The Ending Of Blood Red Sky Explained

"Blood Red Sky" is a popular new German-language horror movie that was released on Netflix on July 23, 2021. Like lots of great horror movies, this one is actually a mashup of two different genres: an airplane hijacking thriller and a vampire gore-fest. The story follows Nadja, a mother suffering with what appears to be leukemia — but is, in fact, vampirism, which she controls with medication. Along with her son Elias, she attempts to fly to New York City for a medical treatment that would cure her condition. Unfortunately for them, a group of hijackers has other plans for the plane. For the next two hours or so, Nadja has to keep her son safe while preventing her own descent into vampirism, as well as stopping her vampirism from spreading to anyone else.

But she's not entirely successful. Eventually, one of the hijackers injects himself with Nadja's blood, and soon the rest of the passengers are infected. When the plane finally lands, even Nadja herself is too far gone to return to her human form. In the end, Elias has to make a terrible choice — blowing up his mother and all the other vampires to contain the situation.

It might seem like an overly dark and shocking way to end the story, but Elias' decision is actually the culmination of his and Nadja's relationship. Here's what the ending of "Blood Red Sky" really means.

Before we delve into the ending, it's worth remembering where Nadja is coming from as a character. Via flashback, we learn how she became a vampire. One night she and her husband experienced car trouble. While looking for help, a vampire attacked and killed her husband and then bit Nadja. Nadja then met the vampire's father, an elderly man who also suffered from vampirism. He tried to kill Nadja to contain the disease's spread, but Nadja instead overpowers and kills him with a shovel.

At first, this seems like a deeply selfish thing to do. Nadja could have allowed herself to be killed and stopped the disease right then and there. Problem was, she had a young son who would be left parentless. That makes Nadja's version of vampirism even more difficult than an ordinary vampire's might be. She can't just sacrifice herself, because it would mean abandoning Elias. On the other hand, Nadja's worsening vampirism will mean that Elias will eventually start to look appetizing. On top of that, she can't spread her vampirism to anyone else. It's a difficult position to be in, and it informs many of the decisions she makes throughout the movie.

That's the conflict that fuels the story.

But there's another complicating factor that makes Nadja's situation even more difficult, and that is Elias' love. At the beginning of the movie, Elias doesn't know his mother's true condition. But once he discovers it during the hijacking, it doesn't change their relationship. Another child might have recoiled in horror at his mother's vampirism, but Elias only becomes more determined to save her. Throughout the movie he risks his own life multiple times to try to save his mother — at one point, he even defends her from the other passengers, who think she's too far gone.

For most of the movie, this is touching. However, as Nadja becomes more and more vampire-ish, Elias's devotion starts to become a problem. Nadja knows that eventually she will lose the last remnants of her personality and go full-vampire. When that happens, Elias will be too tempting to pass up. 

The turning point in Elias and Nadja's relationship comes before the plane actually lands in Scotland. Nadja has just been grievously wounded by one of the hijackers, and in one more act of filial devotion, Elias feeds Nadja his own blood, restoring her. But if you know anything about vampires, you know that's going to have consequences. Elias's blood keeps Nadja alive, but it also gives her a taste for her own son. Knowing this, Nadja starts to pull away. When she screeches and growls at him to scare him away, it's ironically one her most human moments.

Sadly, there's no coming back. After the plane lands, Elias tries to save his mother one last time. He finds her when she's feeding on a soldier, and this time she barely recognizes her son — that flicker of recognition is probably the only thing that keeps her from attacking the boy immediately. Elias was always the one thing tethering Nadja to her humanity. Now that her humanity is gone, she's just another vampire, and Elias is just potential prey. 

The ending isn't entirely bleak. When Elias the explosion, he's not just killing his mother, he's killing all the other vampires as well. In the end, Elias is able to do what his mother ultimately couldn't: stop vampirism from spreading any further. 

With that, Elias can move on with his life, which will no doubt involve tons and tons of therapy.