Netflix’s Mothers’ Instinct Ending Explained

Mothers’ Instinct has one heck of an ending. Even though the movie begins with a bit of a fake-out, it’s a real bombshell. But what actually happens? Here’s a full explanation of the Mothers’ Instinct ending.

Here’s What Happens at the End of Mother’s Instinct

Set in the 1960s, Mothers’ Instinct ends with Celine murdering her husband and Alice and her husband, after having earlier killed Alice’s mother-in-law. She then adopts Alice’s son, Theo, as a replacement for her own son, Max, and, basically, wins.

That’s not to say that Celine is a murderer from the word go. Her son dies in an accident, leaning over to a birdhouse on a balcony, and that death sends her spiraling into madness. And, unhinged as she is, her motivations are a little fuzzy. At one point it seems like she wants to kill Theo, blaming Alice for not stopping Max in time, at others it seems as if she wants Theo as a substitute for the late Max.

Celine kills Alice’s mother-in-law by swapping her pills for placebos (her husband works in the pharmaceutical industry) and she has a heart attack. Alice’s mother-in-law, Theo’s grandmother, tried to stop Celine from seeing Theo, which is why she became her target. By this point, Alice has become very suspicious of Celine, and rightly so. However, since she suffers from her own mental health issues, Alice’s husband isn’t convinced.

Theo goes into Celine’s house and attempts suicide to be with Max and his grandmother. We don’t see what Celine has said to him but it’s likely she’s been whispering in his ear. However, Celine saves Theo from falling and that, along with some self-reflection, is enough to convince Alice that it’s all in her head.

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Alice’s husband, Simon, decides to move the pair away, something that Alice had previously suggested. We don’t see what’s going on in her head, but Celine chloroforms her husband Darren, and fakes his suicide. Unwisely, but still convinced it was all in her head, Alice allows Celine to stay while she’s grieving.

Celine chloroforms Theo, telling him it’s a magic potion (I admit, I laughed at this). Alice has gone next door to get some of Celine’s clothes and discovers the key to her oversized medicine cabinet. She finds the chloroform, and rushes back to her house to find Simon has been drugged. There’s a fight between Alice and Celine, but Celine wins.

Celine stages a gas leak, and Alice and Simon suffocate, which the police take as an accident. She adopts Theo, and the last shot is of Celine chasing Theo along the beach, the pair of them laughing.

And that’s it. You might be wondering if this ending is all in Celine’s head, but there’s no twist to suggest that’s the case. Celine gets away with murdering four people and adopts Alice’s son Theo. And that’s Mothers’ Instinct ending explained.

Mothers’ Instinct is available to watch now.