What actually happens
Spring break at a lake with a crack in it
Matt Boyd is fishing on Lake Victoria when a small earthquake splits the lake floor and opens a whirlpool, and a school of prehistoric piranhas comes up out of the gap and eats him. Spring break starts anyway. Jake Forester runs into Kelly, an old crush, and meets her boyfriend Todd, who comes across as arrogant. Jake also meets Derrick Jones, a sleazy pornographer who wants Jake to show him good filming spots on the lake, and Danni, one of Derrick's actresses. Jake's mother, Sheriff Julie, and Deputy Fallon find Matt's body and talk about closing the lake, but thousands of students and the town's revenue say otherwise. The next morning a cliff diver is the second victim. Meanwhile Jake's siblings Zane and Laura canoe out to a sandbar island and get stranded when Zane doesn't tie the canoe up properly.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
A cavern full of eggs and a very old fish
Julie ferries three seismologist divers, Novak, Sam and Paula, out to the fissure. Novak guesses that it leads down to a prehistoric lake buried underneath. Paula and Sam then dive to the bottom and find a huge cavern lined with piranha eggs, but the piranhas get to both of them before they can warn anyone upstairs. Novak and Julie pull Paula's body onto the boat and catch one piranha, and bring it to Carl Goodman, a marine biologist in retirement. He and his wife run a fish store. He identifies it as the Original Piranha, a prehistoric species that was supposed to be extinct for millions of years. His theory is that it survived by eating its own kind. It can strip a victim in seconds.
An evacuation order for a crowd that has plans
This is the scene people dread most, and it happens in the middle of the movie. Julie, Novak, Fallon and Deputy Taylor Roberts try to clear the lake, and the partying students ignore them. Then the piranhas reach the swimmers and the party turns into a bloodbath. You will see a great deal of blood and many people in the water being hurt at once. Almost everyone on the lake is badly wounded or killed, including Todd, whose boat capsizes while he tries to get away. Novak grabs a shotgun and a jet-ski to help. Fallon makes a last stand with a boat motor, using the propeller as a makeshift chainsaw on the piranhas, and is seemingly killed doing it. After this stretch the movie narrows down to Jake's boat.
A sinking boat and a very long rope
Jake spots Laura and Zane on their island and makes Derrick go and rescue them. Derrick hits some submerged rocks, the lower deck floods and the boat starts to sink. Kelly ends up stuck in the galley, and Derrick, Crystal and Andrew all go overboard. Andrew swims to shore, Crystal is eaten and Derrick is badly hurt. Danni gets Derrick back on board, where he dies. Julie and Novak arrive in a speedboat and tie a rope to Jake's boat so the others can cross. Danni's hair is caught by the piranhas and she falls in. Julie, Laura and Zane make it across, but then the rope slips free. Jake ties the line around himself, uses Derrick's body to distract the fish, ties Kelly to him, lets propane out of the tanks and lights a flare.
The ending, explained
Novak speeds the boat away as the piranhas close in around Jake and Kelly, and the two of them are pulled out of the water just as the propane tanks explode. The blast kills most of the piranhas. Julie, Jake, Kelly, Laura and Zane survive, but Derrick, Danni, Crystal and Todd do not, and Fallon is seemingly gone too. Goodman then phones Julie and tells her the fish they killed were only juveniles, because the one he examined had immature reproductive glands. Novak is still asking aloud where the adults are when a piranha the size of a dolphin leaps out of the water and eats him.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits, so staying to find out is a gamble.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Piranha 3D scary?
Piranha 3D is a 3 out of 10, with low dread. It has jump scares and a lot of gore, and the fear is over when the credits roll.
How does Piranha 3D end?
A propane explosion kills most of the piranhas and Jake and Kelly are pulled to safety. Goodman then reveals that the dead fish were juveniles, and a dolphin-sized adult eats Novak.
Does the dog die in Piranha 3D?
No dog dies in Piranha 3D. The people on the lake are not so lucky.
Is there a post-credits scene in Piranha 3D?
Nobody has confirmed whether Piranha 3D has a scene after the credits, so you can stay or leave.
What kind of piranhas are in Piranha 3D?
They are a prehistoric species called the Original Piranha, which Carl Goodman says was thought to have died out millions of years ago. He believes they survived by eating each other.
