Arctic Void Ending Explained- What Was Wrong With The Animals, Where Did Everyone Go, And What Happened To Ray, Alan, And Sean?

Writers William Paul Jones, Jay Kirk, and writer/director Darren Mann’s Artic Void is what happens when man exploits nature. Once we stop looking at each other and Gaia as adversaries and start looking at everything as partners, these things may stop happening. Currently, we can’t snap entire towns out of existence like Thanos, nor are Brown Notes that make everyone poop themselves a reality. That part is science fiction. EMPs, weapons of mass destruction, and genocide are real, however. What makes Arctic Void so chilling is how believable it all is.

A small film crew arrives in the Arctic to film the next segment of their successful travel show. Ray is the charming on-air personality, while Alan is behind the production. Sean, a local cinematographer, joins them to capture everything on film. It’s apparent right away Ray and Alan are very different people but have a lived-in quality to their bickering that feels like a time-tested friendship. Shortly after boarding a ship with other tourists, the power fails, and everyone but the three men goes missing. As panic sets in, the men go to shore, where they find an abandoned Russian Mine. As panic sets in, the harsh truth comes out. Here’s everything you need to know about the ending of Arctic Void, where everyone went, and what happened to Alan, Ray, and Sean.

There is so much uncertainty in Arctic Void. Alan is deeply troubled by his time working on the show. His work takes him away from home for long stretches of time. He misses his family terribly and wants out. He also is a recovering alcoholic who falls off of the wagon after everyone, but Alan, Ray, and Sean disappear. Alan is an unreliable witness. Likewise, Sean is lying about a lot from the very beginning, and we have no idea what he finally reveals at the end is everything. It’s possible he could have been lied to himself. He is an unreliable witness.

It is here that Arctic Void shines. The whole movie has a sinister Session 9 vibe that makes you doubt everything you see and hear. The ending wisely leaves all possibilities on the table and Ray’s survival in flux. Although it is heavily hinted that a shady agency is testing weapons with little concern for damage to nature or people, we can’t know for sure.

Why didn’t Alan, Ray, and Sean disappear along with everyone else?

The three men did not disappear because they had been inoculated against the sonic weapon that zapped everyone else. According to Sean, the whale sounds he carried around in his metal lunchpail that both Alan and Ray listened to secretly towards the beginning of the movie contained some counteracting agent that allowed the men to remain. According to Sean, he was hired to film the effects of the trial run of this weapon. We never know why he wasn’t bothered about the ethical dilemma of filming people presumably being snapped out of existence. Ray found one of the German girl’s camera that was left behind and watched a video of them disappearing. We know that part is true, so the test and weapon are likely real.

We see Sean get shot by someone at the end of Arctic Void. Hence, the assumption is that the organization that hired him to film the test either planned to kill him all along to keep their secret or he was killed for allowing Ray and Alan to become immune to the sonic weapon. In any case, the movie ends with Ray as the last man standing and a phone ringing ominously. Ray can’t answer the phone without giving away his presence. He is stuck without any help and with a well-funded and ruthless unit after him. The assumption is he will soon be dead as well.

What happened to Ray, Alan, and Sean?

As the only three people to listen to the counteracting whale sounds, they did not disappear when the weapon was deployed, and everyone on the boat and in town ceased to exist. Assuming we can trust Sean and can trust that he was told the truth by the people who hired him(these are both big ifs), this was all a test. The entire town and the people on the boat are gone. They could have fazed into another dimension, be dead, or just gone. As Sean explains, the whale sounds are not a cure for the weapon. They are a short-term treatment for it. This is why Alan died and why Ray will as well, assuming he doesn’t get shot by those who are doing the experimenting.

What’s with the animals in Arctic Void?

Before everyone disappears, the people on the ship watch as an adult seal attacks a baby. Alan is also convinced he sees a bird with no eyes. The captain says nature should be respected or risk disaster. Although this warning is a misdirect to the immediate danger of the test, it becomes evident that this wasn’t the first test. The experiment we see is just the latest in a long list of things that have been slowly destroying the ecosystem here. It’s not by mistake that this tiny town in Russia was chosen. The government is less concerned with human rights in Russia, and the town is so isolated few would know about the experiments anyway.

The wounds that appeared on Alan mirror the ones we see on the polar bear and the seals at the beginning. Ray thinks the weapon drives them mad, but it also seems to damage their bodies. It also bears noting that the small pieces of whale meat look suspiciously the same size and shape as many of the wounds on Alan and the polar bear. Alan was also the only one who ate the Minke whale meat on the ship. That may have hastened his decline, which is why he got sick so quickly. He was infected by the whale meat long before the weapon was deployed.

Arctic Void is a cautionary tale that feels like a cosmic sibling to Oppenheimer out later this summer. Unchecked experimentation is never good. Unchecked weapons testing is horrible and often comes with consequences no one saw coming. Arctic Void is currently streaming for free on Tubi.