Abhiroop Das
At the end of Laura Murphy’s ‘F Marry Kill,’ Eva Vaugh breathes a sigh of relief, believing to have single-handedly brought an end to Swipe Right’s killing spree. However, this turns out to be yet another red herring, and she finds herself pulled back into the eye of the storm. Over the course of amateurishly investigating three of her dates — Mitch, Kyle, and Norman, Eva only manages to uncover more questions than answers. She finds solace only in her trusted group of friends and her sister, Valerie, who is conducting her own investigations regarding the serial killer. Soon, their quest to uncover the truth takes a daring turn, and Eva finds herself voluntarily heading into danger while the burning question of Swipe Right’s true identity remains. SPOILERS AHEAD.
F Marry Kill Plot Synopsis
A serial killer dubbed the Swipe Right Killer spreads terror in the city of Boulder, Colorado, notorious for targeting women through dating apps, leaving no fingerprints and displaying. Eva Vaugh, still recovering from the heartbreak of losing her boyfriend, police officer Jake, is celebrating her 30th birthday with her group of friends: Kelly, Robin, and Anthony. Later that evening, Eva’s protective older sister Valerie gifts her a home security system in light of the recent murders and reveals that Jake is engaged to a fellow officer. A shocked Eva responds by impulsively creating a dating profile and connecting with several men. Her speed dating list includes Kyle, an old classmate, and Mitch, a charming bar owner. Meanwhile, she follows the case closely for her safety via a podcast called ‘Mark My Murder.’
Eventually, Eva meets Norman, a forensics student and security technician, making him her third potential partner. While dating all three of them, she notices multiple quirks, such as Mitch’s lack of fingerprints, Kyle’s anger issues, and Norman’s mysterious disappearance due to an apparent family emergency. Following this, Eva’s friends and Valerie start connecting dots, recognizing that each of her dates shares some key traits with the Swipe Right Killer, such as wearing size ten shoes. Their suspicions grow and take them in new directions, hoping to find out the truth. Thus, Eva begins to investigate more seriously, with most of her suspicions winding up to be misinterpretations. As a result, her dynamic with Mitch comes to a premature end, as she cannot bring herself to trust him.
Eva’s search leads her to zero in on Norman after finding a lone heel-shoe at his home. Their discussion quickly takes a heated turn, and Eva rushes out. The following day, she visits him again, only to collect his DNA and retrieve the shoe to hand it over to the police, who earlier claimed that their hands were tied without sufficient cause to investigate. Emboldened that she has seemingly found the killer but is also scared of being attacked, she seeks to live at one of her friends’ houses. However, things escalate quickly, and Eva fails to contact them or her sister. Eventually, she turns to Kyle, who reassures her and suggests taking a bath. However, she soon reads Valerie’s voice note, revealing that Kyle is married and deceptive. Upon being confronted, Kyle’s demeanor darkens, prompting him to lash out when Eva refuses sex.
F Marry Kill Ending: Who is The Swipe Right Killer?
The Swipe Right Killer is revealed to be Kelly, Eva’s best friend and boss at work. Caught right in the act of framing someone else for her murders, a distressed Kelly begins monologuing about her reasons for committing these heinous crimes. She explains that it all started when she discovered that her husband was cheating on her, following which she confronted the woman, eventually killing her. Kelly continues, claiming that her initial plan was to incriminate her husband, using his shoe as evidence; however, she instead decided to expand her operations, searching for women who frequented message boards about cheating and affairs, eventually stereotyping them to wear pointed heels. She would then catfish multiple women at once, inviting them on a date before killing them.
Kelly claims that her grand plan was to pin all of these murders on her husband, as indicated by her leaving the shoe size behind as evidence. However, her husband’s return and subsequent promise to be a different man and start their relationship anew changes things. Kelly, who is similarly yearning for a reconciliation, agrees to this but finds herself trapped, as now she needs a new person to frame as Swipe Right. As such, Kyle and his circumstances come at the perfect point, and upon finding him trying to assault Eva, she quickly stabs him in the back, seemingly killing him. Upon rushing to Kelly’s car for safety, Eva discovers many phones, wherein her friend catfishes many women simultaneously. That, coupled with Kelly seemingly planting evidence in Kyle’s house, confirms the true nature of the serial killer.
Kelly’s descent into this dark life is foreshadowed in various ways throughout the story, which helps inform her character. Director Laura Murphy expressed in an interview, “We wanted to make sure it added up so that if you go back and watch it, knowing the ending, it doesn’t come out of nowhere.” Being the only married woman in the friend group, Kelly feels at odds with their dating practices and romantic discourse. Earlier in the movie, she vomits after drinking too much, which hints at her mental health following her strained marriage. Furthermore, at numerous points, Kelly appears to be wandering out in the dark while wearing a cap. On one such occasion, she even encounters Eva and then claims that she just wanted to check up on her friend. In retrospect, these are likely the scenes from her secret practice of hunting down innocent women.
