Dark Harvest 2023 Ending Explained | Movie Recaps Review

                 

I will be explaining the ending of a newly released movie called Dark Harvest. This is based on the book of the same name by 

Norman Partridge. Ending slightly differs from the books which makes it super confusing. 

This is a Halloween-themed movie set in a rural village where agriculture is the main source of income. Here, the harvester's guild named authority organization literally controls the town and people live here in lockdown mode. The year is 1962 and it's Halloween night. The movie starts at night when all the teenage boys are hunting an evil entity called Sawtooth Jack. This entity wakes up every year on Halloween night and runs toward the church. It kills everyone who comes in its way. The job of the boys is to stop it and kill it before midnight. Here we see it had already burnt a boy and a a guy named Jim Shephard is now chasing it. 

He successfully tackles it and beats the crap out of it before killing it for good. Later he and other boys ripped its body to eat the Halloween candies stuffed inside it. This is an annual ritual in this town to get rid of this entity who they believe if allowed to reach the church before midnight will bring doom to that year's harvest. Here people believe in this legend to the extent of risking their kid's life for it. 

The winner here gets a huge cash prize and a brand-new car. Since Jim was the winner this year he and his family were facilitated after the event. In his family, we see his dad Dan, mom Donna, and little brother Richie, who seemed unhappy. Another weird rule of this event was that the winner had to leave this town to settle outside. For many years all the winners had done that, Jim too does it with a swag. 

Now the story jumps one year and it's Halloween week. Richie is still unhappy and sad as he is missing his brother Jim. It's been a year since he last saw him. He was getting only the greeting cards from him, no letter or a telephone call. It's been implied that Jim is still traveling the world and living his best life. On the way to school, Richie saw a new girl named Kelly working in a theatre. 

At the school, the local sheriff, Jerry Ricks explains the history and rules of the event. Taking part in this event is mandatory for all the boys. They will be locked without food and water for three days so that on the night of Halloween they can unleash their animal spirit. Killing the Sawtooth Jack is of the essence as one time when they failed to do so, their town and the harvest were enveloped in a dirt storm. It took nine years to recover from that loss. Ricks says there will be death and be ready for it. Like past years this year too the guild was giving away cash price and a car to the winner. Richie here wanted to participate but he was not allowed. Past winner's family were not allowed in order for others to have the chance at the price. 

Richie here was suffering from an inferiority complex, his identity was lost in his brother's fame. Here he was thinking about running the run to prove to the world that he too matters. Many of his friends were afraid of this event. One said all this legend is a lie, Officer Ricks might be releasing a mental patient every year with a pumpkin mask on his face to reduce the burden on the system. like murcey kill. But another guy Bud backed the legend. He says, I have seen the Sawtooth Jack, he is real. When I was little I tried to warn a guy from my window but it was late. Sawtooth killed him with his fire. Many here will die. He was scared like hell. Another guy Riley Blaike smirked at this as he was confident that he would win this year's run. Riley used to bully Richie and the fight here breaks between these two over the issue. 

Officer Ricks threw them out where Richie ran from Riley in fear. Inside Richie knew he was not strong like Jim but he was desperate to prove himself wrong. He now hides inside the lobby of the theatre where Kelly helps him. She offers him a cola and popcorn as it seems she is into him. Quickly these two became friends and Riche assures her that if he wins the run he will take her to the dance. 

After some time Richie met his friends Mitch and Bud to discuss the next plan. Mitch was Richie's neighbor till last year in his old neighborhood and these two were like brothers. He was scared to go to the run all alone hence he acts like a tough guy. He pumped Richie to join him so that he could lean on him when the time came. But Bud advocates against it by saying it a dangerous. Clearly, Bud was Richie's well-wisher but Richie was struggling with his own demons. When he reached home he got another card from Jim which infuriated him. 

He finally decides to make a run and argues with his dad Dan who slaps him hard. Donna begs Richie to stay put by saying they have everything in life, a new house , and good money. There is no need to take the risk. The death at the run was a real thing yet many parents were willing to take the risk for the cash price. Richie here leaves the house in anger. 

