The Surprise Visit Ending Explained- Did Annabelle Kill Hugh?

Sometimes, based on true events films are elevated by the story that inspired them, however loosely the story is pulled. There is something inherently creepy about knowing that, on some level, some of the things we saw on the screen actually happened. More often than not, adding those words is a cheap attempt to create buzz. Currently streaming on Tubi, the Surprise Visit is more shameless than scary, but it still manages to be entertaining.

The Surprise Visit opens with a young couple who have just discovered they are pregnant. Unfortunately, the couple are drug addicts with no money who live out of their dilapidated camper. Annabelle(Jacqi Vene) and Casey(Rob Riordan) are the last people you would want to raise a child. They make rash decisions based on their addiction and desperation and have no understanding of the danger they are to each other and everyone around them. After learning they were pregnant, Casey turns to his father, who refuses to help until he gets sober. There’s some messiness surrounding his father Hugh’s(Eric Roberts) neglect of his mother because of potential alcohol abuse and a wealthy widow whom he works for.

That altercation and the discovery that the widow is leaving town leads Casey to decide to rob her while she is gone. He plans to steal a few pieces of jewelry she won’t miss and move to Mexico. He convinces Annabelle that it will be easy because there are no alarms due to a fully stocked armory and plenty of town respect. Unbeknownst to Casey, however, a couple of guests arrived earlier that day. Mrs. Dixon’s daughter Juliette(Serah Henesey) and husband Daniel(Johnny Santiago) came to surprise her mother. When the two couples confront each other in the middle of the robbery, things turn violent.

When Casey accidentally kills Daniel, all hell breaks loose. Juliette wants to call for help, but Casey refuses. At this point, she recognizes Casey as Hugh’s kid and tries to run. Annabelle and Casey chase her down, knock her out, and tie her up. They then argue about what to do next. Casey is not making great choices and decides that Juliette has to be killed for the future of their child. Annabelle begs him to spare her life, but he convinces her it is the only way. A great deal of chattering later, Juliette talks her way out of her restraints, and a chase ensues. Here’s everything you need to know about the ending of The Surprise Visit.

The Surprise Visit ending explained

Casey and Annabelle argue about what to do next, and Casey decides to track down Juliette to remove all witnesses. Juliette is more than he bargained for, though, and she hits him over the head with a shovel before running. Annabelle and Casey chase after Juliette, and Casey’s father, Hugh, shows up to find the house and the garage in disarray. Fearing the worst, he searches the house and finds Daniel’s dead body. He calls the police and begins searching for Juliette, who has evaded the pair so far. Juliette manages to get back to the house and grabs one of the aforementioned guns, which she begins shooting at Casey and Annabelle. All of this is happening while Hugh tries to find and help Juliette.

By this point, Casey has completely lost all touch with reality. Annabelle destroyed his meth pipe, he had been hit in the face with a shovel, and his plans had disintegrated. Worst of all, Annabelle argues with him constantly. She is scared, worried, and in trouble. Annabelle isn’t brilliant, but she is smart enough to know she doesn’t have a lot of options. Casey threatens her and constantly says they can leave no witnesses behind. Casey tries to force Annabelle to be a decoy despite the apparent danger it puts her in. Annabelle keeps her talking, and Casey sneaks up behind her and takes the gun away. He then shoots her dead.

Casey finally realizes the mess he has made and begs for forgiveness. Annabelle snaps and beats him over the head, presumably killing him. Just then, Hugh finds the group, and Annabelle tells him this was all Casey’s fault, but she loved him anyway. Hugh tells her he will clean this up and buy her some time. He tells her to run and never look back. However, she had been told repeatedly throughout the film that they should never leave witnesses. Just as she is leaving, she gets a cold look on her face and says, “Leave no witnesses.” We next catch up with a young mother and a child on the beach. The assumption is Annabelle killed Hugh and ran to Mexico like she had planned with Casey all along.

Annabelle was a follower, not a leader. Casey obviously did not make great choices and shouldn’t be followed, but she loved and trusted him. Even though Hugh offered her a lifeline, she couldn’t trust him, and thus, she followed the last set of instructions Casey gave her. She did kill Casey in a moment of rage. It was probably one of the only clear-headed decisions she ever made, but he was the closest thing to a trusting relationship she had. In the end, she chose to take his advice and kill Hugh before running to Mexico. Although the final scene makes it appear Annabelle escaped poverty and addiction as well as murder charges, all is not perfect. She is the same irrational person who killed at least one and probably two people.

The final act is meant to engender empathy for Annabelle. Poverty and addiction are tragic, and the differences between the rich and poor are often extreme. She appeared poorly educated, young, naive, and without family support. Juliette, on the other hand, is presented as intelligent, connected, and privileged. Despite Juliette’s advantages, there is no indication that she is a terrible person. Casey may have been a decent person before his addiction destroyed him, but now he is a monster and decimates everything around him, including Annabelle. Although she is an unwitting participant in the deaths of Juliette and Daniel, and she kills Casey in rage and fear, she calmly chooses to kill Hugh. She may have started as innocent but is now just as culpable as Casey.

What is the real story behind The Surprise Visit?

The real story is a stripped-down version of the violent home invasion depicted in the film. Star Serah Henesey and coproducer Nathan Cowles said they experienced a break-in, and the story stuck with them. They Hollywoodized it, and the movie was born. Like most stories loosely based on real crimes, director Nick Lyon’s film is loosely inspired by the emotions of a crime rather than the details of said crime. Drug addiction, especially in the Appalachians where this film is set, is rampant, as well as poverty. Addiction and poverty make a terrible combination. The film may take liberties with what happened to Cowles and Henesey, but stories like this one probably happen all the time. Desperate times lead to desperate measures.

The scary story based on actual events reads like a version of Requiem For A Dream if it were made by Lifetime. If the addition of Eric Roberts in the cast didn’t clue you in, this will be thriller lite. That doesn’t mean the made-for-television film doesn’t have some merit. It’s a quick, easy bit of storytelling that proves Roberts doesn’t phone in any performance and capitalizes on fundamental life truths. Addiction and poverty can lead to desperation. Desperate people make horrible decisions. The Surprise Visitor is currently streaming everywhere on VOD and Tubi for free.