Julia Max’s horror film, The Surrender, addresses the pain and fear rooted in grief. When Megan returned home to her ailing father and overstimulated mother, she realized she should have been by their side all along. The guilt of living away from her parents even after knowing her father’s condition consumed Megan. But she always reasoned that it was because of her mother that she was compelled to make such a drastic decision. Barbara was very particular about things, and she could never rely on Megan to carry out her instructions to the T. The conflict between Barbara and Megan is central to the narrative. While Megan wanted to deal with her father’s condition pragmatically, Barbara was inclined to rely on dubious healing methods in the hopes of keeping him alive.
Spoiler Alert
How did Robert die?
On the very day she returned home, Megan mentioned to Barbara the non-profit organization she was working with to set up a scholarship program for underprivileged, marginalized children. She added that her father had mentioned that he would contribute to the scholarship if the grant she was aiming for didn’t come through. Barbara was enraged, because she could already sense that getting her hands on the funding was the primary reason Megan returned home. She made it very clear that she would not give Megan the money. Barbara urged her to apply for more grants instead of relying on her parents to fulfill her wish. Megan chose not to end the discussion there, especially after she realized how overwhelmed her mother was with all the responsibilities. She requested her mother to go out for dinner and spend some time alone while she took care of her father. The nurse had told Megan in secrecy that Barbara intentionally didn’t give Robert the full dose of morphine because she wanted him to call out for her when he was in pain. She felt needed and wanted and it gave her a purpose. Even though Barbara left the house in her car, she simply waited in the neighborhood. She was not in the mental state to treat herself to a nice dinner or discuss her situation with her friends.
It was also evident that Barbara’s yoga instructor, Deb, had a massive influence on her, and she had grown fixated on alternative practices and witchcraft—believing in things like crystal healing, leaving loose teeth under the bed, and even braiding a witch’s ladder with her own hair. She could not rely on medical treatment alone, and keeping Robert alive had become the sole goal in her life. Meanwhile, when Megan was alone with her father and he woke up asking for Barbara, she didn’t know what to do. She checked his schedule, and it was not the time for his morphine dosage. She wanted to call her mother, but she didn’t wish to disturb her. So, Megan ended up feeding her father the morphine. It pained Megan to see him suffer. As a little girl, Megan recalled asking her father if it was possible to bring someone back from the dead and Robert stated that it was impossible, and the beauty of life is in the fact that it comes to an end; therefore, one must cherish every day of one’s existence. While she wanted to hold on to her father, Megan knew that when his time would come, she would have to make peace with it. Megan was in the bathroom when Barbara arrived. When she stepped out, she informed her mother about the morphine dose. Barbara was surprised, because as soon as she’d returned home, she had already given him a dose. Megan suggested taking him to the hospital, but Barbara didn’t think that was an option. Robert was on the DNR list, which meant that he wanted to pass away in peace rather than allow medical intervention. Barbara and Megan decided to sleep beside Robert that night to keep a constant check on him. When Megan woke up, she saw her father’s eyes and mouth wide open. He had passed away in his sleep, and his body had already turned cold. This was not the end Megan anticipated, and she was still processing her grief.
Surprisingly, Barbara looked very calm, and we soon found out why. As it turned out, her yoga instructor had referred Barbara to a shaman who could bring back the dead, and she had been preparing all along to perform the ritual immediately after Robert’s demise. Megan was shocked when Barbara told her about the shaman and the ritual. She didn’t approve of her mother messing with the fabric of life and death, and moreover, she was convinced that the shaman was a scammer. She argued with her mother and stepped out of the house to clear her mind. Megan imagined her father seated by her side, and she asked him for advice. She knew that her father would have wanted her to give Barbara a chance. She too was grieving, and allowing her to do something that would let her believe that she tried her best could be the only way to help her heal. And if the experiment failed, she could always blame the shaman. Barbara didn’t expect Megan to support her, but she was glad to have her daughter by her side. The mother and daughter prepared the ritual room according to the instructions Barbara had received. She had to get rid of everything that belonged to Robert. They needed a clean slate for the ritual to work, and they gathered all his belongings and photographs and burned them in the fire. Megan was hesitant about letting go of a picture she had with her father in her dance costume. She cherished the memory, but Barbara encouraged her to let go of it.