Is Kelly in Jail? Is She the One Calling Eva?
When Eva figures out the truth, Kelly initially tries to persuade her to cooperate, hoping that her best friend will cooperate and the whole thing will come to an end. However, the protagonist confronts her about the wrongness of her actions and refuses to budge. Feeling trapped, Kelly sees no other way than to charge ahead with killing intent. It appears that her new plan is to frame Eva as Kyle’s last victim and that her friend was too late but nonetheless heroically killed the culprit. A scuffle ensues between the two women, where Kelly laments not being able to visit Eva’s marriage, while the latter retorts that Kelly’s marriage ceremony was awful, directly attacking her weak point by hurling more insults about outward appearance. This distracts the antagonist just long enough for Eva to arm herself with a stiletto’s heel and stab her in the back.
Stabbed and unable to fight back, Kelly finally tastes defeat, accentuated by the sounds of nearing police sirens. Eva is rescued and sits with her ex-boyfriend, Officer Jake, discussing how the events unfolded. She asks how they knew where to find her and learns that her resourceful sister, Valerie, had implanted a tracker in Kelly’s phone, checking every movement and alerting the police. Jake continues, expressing surprise at how Eva actually managed to catch the serial killer when he initially believed her to be one of the many paranoid women reporting their dates. Glad at her survival, he tries to reignite their relationship but is promptly turned down. Instead, the conversation heads to Norman, whom Jake had already informed about the investigations.
While Kelly’s fate is not shown, it is likely that she was imprisoned for her crimes soon after the events. In the mid-credits scene, the story flashes forward to a point where Eva is a successful novelist, having documented her experiences in a non-fiction book and then released a fictional narrative. Continuing her string of successes, she becomes a host for the podcast ‘Mark My Murder,’ along with co-hosts Molly and John. The podcast plays a major role throughout the narrative as the primary news-breaker of the Swipe Right murders. As such, Kelly fits right in and begins her first episode by explaining how much this collaboration means to her while also promoting her newest release, ‘Girl Go!.’ However, the trio is interrupted by a fan-call request, which turns out to be from an inmate of the ADX Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado, who Eva suspects is Kelly.
The scene ends abruptly, birthing a whole new set of mysteries. It is likely that Kelly’s involvement in Eva’s life is far from over. While the serial killer’s message to her once best friend is only subject to guesswork, for now, it is likely to be either an apology or a cry for help. Even in the worst-case scenario, where Kelly manages to get out, the protagonist now has plenty of support in the form of her partner and her friends; as such, tricking her will be much harder. Furthermore, Norman works for a security company, and her sister, who has proven her skill as a sleuth, will likely be Eva’s foremost protector. However, there is also the possibility of a curveball; the call might not be from Kelly at all. Instead, it could be a sympathizer or a new character entirely. However, the chances seem unlikely, with Kelly notably operating on her own throughout the narrative.
Do Eva and Norman Get Together?
Eva’s reconciliation with Kevin does not come easily, as she has to take responsibility for her actions and correct her mistakes in this dynamic. Upon learning from Jake that Norman knows of her activity inside the house, she finds it hard to face him and instead decides to head to his sister Lila’s house to return her shoe. While apologizing, however, she runs into Norman himself, who begins listing out the various things she has done to him before acknowledging her reasons, stating that he gets her mindset as an employee of a security company. At the same time, he expresses disappointment over her attempt at collecting evidence, revealing that evidence procured illegally is usually not admissible in court. As such, the two convert a seemingly tense moment into a lighthearted one and reconnect.
While Norman deals with his history with Eva humorously, it is pretty complicated. The two meet because of Swipe Right’s rampage, which encourages the protagonist, along with various other women, to increase protection in their homes. In a twisted way, Kelly, who desperately wanted her friends to settle, leads Eva to a good partner. Following the security installation, Norman and Eva go on a date, but he abruptly has to leave, citing an emergency. The protagonist, suspicious, begins tailing him, only to see, through a translucent window, what appears to be the process of dismembering a corpse. Her fears are only accentuated when she sees him exit with trash bags, and on the next day, his neighbor turns out to be Swipe Right’s newest victim. Her suspicion eventually gets her to sneak into his house under false pretenses and steal what she considers evidence.
Eva’s behavior towards Norman is a product of her paranoia about the looming serial killer, infusing doubt and suspicion in every little action a person might undertake. Her fear not only clouds her judgment but also makes her more aggressively keen to pin the blame on someone. Her actions are mirrored by the culprit, Kelly, herself, although on a completely different level, serving as the protagonist’s wake-up call. Acknowledging all of her mistakes, she asks Norman if they can wipe their slate clean and start anew, this time hoping to have a more normal life. Norman, pleased, simply remarks that life will likely never be normal, as the two share a kiss. This scene not only marks their reunion as a couple but also teases their potential developments. Now that Eva is a podcaster who finds herself at the heart of crime, her thrilling adventures are likely to continue.