He later meets Annie who was Jim's girlfriend. She too wanted to leave this place and roam the world but Jim had dumped her. Here these two heartbroken friends were sharing their feelings. On the other side, we see a farmer making a scarecrow in his field. He puts a pumpkin head to it implying, that this will become Sawtooth Jack on Halloween night. 

The next morning Richie visits his old house in his old neighbourhood to relive the old memories. But gets beaten up by Reily and his gang. They took his belt which was gifted to him by Jim. Jim had bought two belts one for him and one for Richie. Back at his house, Richie gets a letter from Jim where he shares his feelings. He narrates how he misses him and his parents, how winning the run is not a big deal, how roaming around alone makes one lonely. He hints at returning to settle for good with Annie and hence asks Rihie to take care of their parents till then. This letter makes Richie angry, in a rage he hot-wires a car and tries to leave the town. But he gets caught on the outskirts by Officer Ricks who knocks him down. 

Now all the parents lock their kids in their house without food and water as it was three days to Halloween. Teens started screaming after a day but nobody gave a damn. On Halloween evening these were released. With the urge like wild animals, these teens were ready for a kill. It seemed Richie was drugged for three days which had knocked him out. He wakes up in time to hunt. Dan and Donna beg him to stay put but this imbalanced hormonal teen ran away. We see a guy with a shotgun in front of his meat shop to stop these teens from breaking in. Richie joined his friends Charlie, Mitch, and Bud who drove away in a pickup truck towards a cornfield. 

They were met with an accident as Sawthooth crashed into them. Seeing the Sawtooth, Charlie ran behind him in the fields but got severed in half. Later the macho guy Mitch also lost his head in its pursuit which terrified Richie. He ran away from him and later bumped into Kelly. She too was taking part in this run even though girls were not allowed. Richie points this to her to which she says even he was not allowed. She was doing this for the price of money so that she could go away. These two decided to work together and Richie insists on having a gun. He comes up with a plan to steal one from Officer Ricks's house.

Bud was scared like hell, seeing the death of his two friends. He ran back to his to hide but his parents refused entry. They wanted him to make them proud by killing the Sawtooth which he knew its he just couldn't do it. Like himself, he saw a kid from his window shouting at him. The Sawtooth was following him. So, he ran again to a bunker where some teens were hiding. He bangs on the door to let him in but the guys inside demand twenty dollars for the entry. All these scared smart chicken teens were hiding instead of joining the kill party. Bud didn't have the money, he begged them to let him in but they didn't decide in time. It was late, Sawtooth attacked Bud, ripped his jaw, and entered the bunker. With the burst of blood, we can see all of them were dead. 

Richie stole a gun from Officer Rick's house as he was not in the house. Just then his dad Dan came here for a visit which surprised him. He and Kelly later saw Officer Ricks at one house where he was forcefully evicting kids who were hiding there. Sneaikly these two stole his official car as well. Even though he fired some bullets at them they managed to escape. On the other side, teens were on a rampage, they attacked the meat shop and killed its owner in a rage. This guy was a pure dump, I mean he could have at least covered his window. This time when Riley and his gang attacked Richie he hit him back hard. Kelly too broke a couple of ribs with her baseball bat. Richie took back his belt and ran away from there. In the car, Kelly told him that her parents died last year in a car accident. His dad was from here but he ran away to join the army. He always hated this place and now she is living here with her auntie, who thinks she is wild. The thing was Kelly had burnt down a couple of barns belonging to racist guys and caused a lot of trouble. 

Just then these two heard a message on the radio of Sawtooth spotting on Oak Street. As these two drove away, we saw Officer Ricks at the radio station instructing. Richie saw Sawtooth coming towards him, he pointed a gun at him when he gazed at his belt. It resembled that of his and Jim's which confused him. Kelly quickly tried hitting him but Sawtooth attacked her back. For a strange reason, Sawtooth moved away from these guys without killing them. Richie grabbed injured Kelly and placed her in the car when Officer Ricks stopped them. He was surprised to see Kelly here as he knew his dad. It was implied that he had something to do with his car accident. Hearing this Kelly in a rage pokes at his face with her bat and Richie drives on.

