Is Suburbicon Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Barely, 2 out of 10. It's a black comedy set in a 1959 suburb with very little to be afraid of and a few ugly scenes.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
2 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Low
You won't lose any sleep, and it is gone by the time the credits roll.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, no dog dies.
Ruling: It is a black comedy where the neighbors behave worse than the criminals, so the lights can stay on.
Suburbicon runs one hundred five minutes and takes place in a 1959 neighborhood where everyone has a lawn and an opinion. A new family moves in, the neighbors are upset about it, and meanwhile the polite family down the street has its own problems.
The premise, briefly
In 1959 Suburbicon, a mild-mannered family man named Gardner Lodge has two robbers break into his house, while the neighbors fight over a new family that moved in.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Gardner threatens Nicky into going along with the insurance plan, then eats and drinks the poisoned sandwich and milk meant for Nicky, and is dead by morning. Nicky goes outside to play ball with Andy Mayers.
The scene you're dreading
The poker scene at night in the middle: Margaret poisons the insurance agent's coffee, and Gardner finishes him off with a fireplace poker while a riot builds at the neighbors' house.
The dog
No dog dies in Suburbicon.
Suburbicon is a dark comedy with a few violent scenes, and you can sit through it knowing that Nicky comes out of it alive.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
Chloroform and a lawn
In the spring of 1959, the all-white neighborhood of Suburbicon is shaken when the Mayers, a black family, move in. Gardner Lodge, a mild-mannered family man, lives there with his wife Rose, who uses a wheelchair, and their son Nicky. One night Rose's identical twin Margaret is visiting, and two robbers named Sloan and Louis break in, tie everyone up and put them under with chloroform. Rose gets too much of it and never wakes up. Once the funeral is over, Margaret moves in to look after Nicky and starts to turn herself into Rose by dyeing her hair blonde. She also starts sleeping with Gardner.
The police ask the Lodges to come in and pick out Sloan and Louis. Nicky recognizes them as the men who killed his mother, but Gardner and Margaret insist the police have picked up the wrong men. Sloan and Louis then turn up at Gardner's office and demand the money he owes them for killing Rose. Gardner refuses, so they plan to kill Nicky and Margaret. Meanwhile, tension grows between Suburbicon and its new neighbors. An insurance agent named Bud Cooper visits Margaret one day when Gardner isn't home. He says he is only checking a claim on Rose's life insurance policy, then admits he suspects that Gardner and Margaret killed her for the money. Margaret throws him out.
Lye is a poor choice of creamer
That night the protest outside the Mayers' house turns into a riot, and Cooper comes back to see Gardner. He says he knows all about the insurance fraud, and offers to stay quiet if the couple hands over their entire payout. This is the scene people dread most, and it happens in the middle. Margaret puts lye in his coffee, and Gardner hits him with a fireplace poker to finish the job. Gardner then leaves to get rid of the body, with Sloan trailing behind him, while the riot keeps growing at the Mayers' house.
Nobody finishes their sandwich
Back at the house, Margaret catches Nicky calling his Uncle Mitch for help and tries to kill him with a poisoned sandwich and glass of milk. Nicky refuses to leave his room. Louis comes in and strangles Margaret, then goes upstairs after Nicky, but Mitch gets there in time and shoots Louis. Mitch hands Nicky his gun and hides him in a closet before dying of a stab wound. Gardner is taunted by Sloan on the way home from getting rid of Cooper's body, until a fire truck speeding to a fire the rioters started hits and kills Sloan. At home, Gardner finds the bodies, and Nicky in the closet, and offers him a choice: play along with the insurance plan and flee to Aruba together, or die and have Gardner blame Louis.
The ending, explained
During their talk Gardner gives Nicky his choice, and in the course of it he ends up eating the poisoned sandwich and drinking the poisoned milk himself. By the next morning he is dead. Nicky walks outside calmly and plays ball with Andy, the young Mayers boy he has befriended, while the adults on the street clean up after the riot. Margaret, Louis, Mitch, Cooper and Sloan are already dead.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits, so staying to check is your call.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Suburbicon scary?
Barely. Suburbicon is a 2 out of 10: a black comedy with low dread, a few violent scenes and almost nothing meant to frighten you.
How does Suburbicon end?
Gardner dies after eating the poisoned sandwich and drinking the poisoned milk that were meant for his son. Nicky survives and goes out to play ball with Andy Mayers.
Does the dog die in Suburbicon?
No dog dies in Suburbicon.
Is there a post-credits scene in Suburbicon?
Nobody has confirmed either way, so Suburbicon may or may not have one.
Why does Gardner kill Cooper in Suburbicon?
Cooper figures out that Gardner and Margaret killed Rose for the life insurance money and tries to blackmail them out of the whole payout. Margaret poisons his coffee, and Gardner finishes him off with a fireplace poker.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Suburbicon is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You can learn how Suburbicon turns out in 105 minutes. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror before you see it.
