Choose or Die is a supernatural horror film available on Netflix. Starring Lola Evans and Asa Butterfield in the main lead, the story revolves around Lola and Asa’s character stumbling upon a 1980s old Video Game called ‘Curs>R’ to win unclaimed price money of $125 000.
The game’s premise is simple either you will have to choose, or you will die. As soon as Lola and Asa start to play the game, they soon learn that the people around them, be it their family members or friends, are in grave danger.
The game has some curse linked to reality, and whoever plays the game, the curse comes into effect with the particular person’s life.
Today we have watched this recent Netflix horror thriller, and in this article, we will explain in detail what has happened in Choose or Die.
Choose or Die Ending Explained: What is Kayla’s backstory? What happened to her mother?
Netflix’s recent horror-thriller Choose or Die starts with a guy named Hag, who in his home had found a 1984s old video game called ‘Curs>R.’
Curs>R seemed like a text-based role-playing video game; unknowingly, when Hal started to play this game, he soon realized that the game is interlinked with reality.
One day a green screen pops up in the game itself, and it gives Hal two choices between “His Tounge or His Ears.”
The situation forces Hal to make a choice, and ultimately Hal has no other option but to select one, and he ends up selecting the “His Tongue” option, and soon he learns that his wife has cut his son’s tongue.
Choose or Die Ending Explained- Lola Evans as Kayla in the film (Image Credit: Netflix)Upon asking his wife why he did so, his wife replies because Hal forced her to do so. From there on, Hal learns that the game is a curse and affects the people close to the player.
Hal tries to get himself off this game, but the game keeps on torturing Hal by making him play with the option to choose or die.
Ultimately, level 3 of the game provides Hal with a chance to make copies of the game in order to save her family for now.
Hal ends up doing so after three months from now; the film focuses its shift on Kayla and Asa; we learn that Kayla’s character Kayla is a college student who is currently having difficulties managing her living expenses as she has a sick mother to take care of as well.
Kayla’s mother, Thea, is a drug addict and also suffers from psychological trauma due to the passing of her son Ricky.
Their local landlord, Lance, provides her with drugs and forces her into selling herself in exchange for not being thrown out of their apartment.
Kayla works in a cleaner company and is friends with Asa Butterfield’s character, Isaac.
Isaac is a computer geek who helps Kayla learn coding to improve her classes. Isaac is somewhat interested in Kayla romantically as well.
Choose or Die Ending Explained (Image Credit: Netflix)One day while cleaning, Kayla finds a similar cassette of the 1984’s game ‘Curs>R’ with the label “play to win $125 000”.
Tempted by the winning price, Kayla decides to play the game and informs Isaac as well.
Soon after playing level 1 of the game, Kayla realizes the game is connected with reality.
In the first level of the game, we saw Kayla was given an option to choose the waitress to continue to shatter the glasses or select an option to clean up.
Kayla ends up choosing the option of cleaning up for the waitress and then horrified seeing the waitress cleaning all the glasses by eating all the broken glasses and dying.
After witnessing such horror, when the next day Kayla wakes, she realizes that none of it was a dream, and it was all true. However, when she tries to inform Isaac about it, he doesn’t believe her.
The next day when Kayla was working, the game again rebooted itself automatically at 2 AM.
The game now opens a new interface with the two-dimensional figure and a human character. At the same time, Kayla gets a call from her mother. Her mom informs her that a massive rat is attacking her in the house.
Kayla realizes that it is her who is controlling the rat with the computer. Horrified by her mother’s situation, she instructs her mother to jump off the floor to save her.
Her mother, however, survives the jump but is badly injured and is hospitalized.
Isaac finally believes all Kayla was saying was true, and he and Kayla now try to understand the code of the game to know how it is connected to reality.
After digging deep into the code, they understand that various symbols have been mentioned inside the code, but there is a missing command prompt, which is required to understand the rest of the game’s coding.
But the game doesn’t give them time to dig into the code for much longer as it boosts up again, and this time takes them to some otherworldly realm where the game gives Kayla a chance to select either her brother or Isaac from drowning.
