What actually happens
A quiet life, interrupted by a neighbor nobody can hear
Maddie Young is a horror author who lost her hearing and her voice at age thirteen after a case of bacterial meningitis. After her novel did well, she left New York for a house in the woods, where she lives with her cat, Bitch, and tries to write the follow-up. Her neighbor Sarah drops by to return a copy of the book, and they talk about Maddie being alone out there and about Sarah wanting to learn more sign language. That night, Sarah comes running toward the house, bloodied and chased by a masked man with a crossbow. She screams for help at the glass door, but Maddie cannot hear her, and the man stabs Sarah to death right outside.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
He figures out she cannot hear and decides she is next
The killer works out almost immediately that Maddie is deaf, and he decides she is his next victim. He sneaks in and takes her phone during her video call with her sister, Max, then photographs Maddie and sends the pictures, which she receives on her computer. Outside, he cuts the power and punctures the tires on her car while she locks every door she can find. Maddie writes a message on the glass in lipstick, promising she will not tell and did not see his face. The man answers by taking off his mask. Once he learns she can read lips, he tells her he will take his time before he comes in.
Sarah's boyfriend arrives with the worst timing
The killer props up Sarah's body to knock on a window, but Maddie sets off her car alarm and distracts him. She tries to grab Sarah's phone through a window, hits him in the arm with a hammer and gets back inside. When she tries to run, crossbow bolts push her back to the house, and a bolt hits her in the leg when she climbs out of a second-story window. She still manages to knock him off the roof and take his crossbow. Then Sarah's boyfriend, John, arrives looking for Sarah, and the killer pretends to be a police officer. The killer drops Sarah's earring, which makes John suspicious, and John goes for him with a rock. Maddie bangs on the window and distracts John by accident, and the killer stabs him in the neck. John holds the killer in a chokehold so Maddie can get away, but she realizes she will either bleed out or be caught if she runs, so she decides to fight.
Maddie calls him a coward in her own blood
This is the scene people dread, and it comes late in the movie. Outside, the killer prepares to kill the cat, and Maddie fires the crossbow into his shoulder to stop him. She runs back toward the house and drops the last bolt on the way. When she reaches for it, he slams the sliding glass door on her wrist, then lets her drag the mangled hand in and turn the lock. With the killer threatening to come in, Maddie writes "do it, coward" on the glass in her own blood. While he bangs on the door with a tire iron, she types a description of him and a message to her family on her laptop, then locks herself in the bathroom with a knife.
The ending, explained
The killer cannot get through the bathroom door, so he drops through the skylight behind Maddie, and she only notices when his breath hits her neck. She puts a knife in his knee and runs into the kitchen and sprays insecticide in his eyes and sets off the visual smoke alarm to disorient him. He starts to strangle her, and she drives a corkscrew into his neck, which kills him. Maddie takes her phone from his body, calls 911 and goes out to the porch steps. She pets her cat and smiles as the police arrive. Sarah and John are dead, but Maddie and the cat are both alive.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: there is no dog.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Hush scary?
Hush is a 6 out of 10 with moderate dread. It is a tense home-invasion chase with some jump scares, and the fear is mostly about a killer who can see her while she cannot hear him.
How does Hush end?
Maddie kills the masked man with a corkscrew to the neck, then calls 911 and sits on her porch steps with her cat as the police arrive. Sarah and John are both dead by then.
Does the dog die in Hush?
There is no dog in Hush. The killer tries to hurt Maddie's cat, Bitch, but Maddie shoots him first and the cat survives the whole movie.
Is there a post-credits scene in Hush?
No. Hush has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Can the killer in Hush tell that Maddie is deaf?
Yes. He works it out quickly after he kills Sarah outside, and he spends the rest of Hush using it. When Maddie writes to him on the glass, he answers by taking his mask off, and once he learns she can read lips he tells her he will take his time.
