-hearted person, and she would have never done anything that could hurt her best friend. Esther saw that something was not right with Hannah, and her inquisitiveness led her to Hannah’s house. Esther found out that Hannah was trapped in her basement, and she broke the door, went inside, and saved her friend. Esther was obviously shocked, and she thought that Hannah might have had a twin about whom the world didn’t know. She took Hannah to a hospital, and when Hannah came back to her senses, she told everything that had been happening to Esther.
Had Esther not seen Hannah trapped in her basement, she would have never believed what Hannah told her about the dual DNA and the entire theory about the vanishing twin syndrome. Hannah was happy that she had her friend on their side, and now she wanted to take control of the situation. The creature, after Hannah came back to her senses, started getting weaker, and it realized that Hannah had escaped from the basement. The creature needed to prey on somebody, and it decided that it would feed on Kaelin since they were meeting that evening. The real Hannah, at the hospital, foresaw that something of that sort could happen, and so she and Esther went straight to Kaelin’s house to see if he was safe.
What Did Hannah Do With The Creature?
During Appendage‘s ending, Hannah found out that Claudia and her own Creature had already reached Kaelin’s house. Hannah entered the flat through the air duct, but before she could open the door for Esther, Claudia’s creature came and hit her. Esther knew that if she didn’t find a way to enter the apartment, the monsters would kill both Hannah and Kaelin. Esther somehow managed to break open the door, and she stabbed Claudia with an object. Finding the opportunity, Hannah injected her with anesthesia and then she went inside the bedroom and cut the creature’s long and disgusting tongue that was sucking the life out of Kaelin. Hannah didn’t kill her appendage, though it shrank in size once again, and Hannah locked it up in the attic of her new apartment.
The ending of Appendage signifies that Hannah made peace with herself, dealt with her insecurities, and decided to do something about them. She left her job because the culture was very toxic, and Cristean was not the kind of man she wanted to put up with every single day. Hannah went and talked to her parents, and she told them what issues she was facing. She told them that, at times, she felt invisible and that it was not okay with her. Hannah and Esther opened their own clothing label, and from the looks of it, they’re doing quite well. Hannah didn’t kill her appendage, probably because she knew that she could never really get rid of negative emotions, but she should know how to handle them and never let them take control of her life. Hannah came to the realization that life was short and that one could not waste even a moment doing something that sucked the soul out of them. She made a choice to be happy, and that made everything easier for her.
