Anything For Jackson: Jackson’s Fate & Ending Explained

The ending of Shudder’s latest paranormal horror movie Anything For Jackson leaves several questions about the Walsh family, Jackson, and the devil’s involvement unanswered. Featuring a family willing to do anything they can to bring back their beloved grandson, it initially begins as a classic case of spirit transferal, but quickly transforms into a horrific tale of demonic entities and their hunt for a vessel. Anything For Jackson’s ending and unanswered questions necessitate an explanation and further discussion.

Unlike most demonic possession movies, Anything For Jackson is driven by the desire to see a loved one again. Starring Sheila McCarthy as Audrey Walsh and Julian Richings as her husband Henry, the elderly couple struggles to cope with the loss of their grandson Jackson, who was killed in a vehicular accident that left his mother wheelchair-bound. While they care for their daughter, she could never get over what had happened and they believe that, by bringing her back, she will continue to endure a life of suffering. Jackson isn’t a demonic child-like Damian of The Omen nor is the Walsh ritual intent on bringing the devil to Earth, but things don’t go exactly as they have planned.

According to some satanic practices and beliefs, a pregnant woman’s fetus is an open vessel for spirits to enter whenever they are conjured. It somewhat resembles Insidious, when Dalton Lambert astral projects and leaves his body behind without knowing that a demon, as well as other restless spirits, want to enter it with ill-intent. Just like the Lambert family, the Walsh home becomes overrun with ghosts when they do not complete the ritual, which leads to what actually happens to Jackson, Shannon’s unborn baby, and the devil’s return to Earth. Here’s what the end of Anything For Jackson really means…

What Actually Happened To Jackson

When Shannon is first taken to the Walsh residence, she sees a small blonde toddler with a bloody hole in his head. It is addressed that he died in a car accident, but the real mystery is what happened to him following the pregnant woman’s escape. As she makes her getaway, she looks into the upstairs window to see Jackson being pulled away by an unknown force. While he was initially excited to find a new mother and vessel in the form of Shannon and the unborn baby, he now looks at her with fear as well as sadness in his eyes.

Audrey and Henry Walsh died in the process of trying to bring him back when Ian, a fellow member of their satanic cult, took the open gate as a way to bring the devil to Earth. It is likely that Jackson was taken by the devil, as the arms that wrap around him are entirely white, similar to that of the creatures. At the same time, it is entirely likely that it was the spirit of his mother or the Walshes whisking him off to safety from the other demonic entities that are roaming the house. There is very little known about what actually happened to Jackson, but it is certain that he was not transferred into Shannon’s fetus. It is far more likely that he will remain a restless spirit but reunited with the people who loved him the most.

How The Walsh Family Became A Vessel For The Devil

Ian conjured the devil, but the way that he possessed Audrey and Henry is rather confusing. When the ritual is complete, Audrey’s back begins to contort, which alludes to the devil taking residence in her body. As Ian explains, everyone can be a vessel for a spirit, it doesn’t matter how old or young an individual is, they are still up for grabs. The room they’ve been keeping Shannon is filled with possible people for the devil to possess, but Audrey is the weakest as well as a mother, which makes her the perfect candidate.

Except, she really isn’t the perfect candidate because she dies as a result of a fatal wound given to her by Ian. Which causes the devil to take over Henry’s body. As the elderly man twists and contorts, the devil rises from his flesh to come back to Earth. It is a rather confusing five-minute scene as it alludes that the devil was in Audrey but was transferred to Henry when their blood merged together. This was actually used as a way of differentiating between the two’s intentions behind conducting the ritual. While Audrey did it to bring back Jackson, Henry did it to appease Audrey and show her how much he loves her. He became a vessel for the devil because he was left with nothing once she died, leaving his soul weakened and open for him to inhabit.

Anything For Jackson’s Ending Explained

As Shannon drives away from the Walsh house, she slows down to see a bizarre human-demon hybrid cross the road. As it glances at her before entering the opposite side of the woods, she looks down at her pregnant stomach and holds it tightly. In doing so, it is clear that her unborn child is safe and unharmed by any restless spirit that could’ve found it as the perfect vessel. The figure that crosses the road is the devil that broke through Henry’s flesh. It no longer needs a host, as it has already been brought back to Earth. Therefore, it does not need to harm Shannon or her baby, it is likely his evil will rain down in a far more gruesome way in the future.

Director Justin G. Dyck left the ending fairly ambiguous as he wanted for audiences to interpret it in any way that they wanted to, but there are several certainties that can be deduced from its final moments. Jackson does not have a new vessel to inhabit and doesn’t actually need one now that his grandparents and mother are deceased. It is likely that whatever grabbed the boy in the movie’s final moments was one of his family member’s intent on keeping him safe from the vengeful spirits in the house. The Walsh’s became a vessel for the devil because Audrey died and Henry’s will to live weakened. By the end of Anything For Jackson, Shannon sees the devil as a bizarre marker of her and her unborn child’s new-found safety.

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