What actually happens
A snowstorm and a woman at the car window
The film opens on an oscilloscope tracing Grant Mazzy's radio monologue, and a small bubble in the line grows until it almost bursts. This is the key to the film: his words have set a virus loose in the language. In the town of Pontypool, Ontario, Grant is driving to work in a snowstorm when he pulls over and a woman bangs on his window, repeating an indistinct word and then echoing what he says before she staggers off. At the station his shock jock style entertains his assistant, Laurel-Ann, and irritates the station manager, Sydney. The helicopter reporter Ken Loney calls in with news of a riot at Dr. Jon Mendez's office, where many people have died. Their witnesses keep getting disconnected, and Ken says he has taken shelter in a grain silo. He describes rioters trying to eat each other, and the call is cut off by a transmission in French.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
The booth is soundproof, but the radio is not
Laurel-Ann translates the French message: stay indoors, avoid endearments and baby talk, avoid the English language, and do not translate the message. Pontypool is under quarantine. A crowd storms the station, so Grant, Sydney and Laurel-Ann shut themselves inside. Dr. Mendez climbs in through a window and joins them in the soundproof booth. Ken calls in again and catches the virus on the air. Laurel-Ann slams her head against the booth window and chews off her lower lip. This is the scene people dread, and it comes in the middle of the film. Mendez theorizes that certain words in English are infected, and that an infected person goes looking for someone to attack. Sydney gets a call from her children and hears them being infected. Outside the booth, Laurel-Ann throws up a huge amount of blood and falls dead. Mendez guesses it happened because she could not find a victim.
Speaking French in a radio station
The crowd breaks into the station and attacks the booth. Sydney tapes a looping recording of Grant's voice and plays it on a speaker outside to pull the crowd away. Mendez starts repeating the word "breathe", then switches to Armenian when he realizes that the virus only affects English, which protects him. Grant and Sydney begin speaking French. The recording fails and the crowd returns, but Mendez leads them off, which saves Sydney and Grant, who lock themselves in the equipment room.
A word that means something else now
While Grant tries to find a way to reverse the infection, Sydney starts writing obsessively on the walls and the door, and the word "kill" infects her. Grant persuades her that "kill" now means "kiss", and her symptoms ease. To help the infected listeners, the two go on the air and say a stream of confusing, self-contradicting phrases, ignoring warnings from the authorities to get off the air. A loudspeaker voice outside counts backward from ten, and Sydney joins Grant in the booth, where they kiss. An explosion is heard as the film cuts to black.
The ending, explained
Over the black screen, news reports describe more outbreaks of the virus. The news reports suggest the quarantine has failed, with the news itself spreading it, and it has reached England, the home of the language it targets. After the credits, Sydney and Grant, now calling themselves "Lisa the Killer" and "Johnny Deadeyes", have survived the virus and keep speaking English by staying in an improvised role-play, while the screen changes from black and white to color. Laurel-Ann is dead, Ken was infected on the air, and Dr. Mendez was last seen leading the crowd away.
The post-credits ruling
Yes, there is one. In a post-credits scene, Grant and Sydney survive the virus under new names and keep speaking English by staying in character, and the screen changes from black and white to color.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Pontypool scary?
Yes. Pontypool is a 5 out of 10 with medium dread: a tense siege from one radio booth with some gruesome moments, and an infection that spreads through words.
How does Pontypool end?
Grant and Sydney kiss in the booth as an explosion goes off outside. News reports suggest the virus has spread, and a post-credits scene shows the two of them still alive.
Does the dog die in Pontypool?
No dog dies in Pontypool. A missing cat poster appears, and what happened to the cat is never explained.
Is there a post-credits scene in Pontypool?
Yes. In Pontypool, Grant and Sydney survive the virus and keep speaking English by staying in character as other people, and the screen changes from black and white to color.
How does the virus spread in Pontypool?
Through the English language. Dr. Mendez works out that certain words carry the virus, and that speaking a language other than English keeps you from catching it.
