Warning: This post contains spoilers for Arcadian

Summary

• Paul sacrifices himself to save his sons, showcasing the theme of familial bonds and survival.
• Arcadian's creatures evolve and plan to eradicate humanity, setting up a potential sequel.
• Thomas, Joseph, and Charlotte decide to leave their homes, hinting at a new journey and potential alliances.

Arcadian’s ending leaves the door open for more should director Mike Nilon and writer Benjamin Brewer wish to return to the world they built. Starring Nicolas Cage in a performance that is a bit less meaty than some of his other films, Arcadian’s movie reviews were mostly positive. The action horror’s ending sees Cage’s Paul still recovering from the creature’s attack, forcing his sons, Thomas and Joseph, to fend for themselves. After Charlotte’s home is attacked and her parents killed by the creatures, who make unsettling snapping sounds with their jaws, she and Thomas return to his family’s safe house.

By the time they return, Joseph has figured out that the creatures have dug a hole beneath the safe house, and, after capturing one of them, has come up with a plan to exterminate them in one fell swoop. Thomas and Charlotte joined in on the plan, making sure to give Paul the medicine Thomas took to help him. The teens’ plan is to lure the creatures into a trap and blow them up, with the light from the fire preventing them from attacking. They hide to protect themselves from the blast and decide to leave their home together thereafter.

Paul Dies In Arcadian's Ending Saving His Sons

Paul managed to survive the creatures, but only once

Paul lived his whole life trying to protect his sons, ensuring their survival by teaching them how to fight and keep themselves safe from the mutated creatures that hunt at night. Considering how far he was willing to go for them, it makes sense that Paul made himself bait to distract the creatures while his sons ran to safety, sacrificing his own life in the process. Before Paul died, he recalled holding his twin sons as babies.

By the end of Arcadian, Paul knew Thomas and Joseph were ready to fend for themselves; he had done well in teaching them all they needed to know, and so he left this world confident that they would be able to survive in it. Paul likely knew that his time was almost up after he survived the creatures’ first attack. In that instance, he was fighting to save Thomas because he was unprepared. In his second face-off with the creatures, Paul was secure knowing Thomas and Joseph had each other and no longer needed him to stand up for them.

Arcadian's Creatures Explained: History & Plan

They grew smarter over the years and were biding their time

Interestingly, and unlike other films, Arcadian doesn’t give its creatures a name. They’re known to hate the sunlight, and have wide, snapper jaws that can kill in an instant, but their history is murky and vague. While Thomas and Charlotte briefly discuss all the ways the apocalypse might have happened, they seem unclear about the details. In Arcadian, the nuances of the past don’t immediately affect the present, and all the characters (and the audience) know is that the creatures are deadly and are intent on eradicating humanity. It seems they don’t stay stagnant, either, as they continue to evolve.

Since they couldn’t enter safe houses through the front, the creatures collectively began digging beneath the foundation to reach the houses from underground.

Just as Paul and his sons have figured out ways to maintain their safety, Arcadian’s creatures have also come up with a different approach to their attacks. By the end of the action horror, the creatures had evolved over the decades, growing smarter while biding their time before launching their coordinated attack. Since they couldn’t enter safe houses through the front, the creatures collectively began digging beneath the foundation to reach the houses from underground. Their goal was ultimately to exterminate whoever was left of the human race, essentially taking over the world in the process.

Thomas, Joseph & Charlotte Decide To Leave Their Homes Behind

The trio will look for other survivors

After blowing up the creatures, Thomas, Joseph and Charlotte are well and truly on their own. They can’t stay behind because their home is no longer safe, and Charlotte’s family is gone, too, so there’s nowhere for them to go that is nearby. With the creatures becoming more intelligent, Joseph, Charlotte, and Thomas decide it’s best to leave the only home they’ve known to search for a new safe house and other survivors.

They’re likely not the only humans still alive and considering the creatures are growing even stronger, the trio embarking on a new journey would allow them to warn other people of the threat the creatures pose to the safety of whatever’s left of humanity. Thomas, Joseph, and Charlotte can now use their knowledge, skills and expertise regarding the creatures to aid others in defeating them. The teens and their potential allies may not be able to wipe them out entirely, but the creatures in Arcadian will at least be faced with a challenge should the trio find help.

How Arcadian Sets Up Another Dystopian Sequel

The creatures’ evolution spells further doom for humanity

The fact that Thomas, Joseph, and Charlotte survived is enough to set up a sequel to Arcadian, especially since the apocalyptic horror movie ends with the creatures having developed a new way to attack and eliminate people. Though unconfirmed, an Arcadian sequel could follow Thomas, Joseph, and Charlotte on their journey to the next safe house location. It’s possible they’ll find more survivors, and there’s no doubt they will have to fight their fair share of creatures on their way to a new destination. Arcadian 2 could also flesh out the film’s world, as well as the brothers’ dynamic.

Arcadian Does Not Have A Post-Credits Scene

Although ripe with endless possibilities for a sequel, Arcadian does not have a post-credits scene. It simply ends with the teens leaving their homes behind, the future a bit hopeful despite all the tragedies they endured. And while a film doesn’t need a post-credits scene to tease a sequel, it’s unlikely the characters will go another round with the creatures in a sequel. Despite the monster movie helping redeem Nicolas Cage’s Rotten Tomatoes slump, Arcadian stands perfectly well on its own, telling a singular story from start to finish, even if it leaves questions about what might come next.

Arcadian has an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but only a 55% audience score. The film opened in theaters April 12.

The Real Meaning Of Arcadian’s Ending

Familial bonds and survival work hand-in-hand

Arcadian’s ending highlights the importance of familial relationships and how those very bonds can strengthen the teamwork that is needed to survive. Thomas and Joseph certainly had their differences, and they butted heads throughout Arcadian, but it’s also those very differences that aided in their final plan to take down the vicious creatures. One of Paul’s strengths is also in the way he maintained and protected his family. He understood that their familial bonds were crucial to survival, but also that working together — where no one was forced to do anything on their own — was necessary.

In a world where there is so very little of humanity left, Arcadian drives home the point of family and the trust they have in each other as the keys to staying alive. Even when Joseph believed he could do things alone, he would never have survived the onslaught of the creatures without the help of Thomas or his father. All things considered, the film’s ending reestablished the brothers’ relationship as a point of power against the wily monsters.