What happened to the money Barbara offered to the shaman?
The shaman was a strange, bearded man adorned in a hat and a coat. He didn’t speak out loud and only whispered his wishes to Barbara. The minute she handed him a bag full of cash, Megan lost her cool. She couldn’t believe that her mother was about to give away her father’s entire savings. She reminded her that she too was dependent on it, and if the ritual didn’t work, they would be penniless. But Barbara refused to listen to her. She repeatedly stated that nothing mattered now except for resurrecting Robert, and she was ready to pay any price for it. Megan wondered if she was doing the right thing supporting her mother’s whims, but she also knew that she couldn’t leave her mother alone with the creepy man. So, she ended up joining her mother for the ritual. By the time she returned to the room, the money was gone. The shaman had probably burned it up as well, because the wealth belonged to Robert, and it couldn’t stay either. Barbara encouraged Megan to sit in the ritual circle with her father’s corpse at the center of it. The circle was sealed by the shaman using the ashes of Robert’s burnt belongings. It was meant to protect them, and they could not leave the circle until the ritual was complete.
Was the ritual successful?
The first surrender (his belongings) helped them seal the circle, the second surrender was meant to take them to the other side, where they would summon Robert’s spirit back to his body, and the third surrender would help them return home together. Megan didn’t realize what her mother meant by surrendering until she saw the shaman chop one of her mother’s fingers off. He had drugged Megan, and even though she didn’t want to go through with it, she didn’t have a choice. Soon, the shaman started chanting, and Megan and Barbara repeated after him. The charms in the room started to move, and a strong beam of white light shone down on them. All of a sudden, the room went completely dark, and by the time Megan and Barbara lit the candles in the circle, they discovered the shaman’s face was half consumed.
As soon as they were transported to the other side, Robert’s body was possessed by evil. The protective circle had become penetrable, and Robert dragged the shaman’s body outside and devoured it. Megan could see a pair of hands of a creature poking out of her father’s body. Robert’s eyes were glowing, and he was driven by his primitive instinct to consume blood. Megan immediately knew that the creature was not her father; even though it was his body, his behavior was demonic. Barbara was disappointed when she discovered that Megan had held onto the photograph of her and Robert, which was why the ritual didn’t work. She instructed Megan to burn it and use it to seal the circle. Megan didn’t have a choice now, and she followed her mother’s orders. Barbara refused to accept that the ritual had failed and the man who stood in front of her was not her husband. In a desperate attempt, she slit her wrist and tried to lure Robert. She wanted him to step into the circle so that they could return home. But Robert refused to cross. It was obvious that the ritual was meant to be a deal with the devil, but because the instructions were not followed to a T, the devil was displeased, and it completely took over Robert’s body.
Barbara desperately reached out to convince Robert to come along with her, but instead the creature dragged her out of the circle and devoured her in seconds. Megan was left all alone to figure out a way to return home. She was in hell, and she didn’t know what to do. She could hear the devil screaming, and she saw a group of dead humans walking around her. Their eyes were white, and they walked almost like zombies. Maybe, just like Barbara, there were several others who had performed the ritual, but once they saw their loved ones turn into a strange creature, they chose not to return home with them. Or perhaps the ritual was barely ever successful, and those that came to the other side were almost always stuck there. Their spirits were trapped, and they couldn’t cross over. They had become the devil’s servants, just like Robert and Barbara.
What did Megan learn about her parents?
