Choose or Die ending explained: Do Kayla and Isaac beat the game?

Choose or Die is a new horror film now streaming on Netflix. Written by Simon Allen, Choose or Die marks the feature directorial debut of Toby Meakins. Many fans have been anticipating this movie because it stars Asa Butterfield of Sex Education fame in a much darker role than we usually see him in. The film also features a voice cameo from horror icon Robert Englund, a.k.a. Freddy Kreuger from The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

This suspenseful horror-thriller follows young adults Kayla (Iola Evans) and Isaac (Butterfield) after finding an old computer game from the 1980s. After learning the prize money for beating the game was never claimed, Kayla tries to see if she can beat it and gets roped into a twisted game where the only options are to make horrifying choices…or die.

Spoilers ahead for Choose or Die.

Whether you’ve watched the movie or not, keep reading for all the answers you need if you’re ready to know how the movie ends!

Choose or Die ending: How does the CURS>R game work?

The game at the center of the movie is called CURS>R, and we find out it was created by a man named Beck (Joe Bolland). Isaac and Kayla find an old VHS tape leftover in his old warehouse that shows the game’s beta test. Beck and some unnamed others found a curse and, with it, mysterious symbols with significant power.

For centuries, the symbols were dormant. Each symbol means something different. One means “fire,” another “blood,” “pain,” “drown,” etc. The more the cursed suffers, the more the curser benefits. The beta test shows Beck making a man choose between eating a computer and his arm. When he chooses his arm, he is forced to self-cannibalize himself as Beck slices his arm with a knife.

But the more the man bites himself, the faster Beck heals. By making other people suffer from these symbols (embedded in the game’s code), the person who runs the game can heal themselves, cure sickness and more.

Choose or Die ending: Do both Kayla and Isaac survive to the end?

Sadly no. Not long after Isaac and Kayla arrive at the warehouse, the fourth level begins. Since Kayla and Isaac technically “cheated” by hacking into the code, they’re punished by Beck as part of the game. Ironically, Beck uses Isaac’s own words against him, as earlier in the film, he talks about how he would allow a cheat mode in his game, but it would result in punishment or pain (in-universe) for the gamer.

Of course, those words have been twisted, and poor Isaac is absorbed into some static-y dimension where Kayla has to choose between fast-forwarding or rewinding. When she fast-forwards, Isaac vomits up a seemingly endless spool of film strip, slicing up his insides. Rewind, and he forcefully inhales it. By the end of the level, Isaac dies.

Choose or Die ending: Does Kayla beat the game?

After Isaac’s death, Kayla faces the final level and subsequent boss battle alone. It turns out the final battle is against Hal (Eddie Marsan), the man who started this deadly chain of events when the game made him create copies of it.

The battle consists of Kayla and Eddie trying to kill each other with a twist. They have to hurt themselves to hurt the other person. Further complicating matters are Hal’s poor, tormented wife and son, Laura (Kate Fleetwood) and Gabe (Pete MacHale). Gabe tries to help his dad, but Laura has had enough and attempts to aide Kayla.

Ultimately, Kayla kills Hal by drowning herself in the swimming pool, beating the game and setting Laura and Gabe free.

Choose or Die ending: What happens to Kayla at the end?

At the end of the movie, Kayla starts using CURS>R to exact vigilante justice. She begins by tricking Lance (Ryan Gage) into playing. Lance is the gross creep who gives her mom drugs and keeps trying to coerce Kayla into sleeping with him. Kayla gets him to kill himself by ramming his face into a sink full of hypodermic needles. Causing Lance to suffer allows her to heal the wounds she sustained from the fight with Hal, and she heals her mother.

Then she gets a call from Beck, who is impressed that she managed to beat his game, and he asks her what she wants to do now. Kayla plans to keep using the game, but only for people who deserve it. Sounds like a sequel hook to me!

Is there a Choose or Die post-credits scene?

No, the movie does not have a mid or post-credits scene so you don’t need to watch the credits for a sequel hook or anything.

Stream Choose or Die on Netflix.