These two arrive at Richie's house where his mom Donna is high on some pills. The harvester's guild had prescribed her pills to cope with the pain. Richie here gets the information about past winners. Surprisingly all of them had left the town and nobody ever heard from them. It was Donna all along who wrote the letter and cards. Upon seeing the belt, Richie had a doubt about Jim being the Sawtooth Jack. It becomes clear here as Donna reluctantly hints at that. The harvester guild was conducting this event every year as a ritual. The guy who wins the run apparently gets killed and becomes the next year's Sawtooth. The family was paid handsomely to keep quiet otherwise they too would lose their life. It was evident from Richie's earlier statement where he says the guild controls everything here. Even if people want to go out for vacation they need to take guild's permission. 

Donna was living with the guilt of his dead son and now it was too much for her. While stabbing herself she asks Richie to end it all. We see Sawtooth at Riche's old house, he burns it down. Dan met with Officer Ricks to save his only son. For him too this was too much. Ricks reminds him about the grave consequences of failure. Apparently, the last time the town failed to stop Sawtooth it caused a sandstrom. Ricks had lost his big brother to it, for him it was personal. He forces Dan to stick to the plan. 

Kelly was shocked to know the truth, she suggested Richie leave this town tonight when everyone was busy. But Richie decides to end the endless killing by helping Sawtooth to enter the church. If no one stops the run then no one will die. These two rushed to the church where it was ten minutes to midnight. Inside Dan was waiting with the gun. He apologized to Richie for keeping him in the dark. Richie tells him about Donna's suicide which breaks him. Just then Sawtooth a.k.a Jim arrived at the gates of the church. As Richie tries to help him to bring him inside, Officer Ricks hands over his gun to Riley to shoot at him. Riley fires a couple of bullets at Jim who stumbles with pain. At his last moment, Jim took Richie's hand and pointed his gun at his head, implying a merciful death. Richie while crying puts a bullet in his head and becomes a winner. The rest of the teens lift him up to chant his name. 

The guild had organized the party as usual where they handed over the prize money with a brand new car. Richie had invited Kelly as promised and he finally decides to leave this town for good. As Kelly leaves to pick up her bags, Dan confronts Ricks. He was disillusioned with this legend and endless murders. He tries to kill Ricks so that Richie can escape but Ricks knocks him down. Later he chases and stops Richie and Kelly on the road. Riche here tells Kelly to go without him he doesn't come back in ten minutes. Ricks at gunpoint drags Richie to the cornfield to kill him but gets shot instead. Richie without a hesitation fires at him. When it seems all well and fine, we see the same farmer who attacks Richie from behind. 

He dumps him in the ditch and buries him alive. Kelly was waiting for Richie even after ten minutes in the hope of him coming back. Now Dan comes here and tells her to leave as he had understood what has happened. She while crying leaves the town. After one year we see the same farmer placing Richie's body as a scarecrow. This time Dan stabs him to death. On Halloween night he tells Richie to burn all this down meaning the whole town. With this, the movie ends. So what the heck happened here? So this rural town was in possession of sorts where everyone believed in the legend. Nobody questioned the guild as it was happening for so many years. Parents who had lost their kids to this stupid belief also kept quiet as they were well off and were scared for their families. In the book, Richie finally reached the church and he burnt it down like Jim did to his house. After this town's people were freed from the possession and they left this place for good. 

I guess the movie questions the ability of the people to question traditions or religious beliefs. The herd mentality of the people always leaves behind a tale of destruction. The movie highlights the class difference as well. Kids belonging to rich families were hiding in the bunker whereas poor kids like Mitch, Charlie, Riley, Bud, and others were made to run. For these kid's families, money was the motivator. Jim and Richie too were poor, since Jim's victory they settled in the posh neighborhood. Meaning it is easy to brainwash the poor and weak. prey on their weakness. But when you push it to the brink it always backfires. 

In the end, Dan had lost everything, his wife and two sons. He had nothing to lose hence via Richie he burns down the town. I like the design of Sawtooth Jack's design, it really gives you the Halloween vibe. I believe it is one of the good light horror movies of this year. You will certainly enjoy it. Hope you liked this video, please subscribe to my channel. Thanks for watching. Happy Halloween.