Megan remembered that the third surrender could take her home, so she chopped another finger off and screamed in pain. But nothing happened. She was still stuck in the void, and the unbearable pain paired with the drug she took resulted in vivid hallucinations. She felt relieved, imagining that her house was right under the wooden surface of the circle. Megan removed the wooden boards and entered her house. But she soon figured out that she’d been transported back in time. She started to comprehend things that she never understood as a child. While she remembered her father’s valuable lesson on death, she had blissfully forgotten the bit where he asked Barbara to change the dress she was wearing because he thought it was too revealing. Her mother had lost touch with all her friends, and her world revolved around her husband and Megan, and Robert was responsible for it. Megan always thought her father was the supportive and progressive one and her mother was a naysayer; the reality was quite the opposite. Robert was intent on maintaining a certain image, perhaps because deep down he always knew that Megan would one day rebel against his oppressive behavior. This suggests that he was self-aware, yet he couldn’t let go of his dominant nature.
Barbara gave up on her career, her friends, and her little joys in life because her husband disapproved of them. Megan also realized that it was her mother who had insisted her father let her continue with her dance classes, but Robert looked down upon dancers, and he didn’t wish for his daughter to become like them. Barbara chose to hide the truth from Megan, and she ended up becoming the bearer of bad news and the imposer of restrictions. Megan understood her mother’s desperation to resurrect her father—she didn’t know how to live her life without him. She had lost her free will long ago, and she needed Robert by her side to make her life meaningful. At the back of her mind, Barbara perhaps could already predict the negative outcome of the ritual, but she didn’t care. She was ready to sacrifice herself to bring Robert back to life because she had become an extension of him, and dying perhaps seemed to be an easier choice for her than living without him.
What does the final scene suggest?
The visions helped Megan realize that her parents were flawed human beings and she had made wrong assumptions about them. But even after knowing their mistakes and negative sides, she accepted them for who they were. They were broken, but they were her parents nonetheless. She too had failed them time and again, but they didn’t give up on her, and she believed they too deserved to be understood and loved.
The Surrender’s ending underlines how often the illusion of what one believes as the ultimate truth when they are young eventually fades away, and the crude truth surfaces. Maybe Megan could have helped her mother if she knew the pain she’d always been hiding and together they could have navigated grief bravely. Perhaps if Robert was more accommodating of Barbara’s dreams, she wouldn’t have taken such a drastic step. If only Barbara had reached out for help, things could have been different. But going back in time was not an option; they had failed each other, and it all resulted in this strange situation Megan was in. In the end, Barbara approached her daughter from outside the protective circle. She had turned into a primitive, devilish creature just like Robert, and she stared at Megan with her glowy eyes. Megan knew that the creature was not her mother; her soul was gone the minute she was dragged out of the circle. But she wanted her mother to know that even though she was stubborn and selfish, she loved her and all her imperfections. She regretted not saying it more often to her parents.
The Surrender’s ending can be interpreted in two ways—when Megan blows the ashes away, she is exposed to a beam of light. Maybe Megan needed to know the whole truth and make peace with the imperfections of her parents because it was all a part of grieving, and when she accepts them completely, she is finally released from the void. Perhaps letting go of all grievances was the final surrender. This is, of course, symbolic—uncomfortable truths and dirty secrets often surface after one’s death, and it is only after making peace with all of it that one can truly ever begin to heal from the loss. If we don’t consider what we see as the ultimate truth and instead interpret it, then maybe we can come to the conclusion that Barbara killed herself to be reunited with her husband. Megan tried to stop her mother, but she never listened. It was only after losing both her parents that Megan revisited past memories over and over again, and she gained clarity about who they were. The whole grieving process showed her the pathway to heal herself. Now, if we consider the ritual as the ultimate truth, then we can arrive at the conclusion that Megan surrendered herself to the demonic beasts. She didn’t know the way back home, and she chose to be reunited with Robert and Barbara in spirit rather than be trapped in the vicious circle forever. So, she blew away the ashes, which meant that the circle had become penetrable; therefore, the beasts could enter and devour her as well.
