The Medium Ending Explained (Spoilers)

A horrifying story of a shaman's inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand. What could be possessing a family member might not be the Goddess they make it out to be.

The Medium: Spoilers Below

A Thai documentary team travels to Isan, the northeast part of Thailand, to document the daily life of Nim, a local medium, who is possessed by the spirit of Bayan, a local deity whom the villagers worship. Bayan is an ancestral God and has possessed women in Nim's family for generations. Noi, Nim's sister, was the latest in line for the succession. However, Noi did not want to be possessed and converted to Christianity. Bayan then possessed Nim and has been with her since then.

While en route to Noi's husband Wiroj's funeral, Nim explains that the Wiroj family always falls under misfortune; his father's factory went bankrupt, and after being caught setting fire to the factory for insurance fraud, he committed suicide; his son, Mac, died from a motorbike accident. Noi's only surviving daughter is Mink, who attends church with her mother and doesn't believe in Shamanism.

The documentary crew and Mink's friends and family notice Mink displaying strange and aggressive behaviors, along with showing multiple personalities such as one of an older man, a drunkard, a child, and a prostitute. She starts to have strange dreams, hears voices, and suffers crippling vaginal and abdominal pain. Her boss fires her after she is caught having sex with multiple men at work. Nim is initially convinced that the spirit of Bayan wishes Mink to be its successor, but Noi refuses to have the Acceptance Ceremony performed on her daughter.

Nim later suspects that Bayan is not involved. She learns that Mac didn't die in a motorbike accident but hanged himself and that Mink had an incestuous relationship with him. She comes to the conclusion that the soul of Mac is trying to kill Mink and performs a ceremony to convince his ghost not to kill her. Noi, after finding Mink in the shower with her wrists slit, is convinced that Bayan is punishing Mink for her refusal to be a successor. She arranges for another Shaman to perform the Acceptance Ceremony without Nim's knowledge. Nim realizes that Mac isn't involved after the Acceptance Ceremony fails. Mink's condition deteriorates, and she bludgeons Noi with one of the crew's cameras. Nim goes to pray on the mountain but is distressed upon finding that the statue of Bayan has been decapitated.

Nim seeks help from Santi, her Shaman friend, and he tells her that Mink isn't just possessed by one spirit, but hundreds of souls whom Wiroj's ancestors beheaded. Santi says that Mink is now a ready vessel for the spirits because of the Acceptance Ceremony. Santi, Nim, and Santi's students prepare to exorcise Mink. Mink is possessed and haunts the family in the days leading up to the ritual, such as eating raw meat from the fridge, climbing into Noi's bed, and eating the family dog after boiling it alive. She is asleep and taunting her at the same time. Nim mysteriously dies in her sleep the day before the ritual.

Santi uses Noi as a vessel and goes forward with the ritual. However, convinced that her son is locked inside with Mink, Mink's aunt-in-law tears the sacred Yantra cloth keeping her contained, causing the ritual to fail. Evil spirits begin to possess and start dancing maniacally, biting and consuming alive the Shaman, his students, the documentary crew, and everyone involved in the ceremony. Bayan seemingly possessing Noi causes a brief respite, as Noi starts directing the surviving students to continue the ritual. She chants a prayer while touching Mink but is distracted when she calls her mother and is eventually overwhelmed. The movie ends with Mink burning her mother alive, whose screams can be heard as the camera focuses on a voodoo doll with needles protruding from it, labeled with the "Yasantia" Mink's family name.

A mid-credits scene occurs during the day before Nim's death while preparing for the ritual. Nim is visibly frustrated as the preparations are not going well. Finally, she suffers a crisis of faith and confesses to questioning if Bayan had ever possessed her before breaking down off-screen.

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