'Prey for the Devil' Ending Explained: The Most Dangerous Demon Is the One We Feed (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the film Prey for the Devil.

Prey for the Devil is available in theaters, promising to breathe fresh air into the exorcism subgenre. While the movie is not as revolutionary as one might think by watching a nun performing rites usually reserved for men, it tries to stand apart with a story filled with twists, turns, and last-minute revelations. So, if you are exiting the theater and trying to make sense of Prey for the Devil, we’ve prepared a handy guide that explains everything that happened at the movie’s ending.

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Who Is Sister Ann?

Prey for the Devil follows the story of Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers), a devoted nun who dedicates her life to understanding the Devil’s work and helping the Holy Church to rescue lost souls. Her divine calling came during her teenage years after she got pregnant by an unknown father. Annie’s mother (Koyna Ruseva) was possessed by a demon that forced her to hurt her daughter, eventually leading the woman to kill herself. After that, Annie was taken into a foster home until, by the age of fifteen, she passed out drunk, had unprotected sex, and found herself in the streets after being kicked out by her temporary family. Annie was rescued by nuns and decided to become one herself. As for her baby, she gave the child away for adoption at birth.

Ten years later, Annie is working at the Boston Exorcism School, an institution dedicated to forming young priests to fight against the armies of Hell. The school is also a containing facility for the Vatican to hold people who are potentially possessed. Each patient gets locked in a room under constant surveillance by doctors and psychiatrists while priests wait to intervene once the Church approves the exorcism. Although nuns are only supposed to help take care of patients, Sister Ann frequently sneaks into classes so that she can learn more about exorcisms and holy rites. Ann wants to do more for God, and she feels that being a little rebellious might help the Church fight an evil that’s spreading.

Annie’s Demon Comes Back

As Sister Ann works at the Boston facility, she begins to be taunted by demons inside some patients. These demons use Annie’s traumatic childhood to hurt her, forcing her to face the pain left by her dead mother. The worst patient is the young Natalie (Posy Taylor), who becomes possessed when the girl is only ten years old. As it turns out, the demon inside Natalie is the same one who kept her mother hostage, and his goal remains to get inside Annie. Hell knows Sister Ann is a fierce warrior of God, and they want nothing more than to take over her soul.

Natalie’s case pushes Sister Ann to learn more about demons. As a result of her research, she develops a theory about how some possessions happen because the victim invites demons in, as they believe they deserve to suffer. To try out her hypothesis, she joins Father Dante (Christian Navarro) in the exorcism of his sister, Emilia (Cora Kirk).

Emilia was possessed after having an abortion, a choice she made because she was raped. Even though she has nothing to feel guilty about, Emilia is in profound distress due to her abortion. During the exorcism, Sister Ann tries to convince Emilia that God loves her even if she makes a choice that the Holy Church reprimands. For a moment, they think they’ve gotten ridden of the demon, but the next day Sister Ann finds out Emilia killed herself.

Sister Ann decides to go back to the convent and abandon the school. However, a few days later, Father Dante visits to tell her that Natalie’s condition got worse, the child killed three people, and the demon gave Dante a crucifix. The crucifix was the parting gift Annie left with her newborn child, which means Natalie is her lost daughter. Imbued with new strength, Sister Ann decides to go back to the school to fight her demon.

A Duel in the Basem*nt

Due to her dangerous nature, Natalie is locked away in the school’s basem*nt, in old cells that were used to hold witches and possessed people centuries ago. The basem*nt also has a pool of holy water priests used to drown people in, hoping to save their souls. Father Dante helps Annie sneak into the school until they find Natalie. The demon kills the other priests praying in its cell and begins to pursue Sister Ann. Annie is willing to do whatever she can to protect the child and offers the demon her body. The creature leaves Natalie and enters Annie, but the victory is short-lived. Possessed by Hell’s soldier, Annie goes after Natalie and Dante, determined to kill them.

Inside her body, Annie thinks about her mother and realizes the woman had killed herself to protect her daughter. Annie’s mother knew the demon inside her would force her hands to hurt her daughter forever. So, to keep Annie safe, her mother struggled for control of her own body and took her own life. Enlightened by this insight, Annie fights the demon until she manages to throw her body inside the holy water pool. The water enters her lungs, and she begins to drown. However, the evil spirit is destroyed by the divine properties of the water, freeing Annie from her possession. Father Dante rescues Annie and resurrects her. As for Natalie, the child is finally saved after a motherly sacrifice.

Hell Never Forgives

Even though Sister Ann saved her own daughter from the forces of evil, she decides not to reveal the truth to the young girl. So, to Natalie, Annie is just a good nun. However, due to her efforts, Annie gets a scholarship at the Vatican to study demonology and become the first woman exorcist in seven centuries. However, Sister Ann gets stuck in traffic on her way to the airport and gets attacked by the army of Hell. Hell never forgets, and Hell never forgives. The demons possess her taxi driver and a woman passing by and force the two humans to attack Annie. But the nun picks up her crucifix and gets ready to fight. We don't see what happens next, but if Prey for the Devil gets a sequel, Annie might be stuck in a war with evil forces.

Prey for the Devil is currently available in theaters. Check out the movie’s trailer below: