Krampus ending explained: Real meaning behind the Snow Globe

Krampus is a Christmas film in the comedy-horror genre that was released on December 4, 2015, by Universal Pictures. The film was helmed by Michael Dougherty, who also co-wrote it with Todd Casey and Zach Shields. It was produced by Dougherty, Alex Garcia, Jon Jashni, and Thomas Tull. Here is the official synopsis as per Letterboxd,

"When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers."

Let us look into its ending.

How does Krampus end?

Krampus revolves around a dysfunctional family whose boy loses his zeal for the festival because of the inner conflicts between his family members. The plot for the most part is propelled by the Krampus demon, tasked with punishing kids who are naughty on Christmas.

Towards the end of Krampus, all the members of Max Engel's family have been targeted and picked off by the titular demon. Max is the last person standing, and he tells the demon that he wants Christmas to be celebrated the way it was celebrated earlier. The demon then throws him into a pit. On Christmas Day, Max wakes up and realizes that the events prior to that morning did not take place.

Max's family is waiting for him in the living room to celebrate the holiday. The young boy realizes that the demon has gifted him a sleigh bell. As the camera pulls back from that scenario, we realize that his life is inside a snow globe. It is placed among several other globes on the shelf of the demon.

What is the meaning behind the Snow Globe in Krampus?

The makers keep the ending ambiguous, and it's left to the viewers to find out what the snow globe actually means. Going by the visuals, it looks like the entire family of Max is trapped inside that globe. There are many other families who are caught in similar globes that are placed in the demon's shop. This makes the ending sad for the family that is trapped and might never be free.

In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, the film's director, Michael Dougherty, called it a family holiday horror film.

“It’s meant to be, I think, a family holiday horror movie, but I don’t think parents should go in blind, thinking that it’s going to be kid safe like a Pixar movie, but it is definitely taking a page from really dark fairy tales, like the original Brothers Grimm style of storytelling. Bad things do happen to children”.

While his comment might hint that the ending was supposed to be sad, he calls it a pro-Christmas movie. One can speculate that Krampus is using the globe to keep an eye on all those people he has taught a lesson. This also cements that the demon is real and not a figment of Max's imagination.

In the same interview, the director also hinted at a sequel, which, if it takes place, might reveal the real reason behind the ending.

“There’s one thing we had to cut out of the script in some earlier drafts, that I might save for a sequel, so I can’t really say what that is”.

The director also called Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol an inspiration for the film, which might hint that the ending is placed more in the happy territory.

Overall, the ending remains open to interpretation, and one can take whatever they feel from the storyline.