What actually happens
A one-minute death and a boy with a grudge
Medical student Nelson Wright persuades his classmates Joe Hurley, David Labraccio, Rachel and Randy Steckle to help him find out what is beyond death. Nelson flatlines for a minute before the others resuscitate him. While he was dead he saw Billy Mahoney, a boy he bullied as a child. Nelson tells the others only that he cannot describe it, but he is sure that something is there. The others take their turns. Joe flatlines next and sees a sequence linked to his promiscuous lifestyle. After David and Rachel argue over how long they are each willing to stay dead, David goes third, on Halloween, and sees Winnie Hicks, a girl he bullied in grade school.
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An eight-year-old on a train with a long memory
The three men begin to hallucinate versions of their visions. Billy attacks Nelson twice. Joe, who is engaged, is haunted by the women he secretly videotaped, and they repeat his false promises back to him. David is confronted on a train by eight-year-old Winnie, who mocks him the way he mocked her. Rachel decides to flatline next. David races in to stop her but arrives too late, and a power cut leaves the defibrillator paddles useless while she is close to dying. She survives, but she is then haunted by the memory of her father's death by suicide when she was young. The men share what they have seen, and David decides to end his visions. Joe's fiancée Anne arrives at his apartment, discovers his videos and breaks up with him, after which his visions stop.
An axe and a stolen Mustang
David goes to visit Winnie, now an adult, and apologizes. She accepts and thanks him, and the weight is lifted. The scene people dread comes next, in the middle of the movie. David finds Nelson, who came along on the visit, beating himself with an axe, because in Nelson's mind Billy is beating him to death. David stops him and gets him back to town. Rachel confronts Nelson for hiding the supernatural side of the experiments and storms off. David offers her his place, and they both fall asleep there. Nelson brings Randy and Joe to a graveyard and tells them that he killed Billy as a boy by throwing rocks until Billy fell out of a tree. The friends say it was an accident, but Nelson does not listen. He storms off in Joe's Mustang and strands them.
A bathroom reunion and nine minutes without a pulse
David leaves Rachel at his house to rescue Joe and Randy from the cemetery. Alone, Rachel walks into the bathroom and her father is there. He apologizes. His suicide was linked to post-traumatic stress from his tour in Vietnam and to a morphine addiction, which lifts the guilt Rachel has carried. Nelson calls David's house, and when Rachel picks up he says he has to die once more to make things right. He says sorry for dragging her and the others into his plan. The three men realize what he means to do and race to stop him, but by the time they get there Nelson has been without a pulse for nine minutes. The four friends work together to save him.
The ending, explained
In the afterlife, Nelson is the boy in the tree, and Billy is on the ground throwing stones until Nelson falls and dies. Back in the room, almost all of his friends are ready to give up on reviving him. Billy forgives Nelson, and David gives him one last shock, which brings Nelson back. Joe's fiancée Anne left him earlier in the movie, and David apologized to Winnie, who accepted.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed either way whether there is a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: not fine, and we're sorry.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Flatliners scary?
Somewhat. Flatliners is a 4 out of 10 with medium dread, built from jump scares and hallucinations of people the students wronged. It is more of a guilt thriller than a gory film.
How does Flatliners end?
Nelson flatlines a second time to make amends, and his friends revive him after nine minutes. Billy forgives him in the afterlife, and David's final shock brings him back.
Does the dog die in Flatliners?
Not fine. In Flatliners, a tree branch breaks the dog's back in a flashback, and the dog's death is not shown.
Is there a post-credits scene in Flatliners?
Nobody has confirmed either way whether there is a scene after the credits in Flatliners.
Who is Billy Mahoney in Flatliners?
Billy is a boy Nelson bullied as a child, and he is the first person Nelson sees while he is flatlined. Nelson later says he killed Billy by throwing rocks at him until he fell out of a tree.
