Dybbuk summary and ending explained

Dybbuk is Amazon Prime Video’s new horror-thriller that follows the story of a couple moving to Mauritius and experiencing paranormal activities after the wife buys an antique box and unleashes an evil spirit.

Summary

Following the death of Moshe bin Asher, one of Mauritius’ last Jews, an antique dealer purchases an old box that belonged to Asher. The same night, before leaving, he instructs his assistant to pack some stuff and lock the shop. While doing his task, his attendant unlocks the box and is killed by the spirit inside.

A police officer, Riaz, is on the case to solve the mystery behind the worker’s death but is not able to track down any clues just yet. Even though he notices the box near the body, he doesn’t pay much heed to it.

Sam and Mahi are a couple who relocate from Mumbai to Mauritius. Sam is a part of a company that deals with nuclear waste disposal. After relocating, whilst Sam is busy with his official work, Mahi visits an antique shop and purchases an old box, intended to be used as home décor.

When she comes home and opens the box, she notices strange things inside, which include a glass bottle, a piece of cloth, and a few strands of hair. The box has a hole that is blocked by a wood piece, and as she opens it, an evil spirit comes out and possesses her.

Mahi starts feeling as if there’s someone around her and even sees someone in the bathroom. Scared, she goes to Sam’s office, which is a high radiation area, where no one is allowed. Sam is a bit taken aback when he sees her there.

Mahi explains how she saw someone, but he doesn’t believe her. He blames it on her lack of sleep, which might’ve caused her to hallucinate. However, a few days later, Sam starts noticing that her behavior has changed.

She has constant dark circles under her eyes even though her sleep is deep. Even if he tries to wake her up, she doesn’t move an inch. She also spends most of the time near the antique box.

The same night, he notices that their blankets are taken away while they sleep. He hears a few voices and footsteps and goes to investigate. Not finding anything, he calls his friend, Riaz, and asks him to see if there was some forced entry, but nothing is found.

Regardless, Mahi’s constant weird behavior forces Sam to call his adoptive father, Father Gabriel, who, as soon as he enters the house, knows that there is some evil spirit in the house. He notices the antique box and knows right away that this Dybbuk box is causing all the trouble.

He asks his language expert friend to translate the Jewish words written on the box and finds the name of Abraham Ezra. He advises Sam to go to a rabbi that he knows, and find the solution. The rabbi explains that the Dybbuk can possess only those who are experiencing a mental trauma, or whose mental and physical forces aren’t aligned.

While talking, Markus (Rabbi’s son) enters the scene and listens intently. Sam gets a call from Mahi, informing him that she’s pregnant. The rabbi instantly tells him that it is most likely that the spirit has possessed the fetus and not Mahi.

If exorcism is tried on the spirit, and the spirit realizes it, he can harm everyone. He asks Sam to visit him the next day to discuss possible solutions. However, Sam discovers that he died. Markus gives him a ray of hope and asks him to get ready for the exorcism process.

The most important thing to prepare for the process is to know the gender of the baby, for which they have to wait for a few months. Meanwhile, Markus takes expert opinions and maps out a plan.

One day, while walking on the beach, the neighbor’s dog starts barking at Mahi, which the ‘spirit’ doesn’t like. That night, Sam notices that Mahi is missing from the house. He goes out and finds her roaming the streets with a white bag covered in blood, as well as his office I.D. card.

At a turn, Mahi stops as Markus comes in front of her. He asks her name and why she is here in Jewish, to which she replies Ezra. He keeps his hand on her head, and she faints. The white bag falls to the ground and the head of the neighbor’s dog is seen rolling out.

Dybbuk ending explained in detail:

Dybbuk’s History

Markus sets out to find the history of the box. He visits the antique shop where the box was bought from. The owner gives him the address of the Jewish place where the box came from. The place was abandoned and the guard tries to stop him, but he bribes him.

While he’s looking for clues, Ezra’s spirit arrives and kills the guard. The spirit tries to attack Markus, but he takes out his holy locket, after which the spirit leaves. He finally finds a book that explains the entire history of Ezra.

The story goes back to the 1960s, where a Jewish boy named Ezra is in love with a Catholic girl, Nura. His father was a famous businessman in that area. When his father comes to know about the affair, he traps his son at a place where no one is allowed to visit.

Nura comes to know that she’s pregnant, and keeps waiting for Ezra to show up. Ezra writes to her that she should forget him as his father wouldn’t approve of their alliance. Meanwhile, the people of the island, and later Ezra, come to know of her pregnancy.

Disheartened, Nura commits suicide, wearing a wedding dress given by Ezra. The people are angry, and Nura’s father finds Ezra’s letter and connects the dots. He, along with others, finds him and beats him up.

The doctors inform Ezra’s father that he wouldn’t be able to walk or talk anymore. He decides to use black magic to preserve Ezra’s spirit in a Dybbuk, with the curse that whenever it is opened, the spirit will have enough power to kill all the Catholic people of the island.

Another thing that is written in the diary is that in order to carry out this ritual, his body was not cremated or buried, but instead, thrown in the river. A wooden statue was buried instead.

The Twist

After understanding the history, Markus goes to Father Gabriel and explains his planned exorcism. He also involves Riaz, who found out about the possession while investigating the case of the neighbor’s dog.

The scene shifts to Sam walking through his office, who is later tased by Riaz and brought to the exorcism site. It is revealed that Mahi was not the one who was possessed, but instead, Sam was.

Ezra’s spirit had found out about Sam’s mental trauma after his parents, and knew that he could complete his murder motive using Sam’s involvement in the nuclear waste work. After the revelation, Markus asks Father Gabriel and Mahi to put anything that connects them with Sam, into the Dybbuk.

Trapping the Spirit

As soon as the things are kept, the spirit possessing Sam’s body starts getting more violent. The exorcism plan is carried out with the help of 10 more Jewish priests.

Ezra’s spirit attacks them all and proceeds to kill Mahi, but seeing Mahi’s pregnant belly, is reminded of Nura and their child.

He falls weak but also needs to fulfil his motive. Seeing his weakness, Markus blows a blowhorn, after which the spirit leaves Sam’s body and is trapped in the Dybbuk. Riaz and Markus take the box and throw it in the same river where Ezra’s body was thrown, and everything goes back to normal.


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