What actually happens
A promotion for lying very still
During the Mexican-American War, Second Lieutenant John Boyd plays dead while Mexican troops wipe out his unit. Mexican troops cart him off with the American dead, and blood dripping into his mouth on the way gives him the strength to capture their headquarters. He is promoted to captain, but General Slauson, who sees cowardice in him, sends him to Fort Spencer, a remote outpost in the Sierra Nevada under Colonel Hart. Boyd joins a garrison of seven men. A stranger named Colqhoun arrives and says his wagon train was led astray by a colonel named Ives. After the travelers ate their horses and pack animals, they turned to cannibalism, and Colqhoun ran from Ives, who kept wanting more. The fort sends out a rescue party, and George, the fort's scout, warns them of the Wendigo myth: eating human flesh gives you the victim's strength and then makes you a demon with an endless appetite.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
A cave that sheltered the wrong survivor
Boyd and Reich reach the cave where Colqhoun's party sheltered and find remains and clothing. Under one skeleton is a colonel's uniform, which means Colqhoun is the one who killed and ate his five companions. He now kills the rescue party one at a time until only Boyd is left. The scene people dread is here, early in the story: Boyd escapes by jumping off a cliff and breaks his leg, then hides in a pit next to Reich's body and eats some of it to stay alive while Colqhoun butchers and eats the others. Boyd makes it back to Fort Spencer on a bad leg, feverish and craving flesh. The soldiers who never met Colqhoun don't believe him, and a second trip to the cave finds no bodies and no sign of him. Then the fort's temporary commander arrives, and he is Colqhoun, who now calls himself Ives. He has none of the wounds he supposedly got in the fight, and the garrison refuses to see it.
The new commander's famous stew
That evening, Ives tells Boyd privately that he once had tuberculosis. He learned the Wendigo myth from a scout, then killed and ate that scout, and the illness went away and his strength returned. His plan is to make the fort his hunting ground for travelers heading west, and he wants Boyd, who is fighting his own cravings, to join him. When Private Cleaves dies mysteriously, Boyd is suspected and locked up. From his cell he watches Major Knox be killed by Colonel Hart, whom everyone thought was dead. Ives explains that he saved Hart by feeding him his own comrades, and Hart is now hooked on human flesh too. Annoyed at Boyd's stubbornness, Ives wounds him badly and gives him a choice: eat human flesh again or die. Boyd gives in, eats a bowl of stew made from people, and his injuries heal.
The ending, explained
Boyd refuses to help Ives convert General Slauson, who is due at the fort soon, and talks Hart into freeing him so he can kill Ives. Hart agrees and asks Boyd to kill him afterward, since he is tired of living as a cannibal. Boyd and Ives hurt each other repeatedly but heal fast. Finally, in an outhouse, Boyd pushes Ives onto a bear trap and sets it off, which clamps the two of them together. Ives goes first. Boyd could live by eating the body, turns it down, and dies lying on top of Ives. Martha, George's sister, finds them, closes the door and walks away. Slauson arrives, and while his aide looks around the run-down fort, he tastes the stew simmering on the fire.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Ravenous scary?
Yes, Ravenous is a 6 out of 10. It has medium dread, a lot of gore and jump scares, and it's mostly a grim frontier story that sticks with you for about a night.
How does Ravenous end?
Boyd traps Ives in a bear trap in an outhouse, and they die pinned together. Boyd refuses to eat Ives to save himself, and General Slauson arrives at the fort and tastes the stew on the fire.
Does the dog die in Ravenous?
No dog dies in Ravenous. A character says he ate his own dog when he ran out of food, but it is not shown. Oxen are mentioned as killed, and the travelers eat their horses.
Is there a post-credits scene in Ravenous?
Nobody has confirmed whether Ravenous has a scene after the credits.
Who is Ives in Ravenous?
Ives is the name Colqhoun uses when he returns to the fort as its temporary commander, presenting himself as the murdered colonel from his own story. Colqhoun is the man who killed and ate his companions.
