Noise Movie Ending Explained: Plot, Hints, and Interpretations

The ending of Noise 2023 is ambiguous and open to interpretation. The film suggests that Matt may have inherited a genetic condition from his mother that causes him to experience auditory hallucinations, psychotic episodes, and paranoia.

Plot Summary and Themes

Noise 2023 is a Belgian-Dutch thriller film directed by Steffen Geypens and released on Netflix in March 2023. The film follows Matt (Ward Kerremans), a social media influencer and young father who moves back to his childhood home with his wife Liv (Sallie Harmsen) and their baby Julius. Matt’s father Pol (Johan Leysen) is suffering from dementia and has been moved to a nursing home.

Matt soon discovers that Pol has a dark past involving a local factory that was the site of a mysterious accident that killed several workers. Matt becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about what happened at the factory and how it affected his family, but his investigation leads him to uncover disturbing secrets that threaten his sanity and his life.

The plot of Noise 2023 is structured as a mystery that gradually reveals clues and twists through flashbacks, hallucinations, and conversations.

The film uses sound design and editing to create a tense and immersive atmosphere that reflects Matt’s mental state as he hears noises that no one else can hear. The noises range from his son’s crying to industrial sounds to whispers and screams. 

The film also explores themes such as trauma, guilt, memory, identity, family, and social media.

Noise Ending Explained

The ending of Noise 2023 is ambiguous and open to interpretation as the movie suggests that Matt may have inherited a genetic condition from his mother that causes him to experience auditory hallucinations, psychotic episodes, and paranoia. His mother drowned herself and tried to take Matt with her when he was an infant. Pol was able to save Matt but could not save his wife.

Matt is pretty sure that far more people died in the factory where his father worked in the past during a chemical accident. However, it is unclear whether these revelations are true or just products of Matt’s imagination. Matt is pretty much convinced that he can find the bodies if he digs underneath the basement of his house. So, he keeps on digging until he makes a hole filled with water. In a weird way, both Matt and Pol dug a hole for themselves – Pol dug a hole that destroyed his family, and almost the same can be said for Matt.

When Liv arrives at home, she sees Matt dive into the hole. She follows him into the hole to save him. Both almost drown but Pol comes to the rescue and saves them both. Both Matt and Pol remember the day when they almost drowned in the past, but this time, no one dies. Even Liv’s brother Timme wakes up at the factory and the kids help him.

Liv awakens to the sound of the baby crying in the film’s concluding sequence. She turns to gaze at the bed from Matthias’s side. Although he isn’t present, the pill bottles we do see imply that he is now being treated for the inherited mental health problems that caused his collapse. Matthias is found by Liv gazing down at the pond where he almost perished as a child. Matthias smiles as Liv walks over to his side carrying the infant. In this way, the movie ends.

Clues and Hints in Noise

Before reading my interpretation of the movie’s ending, let us analyze different clues and hints that could support different readings of the events in the movie:

Noises

Some of the noises that Matt hears could be explained by natural causes, such as his son’s crying, his wife’s cooking, or his phone ringing. However, some noises seem to be supernatural or psychological in origin, such as the whispers, screams, and industrial sounds that only he can hear.

Hallucinations

Some of the hallucinations that Matt sees could be attributed to his stress, lack of sleep, or drug use. However, some visions seem to be connected to his past trauma or his father’s secrets, such as seeing corpses in the factory or seeing blood on his hands.

Facts Uncovered

Some of the facts that Matt uncovers could be verified by external sources, such as online articles or newspaper clippings. However, some information could be fabricated or distorted by his father’s dementia or his own delusions, such as believing that there are more bodies buried under his basement or that his father was responsible for the accident.

Characters

Some of the characters that Matt interacts with could be real people who are trying to help him or harm him. However, some characters could be figments of his imagination or manifestations of his guilt or fear.

Explanations Based on the Clues and Hints

• Matt is suffering from a mental illness that makes him hear noises and see things that are not there. He inherited this condition from his mother who also had auditory hallucinations and paranoia.

• Pol was not involved in sabotaging the factory but he felt guilty for not being able to prevent the accident.

• The factory accident was not a conspiracy but a tragic incident that killed several workers due to negligence and poor safety standards. There were no more bodies hidden under Matt’s basement or anywhere else. It is all Matt’s paranoia.

Noise is a film that challenges the viewer to question what is real and what is not. It is a psychological thriller that explores how secrets can haunt people across generations and how noise can be both a source of information and a source of madness.