Under the Silver Lake ending explained: Real fate of Sarah revealed

Under the Silver Lake is a film in the dark comedy thriller genre. This David Robert Mitchell-written and directed film is produced by him along with Michael De Luca, Chris Bender, Jake Weiner and Adele Romanski. The 2018 Cannes Film Festival saw its world premiere. A24 released it on big screens on April 19, 2019.

Its official synopsis, as per Letterboxd, is

Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who’s swimming in his building’s pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy.

Let's take a look at its ending.

What is Under the Silver Lake all about?

Under the Silver Lake takes place in 2011 and it's about a guy named Sam. He meets a girl, Sarah, who is swimming in a pool. The two get to know each other, and Sam develops feelings for her. The next day, she's gone missing. We then see Sam making multiple attempts to find her. Sam comes across several characters and bizarre situations during his pursuit. This includes the neighboring girl who has a rabbit.

How does Under the Silver Lake reach its conclusion?

Under the Silver Lake's climax features Sam meeting a girl named Millicent, who gives him a bracelet. But she gets shot dead by the hitman before she can spill the beans. After escaping death, Sam goes home to look at the bracelet. Its design hints at the coordinates of some location.

He uses the bracelet to get some coordinates to find out that Sarah is not dead. In a different location, he finds out that she is a part of a cult. Their belief system is that a rich man should be with three young women inside a tomb. This will enable their souls to go to a higher plane. Sarah has become Jefferson's wife and walks inside the tomb with him. She has bought into the cult's idea.

Sarah has been convinced by the cult's message because of the song she heard. Sam is there and is seeing all this unfold. But he realizes that Sarah does not want to be rescued from the cult, as she's willingly going inside the tomb. Sarah tells him that he hardly knows her.

This revelation cements that some of Sam's conspiracy theories were actually true. He had come across a Hobo code inside Sarah's apartment. Sam eventually finds out its true meaning after he is drugged by one of the cult leaders. He sees Homeless King, who has kept him captive. Sam manages to convince him to let him go. After leaving that place, Sam goes to his neighbor's house and gets intimate with her.

However, he feels frustrated that all this effort didn't lead to anything fruitful. The film ends with Sam being approached by his landlord and being told to leave the house.