Rings
Movie, 2017, America, Set in Thirteen years later
Rings is #5 of 5 in release order and #5 of 5 in chronological order in the The Ring.
The story
Julia becomes worried about her boyfriend Holt when he explores the dark urban legend of a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after viewing. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a "movie within the movie" that no one has ever seen before.
Rings recap
Rings (2017) follows Julia, a college student, who watches Samara's cursed video to save her boyfriend and finds her copy hides new images no one has seen. F. Javier Gutiérrez directs, from a script by David Loucka, Jacob Aaron Estes and Akiva Goldsman. Professor Gabriel Brown (Johnny Galecki) finds the tape inside a secondhand VCR and runs an experiment with students, the Sevens, who watch it and pass copies to new viewers called tails. Julia (Matilda Lutz) comes looking for her boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe), who has 12 hours left, and watches his copy in his place. Her version cannot be copied and carries extra images of a strange woman, and the phone call burns a mark into her hand. Hoping to free Samara by cremating her, Julia and Holt drive to Sacrament Valley, where the blind caretaker Galen Burke (Vincent D'Onofrio) says the body was moved. Set years after The Ring Two, it closes the American series.
Rings ending explained
Rings ends with Samara reborn through Julia. In a hidden chamber under the church, Julia learns Samara's mother Evelyn was held and raped by the town priest, who turns out to be Burke, Samara's father, who blinded himself to escape her power. He attacks Julia after she finds Samara's body behind a wall; Samara restores his sight through Julia's phone and kills him. Julia and Holt cremate the remains and go home. Gabriel had decoded the mark as Braille for "rebirth": Julia coughs up hair and a cicada, her copy of the video spreads to all her contacts, and Samara's face looks back from Julia's mirror.
Post-credits scenes
No. Rings has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Rings
Rings is streaming on Prime Video and YouTube (free) in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 4.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 7%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Ring Two, the latest.
- Chronological order: after The Ring Two, the last.
What to watch before Rings
In release order, the essentials before Rings (2017) are The Ring (2002) and The Ring Two (2005).
Cast
- Matilda Lutz as Julia
- Alex Roe as Holt Anthony
- Johnny Galecki as Gabriel Brown
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Galen Burke
- Zach Roerig as Carter
- Aimee Teegarden as Skye Johnston
- Bonnie Morgan as Samara Morgan
- Chuck David Willis as Blue
- Patrick Walker as Jamal
- Laura Slade Wiggins as Faith
- Lizzie Brocheré as Kelly
- Drew Grey as Sam
Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez.