Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Jas Summers, Hulu’s ‘Stay’ follows two heartbroken individuals, Kiara and Miles, on the tail-end of their marriage. On the day of their moving out of their once beloved house, a strange series of paranormal activities begins to take shape, starting with the couple being locked in with no way out. Thrown into this terrifying situation, the two are forced to look inward, and a journey blending past with present unfolds, detailing the exact circumstances that led to the start of their love story, and its crushing end. However, whether the two still harbor feelings for each other is illustrated as the house of horrors throws one challenge after another in their direction. Kiara’s eagerness and ability to contact spirits mean that there are more dimensions to the narrative waiting to be explored, and the ending of this horror romance drama delivers on that end. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Stay Plot Synopsis
The film begins with time flashing back and forth, as we get a glimpse into Kiara and Miles’s romantic, and later married life, bloom and wither in quick succession. In the present, the house they once called home lies in disarray, and Kiara prepares the final set of boxes that need to be readied before she and her former partner call it quits for good. By the time Miles enters the house, she is nearly at the point of a psychological breakdown, with surreal hallucinations and depressive episodes prompting her to fall asleep before they can talk any further. After resting her in the bed, Miles tries to catch some sleep as well, but the night has different plans, as a kaleidoscopic set of visuals haunts Kiara’s dream. When she wakes up, not only has the entire packing process come undone, but inexplicably, the house is locked inside out. The duo desperately tries to reach out to the movers and packers waiting outside, but to them, the house appears empty, doubling the supernatural tensions.
Miles, who is a former mixed martial artist, quickly realizes that the house cannot be broken out of, and before long, all the blinds magically descend on their own, plunging the house into darkness. Kiara, who is an African Spirituality scholar, puts her expertise to work, believing that the house is haunted by the spirit of a Vodun priestess, but her former partner is dismissive of that idea. However, when overtly unnatural things begin to happen in the house, he begins to question reality as well. The duo splits up in searching the house for openings, and are instead met by more distorted visions, this time featuring alternate versions of themselves. While Kiara’s evil double tries to drown her in the bathtub, Miles has to fight off his own double. Before long, their paths collide once again, revealing an entirely different scenery, one where Miles originally left the house. We learn that Kiara has a drinking problem, and their inability to communicate is at the heart of this separation.
Numerous other flashbacks guide us deeper into Kiara and Miles’ relationship, which is full of micro-fissures creating larger, more gaping holes. In the present, Kiara realizes that the only way to break free of this cursed state is to channel her ancestral abilities, which involve invoking the spirit gods. Locating her magical pendant in the heap of her packed-up stuff, she sets up an impromptu ritual using common household items. The trick works, and in a moment, she is transported into a supernatural realm, where she is joined by her ancestors. Kiara learns of her priestess heritage, which grants her a deeper consciousness of her current predicament and the way to get out of it. By the time she exits, Miles has questions of his own, having discovered the suicide note she had written prior to this meeting. Realizing that there is no other way around it, the couple sits down for a heart-to-heart conversation, baring their deepest fears and insecurities.
Stay Ending: Do Kiara and Miles Escape the House? What is Trapping Them?
Following an unrelenting tussle with the house and the supernatural forces steering it into malevolence, Kiara and Miles eventually find a moment of deep, empathetic connection over a chapter in their lives they have been suppressing this entire time. A flashback reveals that the duo’s married life was not just about them, but also their little son, Jeremiah Williams. In a quick montage, we see Jeremiah from birth to childhood, adding warmth and richness to the flourishing family. However, one fateful tragedy seems to turn everything upside down, and for it to befall on Jeremiah’s birthday makes things all the more tragic. We see the couple gift the child a remote-controlled plane for this special occasion, which he takes out to fly. When it gets stuck near the pool, Jeremiah tries to retrieve it unsupervised, causing him to fall into the pool and drown. The ending, as such, hints at Jeremiah being the one to trap his parents in the house, as well as the one to facilitate their eventual release.
