What actually happens
A cordless phone with a very long reach
In 2019, Seo-yeon, who is 28, goes to a rural area to see her mother, Eun-ae, who is ill and with whom she is estranged. In the run-down house where she grew up, she finds a cordless phone that is decades old, and it starts receiving calls from a distressed woman who says her mother is torturing her. Seo-yeon works out that the caller, Young-sook, is in the same house in 1999. Young-sook is an orphan who lives with her adoptive mother, a stern shaman. Seo-yeon's father died in 1999, and she holds her mother responsible for the fire that took his life. Using what Seo-yeon tells her, Young-sook sneaks out and stops the fire. Seo-yeon's present changes: both parents are alive and the house is lavish. Young-sook is punished for disobeying, and she resents that Seo-yeon's life is getting better while hers gets worse.
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A warning that backfires
Later, Seo-yeon finds out online that Young-sook's mother killed her during an exorcism, so she warns her. Young-sook saves herself while her mother explains that she has to kill her, because her fortune says several people will die. Then Young-sook kills her mother, and the prediction turns out to be right, because Young-sook becomes a serial killer once she is free. Seo-yeon works out what is going on when people begin disappearing now. On a call, she lets slip that Young-sook will be arrested.
A house closing that goes wrong
In 1999, Seo-yeon, then eight, and her father come to the house to close on it. Young-sook kills the father and takes the girl captive. This is the scene people dread most, and it happens in the middle. In 2019, Seo-yeon's father is dead again and the house is in even worse shape. Young-sook demands to know how she gets arrested, and Seo-yeon gives her made-up details, but when Young-sook threatens to go after Eun-ae next, she breaks into the local police station and takes the notebook the police kept in 1999. Young-sook taunts her that they're the same by revealing that Seo-yeon caused the original fire, and that she had lied when she blamed Eun-ae. Seo-yeon then gives Young-sook the right information, and reality shifts again: an older Young-sook now owns the house and has kept killing. The notebook now records a visit by Eun-ae and a police officer to the house, so Seo-yeon stays in the house and tells the 1999 Eun-ae to beware of Young-sook.
The ending, explained
In 1999, Young-sook murders the police officer and goes after Eun-ae, while in 2019 the older Young-sook chases Seo-yeon the same way. Eun-ae appears to give her life shielding the young Seo-yeon while she kills Young-sook. In 2019 the house becomes derelict, the older Young-sook vanishes, and Seo-yeon gets her mother back, alive and well apart from some scars. In a mid-credits scene, the older Young-sook calls her younger self and tells her to watch out for Eun-ae and the police officer, which lets Young-sook change her own history. Eun-ae disappears from Seo-yeon's present, and the film cuts to the torture room, where a terrified adult Seo-yeon sits tied to a chair and yells for help.
The post-credits ruling
There is one. In a mid-credits scene, the older Young-sook calls her younger self, which erases Eun-ae and leaves adult Seo-yeon captive again.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, though the film implies puppies will be harmed and shows nothing.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Call scary?
Somewhat. The Call is a 4 out of 10 with medium dread, a time-twisting thriller with some jump scares, a serial killer and a bleak final scene.
How does The Call end?
Eun-ae seems to sacrifice herself to protect young Seo-yeon and kill Young-sook, and the present is restored with Eun-ae alive. A mid-credits scene undoes it: Young-sook changes her own history and adult Seo-yeon is tied to a chair.
Does the dog die in The Call?
No dog dies on screen in The Call. The film implies at one point that puppies will be harmed, but it never shows it.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Call?
Yes. In The Call, a mid-credits scene shows the older Young-sook calling her younger self, which erases Eun-ae and leaves adult Seo-yeon captive in the torture room.
Who is Young-sook in The Call?
Oh Young-sook is an orphan who lives in the same house in 1999 with her adoptive mother, a shaman. Seo-yeon talks to her by phone from 2019, and after Seo-yeon warns her, Young-sook kills her mother and becomes a serial killer.
