What actually happens
The water supply is the town's main selling point
The film opens with text saying the U.S. government seized the footage in 2009 and that an anonymous source leaked it. Claridge, a Maryland town on the Eastern Shore, depends on its water supply, and the nearby chicken farm is accused of polluting the Chesapeake Bay. On the Fourth of July, rookie reporter Donna Thompson is covering the local celebration when dozens of residents fall ill with severe lesions. Dr. Jack Abrams, who runs the hospital, calls the CDC, which first suspects a virus. People start dying within hours. Later, something unidentified attacks a teenager named Denise Button and her boyfriend while they swim in a creek, and only their camera is found. Several residents report feeling bugs inside their bodies.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Chicken excrement has consequences
A few months earlier, oceanographers Sam and Jaqueline found high toxicity in the bay and a number of fish that had been eaten from the inside. The culprit was a swarm of mutated, tongue-eating isopods. Chickens fed steroids to grow quickly had produced enough waste to pollute the water, and the isopods multiplied until 40% of the bay was lifeless. The lesions on the townspeople come from the isopods eating their hosts from within. Sam and Jaqueline tried to warn the city, but Mayor John Stockman ignored them. Fully grown isopods later killed both oceanographers, and their bodies were found.
Washington hears about it and shrugs
The Talmet family, Alex, Stephanie and their baby Andrew, sails toward Claridge without knowing the town has been quarantined and its cell towers shut down by local police. Jimson and Paul, two deputies, respond to a report of someone screaming and find an infected family begging to be killed. Jimson, unhinged by what he has seen, puts them out of their misery, then kills Paul after an isopod bites him. He later kills Sheriff Roberts and himself, and the mayor, driving off in the sheriff's car, dies in a crash. Meanwhile the CDC finds that the water is radioactive and tells the White House about the isopods. Dr. Abrams is told no help is coming and that the hospital staff should evacuate. He is the only staff member left, refuses to go, and spends his last hours filming the bodies after realizing he is infected. The DHS admits it had the oceanographers' report and sat on it to avoid panic.
Alex went swimming earlier
This is the part to brace for, and it comes late in the film. Donna and her cameraman keep filming even after the FBI shuts down her station's blog. The Talmets reach the town and find it mostly deserted, with bodies in the street. They manage to contact a friend named Bill over a video call, but Alex swam in the bay earlier and is infected, and he dies when isopods crawl out of his neck. Stephanie gets away unharmed with Andrew. Shortly after, a woman who is still alive in a police car begs them for help, and Stephanie hits her by accident and snaps her neck. Donna says in narration that she never reported anything else after leaving and that her cameraman, Jim, later died.
The ending, explained
Years later, Donna leaks the footage. The government got rid of the isopods by putting chlorine in the water, then blamed the incident on unusually high water temperatures and paid the few survivors, Donna included, to stay quiet. She says Stephanie is still alive but has refused to take part in the film. The movie closes on shots of people swimming and boating in the bay, unaware that 40% of it is still lifeless.
The post-credits ruling
Yes, there is an end-credits scene. It is only footage of people swimming and out in boats, so it has nothing to do with the plot.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Bay scary?
Yes. The Bay is a 6 out of 10 with High dread: jump scares and some very unpleasant skin, with the fear coming from something living in the water.
How does The Bay end?
Most of the town of Claridge dies. Stephanie and her baby survive, and years later Donna leaks footage showing that the government killed the isopods with chlorine, covered it up and paid the survivors to stay quiet.
Does the dog die in The Bay?
No. No dog dies in The Bay. A dog is shown with one eye and nothing happens to him, though plenty of fish are shown dead.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Bay?
Yes. The Bay has an end-credits scene, and it is only footage of people swimming and out in boats, so it has nothing to do with the plot.
What are the creatures in The Bay?
Mutated isopods, a tongue-eating parasite, that multiplied after the bay was polluted with waste from chickens fed steroids. In The Bay they eat their hosts from within and cause the lesions on the townspeople.
