What actually happens
A dead neighbor with a full attic
In Miami, the art critic Morf Vandewalt attends an exhibition with Josephina, a friend who works for Rhodora Haze, the owner of the Haze Gallery and a former member of the punk band Velvet Buzzsaw. Morf is unhappy in his relationship with his boyfriend Ed, and he starts sleeping with Josephina. Back in Los Angeles, Josephina discovers that a man called Vetril Dease has died in her apartment building, and she walks into his home, where she discovers a collection of paintings, some of them partly destroyed. She takes them to show Morf and Rhodora, who both become fascinated, and Rhodora puts several of them on display at her gallery to great success. The paintings also captivate Gretchen, a curator and friend of Morf's, Piers, a former Haze Gallery artist, and Damrish, a rising young artist.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
Do not smoke near the merchandise
Rhodora wants the paintings to stay rare, so she sends the gallery worker Bryson to move half of them to storage. On the way, ash from his cigarette sets one of the paintings on fire, burning him, and he crashes into what looks like an abandoned gas station. He goes inside to treat his burns, and a group of monkey mechanics pulls him into a painting. Back outside, his truck goes up in flames and takes the rest of the Dease paintings with it.
The red-black paint is made of blood
Morf researches Dease and learns of an abusive childhood that ended with Dease murdering his father and being committed to a psychiatric hospital, where he was experimented on. The rival gallery owner Jon Dondon hires a private investigator to dig up the same story. He plans to tell the press, but a mysterious hand hangs him with his own scarf, and Coco, Rhodora's former assistant who has just started working for Jon, finds his body. Morf sees a hand in one painting move, and though his optometrist clears his vision, he keeps hallucinating. That same night he talks to the gallery archivist and learns that Dease made his red-black paints with blood. Rhodora is unhappy with Piers' latest work and sends him to her beach house, telling him not to come back until he has made something only for himself.
The exhibit with the hole in it
This is the stretch people dread, so here it is in order. Gretchen arranges for some Dease paintings to be shown in the city's museum next to Sphere, an interactive piece owned by her main client. She also wrecks Josephina's relationship with Morf by telling Josephina that Morf still has feelings for Ed. On the eve of the opening, Gretchen reaches into a hole in Sphere, and the piece malfunctions and severs her arm, and she bleeds to death. Coco, who recently became her assistant, finds the body the next morning. The death sends public interest in the Dease exhibit up. After Morf finds out Josephina is dating Damrish, the two of them split.
A robot with a grudge
Morf's visions get worse, and he pleads with Rhodora to stop selling the Dease paintings. She ignores him and rushes to sell it for tens of millions of dollars before he can publish a negative article. Morf hires Coco, who is out of work again, to get rid of the paintings. At a dive bar, Damrish tells Josephina he won't show his art at the Haze Gallery, and they split up. Outside, Josephina is mysteriously taken to a gallery where graffiti paintings melt around her and cover her skin. While Morf is putting the Dease works in his storage unit, he finds Hoboman, a robotic art piece he once reviewed badly, switched off. Hoboman starts up, chases Morf into a dead end and breaks his neck while Morf begs for mercy.
The ending, explained
Coco finds Morf's body the next morning, and Josephina's frightened face appears on a graffiti wall. Rhodora decides the deaths must be connected to Dease and has every piece of his art removed from her house. As she sits outside, the buzz saw tattoo on her neck starts spinning and slashes her, killing her. Coco is on her way to LAX to go home to Michigan when she passes a street vendor selling Dease paintings for five dollars each, from a box that came from Bryson's truck. Piers, meanwhile, is drawing a pattern of curves in the sand on the beach while the waves wash over it. Coco and Piers are the only main characters left standing.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there's a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, and the Great Dane is fine too.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Velvet Buzzsaw scary?
Barely. Velvet Buzzsaw is a 3 out of 10 with a low dread level, some small jump scares and a few gruesome deaths, and it is mostly a satire of the art world.
How does Velvet Buzzsaw end?
Jon, Gretchen, Morf and Rhodora are killed, Bryson and Josephina are pulled into paintings, and Coco and Piers survive. Coco passes a street vendor selling Dease paintings for five dollars each on her way to the airport.
Does the dog die in Velvet Buzzsaw?
No, no dog dies in Velvet Buzzsaw. A Great Dane appears and nothing happens to it, and a cat brings in a dead bird at one point.
Is there a post-credits scene in Velvet Buzzsaw?
Nobody has confirmed whether Velvet Buzzsaw has a scene after the credits.
Who is Vetril Dease in Velvet Buzzsaw?
Vetril Dease is the dead painter whose hidden paintings Josephina finds. In Velvet Buzzsaw he had an abusive childhood, killed his father, was experimented on in a psychiatric hospital, and painted with blood.
