Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ending explained: Unpacking that bonkers ending

The Deetz women head back to Winter River in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. There is a lot going on with the various characters, and somehow, it all comes together in a bizarre ending.

The sequel starts with us catching up on where Lydia Deetz is after all these years. She’s now a TV show host, presenting a TV show about haunted houses. However, she’s seeing a certain demonic spirit, and it’s clear that he is sure to come back.

Things take a turn when she learns that her father has died. Now, she, her stepmom Delia, and her daughter Astrid need to head back to the original ghost house, the Winter River home. She heads there with her manager/lover Rory, who proposes at her dad’s wake and insists on getting married at Halloween.

Astrid falls for a ghost boy in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Despite her mom’s experiences, Astrid doesn’t believe in ghosts. It doesn’t help that her father has died and Lydia isn’t able to see him. She thinks that Lydia is lying about everything, and she’s shocked to find out that she can see spirits as well.

One of those is a 16-year-old boy who wants Astrid to help him become human again. It turns out that he killed his parents and died falling out of his tree house when the police came for him. The only way to turn human is to find a human who will switch places with him. Of course, he doesn’t tell Astrid all of this, so when they get to immigration and switch over souls, Astrid is shocked to find out that she’s been betrayed.

Lydia found out what had happened, and she makes a deal with Betelguese to save her daughter. She will marry the demonic spirit if he saves her, and so they head to the afterlife to find Astrid and get her back. Astrid’s dad is also there, and he manages to save Astrid and Lydia from a sand snake.

There’s a beautiful family moment, but it’s not over. They need to get to the ghost boy to stop him from getting his passport stamped to head back to Earth. Betelguese has that one covered, saving Astrid and getting the two living people back to Earth.

Lydia doesn’t end up marrying anyone in Beetlejuice 2

Now Lydia has to go through with a wedding. She agreed to marry Rory, but she also has the contract in place with Betelguese. The demon isn’t going to let Lydia get away this time, so he forces Rory to tell the truth about what he thinks of Lydia. He’s marrying her for her money. That’s it.

And so starts the bizarre wedding scene set to “MacArthur Park.” Everyone throughout the movie comes together in this, including Betelguese’s ex-wife Dolores, who is a soul-sucker looking for him. Astrid is able to open the door to the sand snake’s world, letting the sand snake in to eat Rory and Dolores. Bye bye!

Astrid also finds a way to get Lydia out of the deal. Betelguese nullified his own contract by getting Lydia into the afterlife illegally. And so, Betelguese is popped like a balloon, and the Deetz women are able to enjoy their life.

Well, sort of.

Delia Deetz joins Charles in the afterlife

During the movie, Delia bought two poisonous, defanged snakes to pay respect to her dead husband. Well, they weren’t defanged. They bite her and kill her, and by the end of the movie, Delia realizes that she needs to accept this.

She and Charles find each other in the afterlife and they’re able to head off on the Soul Train to the Great Beyond. It’s kind of sweet.

Lydia has a nightmare in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

In the final moments, we get a look at the life Lydia and Astrid could now have. They are on their trip of the scariest places, and stop at Dracula’s Castle. While there, Astrid falls for a boy, and they end up getting married.

While Astrid is giving birth, out pops Baby Beetlejuice. Lydia wakes up with the demonic spirit next to her, but then she wakes up again, suggesting a nightmare within a nightmare. Does this hint that Betelguese isn’t quite gone? Is this where the story could go if there’s a third movie?

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now out in theaters.