‘Unwelcome’ Ending, Explained: What Did Maya Do To Protect Her Baby? Who Was The Old Woman?

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“Unwelcome” can be described as a horror comedy; it starts off as a horror film, but the second half is rather comical. The script and the performance are average, and in the end, it is all too laughably ridiculous. It’s safe to say that the cute little goblins steal the show in this folk-horror comedy.

Maya and Jamie were over the moon when they learned that they were about to welcome a child into their lives. To celebrate the moment, Jamie steps out of the house to buy a beverage, but on his way to the store, he encounters a gang of thugs. They try to stop him, but he manages to make his way into the store. While he was returning home, the group got on his nerves, and he reacted. The thugs were not in the mood to spare Jamie for his mistake. They attacked Jamie as he entered his house. Maya called the police, but she was dragged out of the bathroom as well. Jamie felt extremely helpless as he watched them kick and punch Maya. She managed to grab hold of a knife, and the thugs teased and challenged her to kill them if she dared. Thankfully, the police arrived, and the gang left the house. This incident scarred Maya and Jamie forever.

Spoilers Ahead


‘Unwelcome’ Plot Summary: What Is The Film About?

Maya and Jamie immediately decided to move to Ireland when they learned that Jamie inherited his aunt’s house after her death. After the incident, staying in the city made them anxious, and the green landscape of rural Ireland was comforting to their minds and eyes. The couple was hopeful about starting a new life with their little one in their own house, far from the rest of the world. Soon after entering the house, Niamh, Maeve’s friend, informed the couple that she would be entering their house every day to keep some meat for the “little people.” She explained that Maeve believed in the old world, and she made a blood offering every day to the Redcaps before sunset. Maya and Jamie were quite surprised by this unexpected revelation, but Maya promised to make the offering. She was not comfortable with the idea of Niamh entering her garden every day, a trauma that stemmed from her past. Maya and Jamie did not think much about what Niamh had discussed. They focused on fixing the house, and they asked the Whelan family for their help.

The Whelan family was a peculiar set of people. The father, Colm, was an authoritative figure who wanted everyone around him to refer to him as “daddy.” His son, Killian, had his father’s temper and overall destructive nature, while Eoin was the quiet one with a deadly stare that was quite unpredictable. Jamie and Maya trusted the Whelans to repair their house while they were gone. It did not take the Whelans a second to get comfortable in the house, and their focus shifted from repairing to stealing and dirtying the place. Jamie was furious when he returned home and saw Killian and Aisling smoking on his doorstep. Upon entering, he realized the damage they had caused. He wanted to fight and scream at them—a pent-up frustration that he carries from the incident—but he chooses not to engage with them. With the Redcaps in the woods and the Whelans in their house, Maya and Jamie had a lot to take care of.


Who Saved Maya From Eoin? What Happened To The Whalen Family?

Rory, a villager, disappeared one afternoon after he followed his dog, Molly, into the woods. While the villagers searched for him, he and Molly were nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, when Maya offered liver to the Redcaps, she was surprised to find the plate empty within a few seconds. She never believed in such mythical creatures, but the empty plate told a different story. The next morning, when she was gardening, she heard the barks of Molly. Maya did not think twice before she opened the gate leading to the woods. She followed the barking and went deep into the woods. She found Molly, but the dog led her farther down the woods to a hut that smelled like bones. The eerie hut there scared Maya off, and she decided to return home. Molly followed her, and on her way home, she met Eoin. Eoin was physically abused by his father for mostly being a disappointment. Maya sympathized with him and decided to take action against Daddy Whelan. Maya soon realized that Eoin was not the innocent man she thought him to be. He would not let go of her hands, and he proceeded to push her to the ground. When Maya returned home after the incident, she discussed with Jamie how a group of Redcaps came to her rescue when she was being held down by Eoin. The little people killed Eoin, and she took Jamie to the woods to show him the truth. But when they reached the woods, Eoin’s body was nowhere to be found, and Jamie concluded that maybe Maya did not remember it all too well as a result of panic and fear.

That evening, when Maya was alone in the house, a Redcap entered and offered her Eoin’s head. She was speechless and showed it to Jamie when he returned home. No matter how hard Maya tried to explain the situation to him, Jamie could not trust her. He believed that it was Maya who killed Eoin. As the couple tried to process their situation, Daddy Whelan knocked on the door. He inquired about Eoin since his son was last seen working at their house. Jamie’s nervous replies made it easy for Daddy Whelan to detect that he was lying. He sent Killian and Aisling to find an alternative way to enter the house. Aisling noticed Maya trying to escape with a plastic bag in her hand. She grabbed hold of it and found Eoin’s head in it. Maya knew she needed a miracle to save herself and Jamie from the Whelans. She ran to the woods and screamed for help from the Redcaps. She went ahead and offered anything that they wanted in return for their favor. Aisling got hold of Maya when she returned, but the Redcaps came to her rescue and ripped open Aisling’s stomach. Jamie was about to be killed by Killian and his father, but the Redcaps managed to protect him. Daddy Whelan survived and was about to shoot Maya in the stomach, but thankfully Molly bit his hand at the right time. Maya got hold of his gun and shot him in the face.


‘Unwelcome’ Ending Explained: Who Was The Old Woman?

Maya delivered her baby the next morning. They decided to start over and began cleaning their house. Maya stood in front of the mirror after putting her baby to sleep, but she immediately heard the Redcaps chuckling. Her baby was gone by the time she went to the crib to check. She screamed for help, but Jamie had his noise-canceling headphones on. Maya was desperate to bring her baby back, so she walked into the woods and into the hut. The little hut was full of Redcaps, and she saw her baby lying at the feet of an old woman. The woman was none other than Maeve’s daughter. The villagers believed that Maeve’s daughter was killed by the Redcaps after Maeve bargained with them to save her husband’s life. But clearly, that was not true; it seems that the Redcaps had accepted her daughter as their leader and worshiped her.

Maya begged the old woman to return her baby, but she was not ready to do so. The last time someone dared enter her house and destroy her life, Maya believed that she did not do enough to protect herself. But this time, she was determined to do whatever it took to bring her daughter home. Maya used her bare hands to crush the old woman’s skull, impressing the Redcaps. The Redcaps held her as their queen. Maya brought her baby home, but she was no longer an ordinary human. The Redcaps surrounded her and chanted “Mother Redcap” as she drank a skull full of blood. It was her initiation into leading the Redcaps, and Jamie was proud of the person his wife had become.

“Unwelcome” ends with Maya becoming the leader of the Redcaps. Maya and Jamie’s lives will no longer be the same, considering the amount of blood they will now have to bring in regularly. When Maya arrived at the house, she wanted to make sure that she had nothing to fear. She had lived in fear when she stayed in London, and she was not ready to live that life. Well, she sure did take control of her life. Though now they have no one but themselves to fear.


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Srijoni Rudra
Srijoni Rudra
Srijoni has worked as a film researcher on a government-sponsored project and is currently employed as a film studies teacher at a private institute. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Film Studies. Film History and feminist reading of cinema are her areas of interest.

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