Crawl: Ending Explained + Full Spoiler Talk Review

It’s time to swim for your life with the release of Crawl a new horror that puts some of the world’s most dangerous animals directly in your home.

Throughout this, I’ll be breaking down everything that you need to know about Crawl, it’s Ending as well as the extra scene that was cut from the movie.

There will be heavy spoilers here, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to know what happens then I highly suggest that you turn off now.

With that out the way I just wanna give a huge thank you for clicking the video now let’s get into my breakdown of Crawl.

Crawl Plot Recap

Crawl follows Haley Keller, who after receiving a call from her sister about a Category 5 Hurrican heading towards her father’s home, heads into the storm on a rescue mission. Haley’s father Dave has been living their since his divorce with Haley’s mother, which she carries a lot of guilt over. This is because Haley is trying to become a professional swimmer, hopefully, that comes in handy eh, and the father who coached her pretty much sacrificed his marriage so that she could succeed.

When Haley arrives at the house she descends into the crawlspace under the house which is where she finds her father and something else along with him. Giant ravenous alligators which have managed to infiltrate the house and give a whole new meaning to the reason you should never smile at a crocodile….pfffttt…I’m sorry that joke doesn’t even really work

Anyway, due to the gator’s size they manage to hide behind the pipes underlying the house, however, as the hurricane intensifies, the basement floods and the two have to navigate their way out of there all whilst surviving the jaws of death.

The Tensest Alligator Movie Ever

It’s a really unique and interesting premise that I definitely found myself going with early on and there’s one thing that this movie is from the off which is tense. It doesn’t really let up and you always feel like there’s a ticking clock to everything whether it comes from the approaching storm, the flooding or the alligators who want nothing more than a hot meal.

From the off this is a clear metaphor for Global warming and how whilst we are happy to play ignorant when it comes to the welfare of the planet, the danger that mother nature brings will eventually come into our homes and in one way or another uproot us from it. It really feels like a modern horror premise however it still packs all of the underlying monster movie classics such as jaws and the like which really elevate this above most.

There’s a real sense of claustrophobia to crawl that massively makes every interaction with the creatures feel ever more dangerous. There’s no ocean to swim about in here, just cramped ceilings and walls and it makes the piece have an underlying tension throughout.

Crawl Ending Explained

After several failed escape attempts and one which shows you why it’s bad to go looting, Haley makes her way to the storm drain and discovers that the alligators have made their nest there. She manages to kill one using a gun that was picked off a police officer and makes it to the upstairs part of the house, which allows her to free her father.

They’re not home safe yet though and the house itself begins to flood as the eye of the hurricane sets its sights on the house. Joined by Sugar the trusty dog, the trio manages to make their way through the house and Haley is able to send out a distress signal. Unfortunately, the alligators are hot on their tail and Dave loses an arm but Haley manages to make it to the roof after trapping an alligator in a shower, burning one with a flare and swimming outside the house to bring her father to the roof.

Haley flags down a chopper and in the end, her father watches on proudly, knowing that all that amazing coaching that ruined his marriage, his life and his relationship with his children has meant that Haley is the fastest swimmer in the ocean. The film abruptly cuts to black and we don’t really get any closure though it is heavily implied that the two made it out alive.

Crawl Alternate Ending Explained

In an interview with Cinema Blend, Kaya Scodelario, who played Haley said that this was done intentionally and whilst there was originally a cut to Dave and Haley safe in the hospital, this was done for the following reason:

“I always thought that quick cut was quite clever, because I kept expecting there to be a cut to [Haley and Dave] in the hospital bed. And I really like that you are just on this journey, and that’s all you get to see, and that you’re here for this experience and this thrill ride and it doesn’t let up, it doesn’t stop until the credits roll. There’s something quite exciting about it. After I saw it, I kind of needed 20 minutes to calm down after it, because I felt exhausted. And I think that’s the pace that Alex wanted to keep.”

Personally, I do agree with this and whilst initially when watching it I felt it was quite abrupt it makes sense in retrospect as it doesn’t really allow the pace of the movie to let up.

This also ties into the cut scene from the film which gave a more indepth backstory to Dave and his wife’s divorce. Dave was in the process of selling the house in order to carry out his end of the divorce, however, he backs out of the sale because it means so much to him. This kinda gives more motive as to why he decided to stay there during the hurricane and it also fills in more of the breakdown of his marriage.

I do however think that again due to potential pacing issues that this was the right decision and it allows the movie to not really let up from it’s opening to the end. Overall I think it’s removal actually makes the movie better and was the correct decision to make as we don’t really need this section added in order to help with plot development.

Crawl Review

But what did I think of the film overall?

Well, Crawl surprised me in more ways than one, this is a really engaging horror that feels like a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. I’ve never been to Florida but I can imagine that this will really resonate with locals there as the tension and scenario is really unique and feels like a really intense situation throughout.

There are some minor criticisms I have around the film such as the realism of the animals and some of the CGI effects, however, nothing really took me out of it and it really feels like a home run for what it does.

Overall this is a really enjoyable horror that you should definitely check out this weekend and that’s why it gets an…