The inclusion of Jeremiah into the narrative recontextualizes its entire base premise, and every occasion of horrific supernatural interference can now be interpreted as a child’s spirit desperately seeking to keep his parents from separating. As such, the title of the movie, ‘Stay,’ also gains added significance, vocalizing Jeremiah’s wish in a single word. Although Kiara and Miles do not immediately come to this realization, they organically find the platform to discuss their child’s death and process those complex feelings. Kiara reveals that she feels particularly guilty for the tragedy, as it was her briefly looking away that caused him to go astray. Miles shares a similar burden, and together they decide to share the pain of losing a child, as well as the strain that it took on their relationship. This understanding becomes key to unlocking the house, as there is no longer an external mechanism to support their inner transformation.
What makes the final reveal all the more emotionally potent is the dream sequence that Miles shares, where he envisions his son in the pool, happy and afloat. Given the significance of visions within the story, this can be interpreted as Jeremiah’s means of communicating with them through the spiritual world. Conversely, it also adds a new spin to Kiara’s attempts to drown herself in her bathtub, which likely springs as a way of getting closer to her son. The movie’s way of weaponizing those attempts with a horror twist can now be seen as Kiara’s ancestors, as well as her son, pushing her away from that idea. In Jeremiah’s final appearance, he consoles them about the past and instead ushers them into a new future where Kiara and Miles can thrive once again. While the exact moment they leave the house isn’t shown, the decision is creatively relevant, as in reality, they simply decide to make this place their home once again.
Do Kiara and Miles Get Back Together? Is She Pregnant?
The final moments of the movie set up a happy life for Kiara and Miles once again, and the two show their resolve to that end by reconnecting. It is visually implied that the couple gets back together and continues their marriage, this time not living in the shadow of Jeremiah’s death but learning from it. Their spiritual connection to their past is also amplified by the fact that Kiara publishes a book called ‘Divine Love,’ likely expanding the experience that has just unfolded for her to the entire world. It is similarly implied that the couple deal with their personal problems, starting with Kiara’s alcohol addiction and Miles’ narcissism. With a new balance in sight, both partners make an equal effort in making their deceased child’s spirit attain peace and continuing their romantic dynamic, embodied by the nicknames they have for each other, “moon” and “night star.”
Kiara and Miles’s relationship also grows a step further with the reveal that she is pregnant. Following Jeremiah’s death, this is bound to be a challenging moment for the couple; however, the fact that the two are happy with this development suggests that they have moved past such differences. To that end, this new child serves not as Jeremiah’s replacement but simply as a new addition to the family who is about to have the same level of affection as their older brother. Additionally, Jeremiah’s heartfelt exchange with his parents also doubles as him giving the family his blessings, making every new positive change a welcome one. With this, Kiara and Miles have a chance at righting their wrongs and relocating the essence of the love they share, which is embodied by Jeremiah fixing their broken gramophone that plays a song in the final moments of the film.
What Happens to Jeremiah? Is He a Ghost or a Spirit?
While Kiara and Miles get their happy ending in the movie, the fate of Jeremiah remains slightly more ambiguous. To begin with, the exact nature of his appearance is never explained, and the possibility remains that he is either a ghost or a spirit. However, given the negative connotation often associated with the term ghost, which means a spirit that is still wandering on earth due to lingering wishes, that reading of Jeremiah does not add much to the story. On the other hand, seeing Jeremiah as a spirit figure brings many of the other elements together. Kiara’s entire arc is about establishing her link to her ancestors’ supernatural abilities, and the fact that it leads her to Jeremiah means that the connection is not just limited to the past. Instead, it serves as a medium of expressing the link present all along the family, which brings her son’s appearance and the rest of the story under the umbrella of spirituality.
However, it is also possible that Jeremiah is neither a ghost nor a spirit, and is not a real entity in the first place. At the start of the movie, we see that Kiara has been abusing drugs, and that motif plays its part numerous times across the narrative. Given that there is a clear time gap between her and Miles falling asleep and waking up the next morning, it is possible that the entirety of the events as we see them is the product of her mind. As such, Jeremiah’s appearance now becomes a potential hallucination, with the rest of the movie also falling under the same suspicions. However, regardless of the nature of his appearance, Jeremiah’s purpose in the story remains the same: to guide his parents to a better life, together. As such, whether his appearance is rooted in reality or not is secondary to the spiritual closeness that the family experiences in the moment. With Jeremiah’s duty over, he likely returns to the spiritual realm, as shown by his corporeal form turning into a star-like formation before disappearing.
Read More: The Game You Never Play Alone Ending Explained: Who Kidnapped Kavya?