Furthermore, Kayla understands the mind games and carefully saves Isaac from drowning.
After successfully clearing this level, the two dig further to understand more about the game.
Choose or Die Ending Explained: What is the secret behind the game ‘Curs>R’? And Did Isaac die? (Image Credit: Netflix)Choose or Die Ending Explained: What is the secret behind the game ‘Curs>R’? And Did Isaac die?
After successfully completing the third level, Isaac now manages to hack into the account mentioned in the Game Box.
After hacking into the mobile number, Issac and Kayla get an address of a warehouse. After going to the abandoned warehouse, they realize that this is where the game was actually made.
Soon Isaac and Kayla find a videotape that reveals more about the video game. The videotape was recorded by Beck, the founder of the game.
He reveals that ‘Curs>R’ was made to weaponize an ancient curse. However, he also demonstrates that they were unable to identify from where the curse originates and how it affects reality.
Beck also demonstrates that whenever the curse is used by playing the game on people, they will suffer pain, trauma, and even death in some cases.
The more they suffer, the more will be cursor’s benefit, and based on that, they have designed the game in such a way that it converts the symbols inside the curse into their 8-bit equivalent, which then questions people and gives them an option to choose or die just like a horror game experience.
Beck then shows one of the test runs of the game where it is shown that a man has been given a choice to either eat a computer or eat his arm by the game.
The man selects the second option, and then we see some other beings take over his body, and he starts eating his arm.
Then Beck further demonstrates that Beck’s wounds heal automatically when he cuts his arm because the test subject was eating his own arm.
He explains the curse works in favour of the curser’s benefit. The game again boots up and, this time, takes Isaac away from Kayla and gives Kayla a choice to either rewind or fast forward Isaac, and whatever she chooses, Isaac will end up dead anyway.
Level 4 ultimately ends up with Isaac being dead. Then after this, the game congratulates Kayla and provides her with the coordinate to fight the main boss in the game.
Choose or Die Ending Explained-Beck the Founder of the ‘Curs>R’ Game. (Image Credit: Netflix)Choose or Die Ending Explained: Does Kayla wins the prize money of $125, 000 in the Final Level of ‘Curs>R’?
The final coordinate was the address of Hal, whom we saw at the beginning of the film. After entering Hal’s home, Kayla learns that Hal’s wife and kids have been affected by the game as their ears, eyes, and even tounges are cut.
Kayla soon learns that Hal enjoys inflicting pain on others, and he is the one who did all this to her wife and child on purpose.
Soon the game boots up and now forces Hal and Kayla to fight one another. But the catch here was if they hurt each other, the other person won’t be affected; instead, it would be the opposite. For example, suppose if Hal dies, then, in reality, Kayla will end up dead and vice versa.
Hal’s wife teams up with Kayla and tries to kill Kayla by shooting at her so that Hal can die, but Hal somehow survives that, and he is about to cut his throat that time, Kayla jumps into the pool and drowns herself, and as a result, Hal dies.
Choose or Die Ending Explained-Kayla completes the final Level (Image Credit: Netflix)After winning the game, Kayla gets the missing command prompt, enabling her to control the game and control the curse.
However, she first modified the curse with the learned symbols and used that curse to kill Lance, who was responsible for all their trouble.
Towards the end, Kayla gets a call from the game’s original creator Beck, who happens to be the CEO of Kismet, where she used to work. The CEO asks her whom she wants to suffer next, and Kayla replies only those who deserve it.
This cryptic reply hints at a possible sequel to the film. And in the sequel, we might find Kayla trying to end Beck for designing such games, or maybe the film will feature a new character who knows there is an endless possibility in the sequel.
Only Netflix and the film’s director Toby Meakins can reveal more about the upcoming sequel.
Regarding whether Kayla won the money, although we haven’t shown Kayla the money, it is evident by the ending that Kayla is now in a better position financially. So it won’t be wrong to assume that Kayla has won the $125 000.