Elves (2021) summary and ending explained

Elves is a Danish horror web series on Netflix that follows a family of four taking a trip to a remote island where they spend their Christmas together in the hopes of reconnecting. When they arrive, they discover that the area is not visited by tourists often due to being inhabited by deadly creatures called ‘Elves.’

Summary

Elves begins with a cow being led out into the woods and tied to a tree as a sacrifice. Strange, snarling creatures come rushing up and maul it to pieces off-screen.

Meanwhile, it’s Christmas time when a little girl Josefine, her brother Kasper and their parents are out on a Christmas vacation to the remote island of Armandso. Josephine is not thrilled about the prospect of a Christmas break, she loves dogs and wants one, but her mother says she is not grown up enough to take care of it.

Being called a child makes her resentful. On arriving at the island, they are instructed to take the coastal road, but the father takes a shortcut through the woods. The children are fighting, and the father who is driving is distracted.

The car bangs into something but they are not sure what it is as they cannot see anything but they see a black liquid on the fender. A man arrives at the scene and intimidates them. He mentions that they should not have taken this road, as it is private property, but should have followed the coastal road.

They reach the cabin and wonder what is inside the enclosure and why the man was so angry and intimidating; Josephine is sulky and says they should find out what it was that they injured. She escapes from the window at night and rides her bicycle to the place of the accident, and finds a small elf-like creature that is injured.

She leaves it in the barn, her brother Kasper discovers her secret, but she asks him to promise not to tell her parents. They feed the creature and bandage its injured foot. They also discover that it eats only meat, and the cat is also killed. They meet a local lady Karen and ask about Christmas trees; she advises them not to cut any trees as they live in communion with nature.

Meanwhile, birds begin leaving the forest. Karen notices this and immediately expresses concerns. She asks Moller (the man who had intimidated them) to sacrifice another cow. Mads (the Father), Kasper, and Charlotte (the mother) are going to go out for a Christmas tree, leaving Josefine alone, who feigns to want to read alone. Josefine loves the little elf; she decides to call it Kee-Ko.

Moller and his friend Andre take the cow for sacrifice where he notices the footprint of a child outside the enclosure and doubts that the tourists are involved, so he asks Andre to go alone inside the enclosure and goes to the visitor’s house and finds the children tending to the elf-like creature.

He is shocked and calls Andre on the wireless and tells him to get out of the enclosure as soon as possible, but it is too late; the elf-like creatures attack Andre, and he is beheaded. The creatures throw out his head at Moller. What is the secret of this island and the creatures that reside on it?

Elves ending explained in detail:

The mystery of the elves

Following a service for Anders, Karen arranges a meeting for coffee with the vacationers. Charlotte jumps at this opportunity, believing it’s a good opportunity to meet other people. Josefine just wants to stay home with Kee-Ko.

At Karen’s house, Josefine brings up the subject of the forest. “Why are the woods fenced off?” she asks. Karen mentions a terrible accident out in the sawmill where chemicals were released onto the land. After that, they decided it best to fence the place up and keep visitors away.

Josefine excuses herself to use the bathroom and finds strange skulls, bits of wood, and a radio inside one of the rooms. She hides as Karen arrives and speaks to Molleron on the wireless. She hears that he has searched the barn and doesn’t seem to have found anything.

Josefine rushes back up the coast to the barn. Moller pushes her and grabs Kee-Ko, bundling it in a sack, and leaves. Liv, Karen’s granddaughter, who is about Kasper’s age, takes Kasper aside and reveals that her grandmother knows about the woodland elf they’re keeping in the barn. She also tells him that these elves are what are being kept behind the fence, and they’ve killed people in the past. Her parents were also killed.

Josefine follows Moller on her bicycle as Kee-Ko is taken out into the woods. Moller leaves the elf in the forest. She sneaks into the woods behind Moller. Unaware, Moller locks the gate while leaving. Alone, she heads into the woods. She heads out into the dark unknown, trying to find Kee-Ko. In her absence, Kasper reveals all and admits that they were keeping an elf in the barn. Charlotte and Mads are annoyed, believing it all to be one big joke.

Josefine’s fate

Behind the fence, Josefine finds herself stalked by a large elf. In fact, she hides out at the abandoned sawmill, eventually turning the machines on to thwart the threat and kill one of the larger elves. The family drives up to the fence and finds Josefine’s bike. Kasper is asked to go to Karen’s and ask for a key, while Charlotte and Mads stay at the site looking for clues.

Moller comes there but refuses to give the key. During the clash the electric station is damaged, leaving the fence unelectrified. Charlotte eventually gets the key from Moller and finds her daughter, who manages to find the way back with the help of Kee-Ko. Charlotte takes off with her daughter to the other side of the fence. The trouble is, a whole army of elves begin to close in. When they realize the fence isn’t electrified, they start banging against it, trying to break free.

Kasper and Liv arrive at the fence. With the power out, a large, gaping hole confirms that the elves have gotten out. Liv says that she has to go and warn the others regarding this. Kasper is very scared and says that he needs to go and get help. Liv prevents him from going says they should wait till the morning. In the morning they find a couple killed by the elves. Liv reveals that the elves have always been on this island. It’s a sacred place and a fence was put up to keep the elves at bay while the humans settled on the island.

Meanwhile, Josefine, Charlotte and Karen hide in the barn, as scrambling on the roof confirms that the elves have arrived. Moller’s place, too is attacked, and he finds himself stalked by an elf in the garage. The creature grabs him and mauls him to the ground. Mads realizes Moller could be dead and speeds away in his car.

When Karen learns what Josefine has done, including taking the youngling and killing the elf at the sawmill, she takes her away from Charlotte and promises to fix everything. As they near the enclosure Karen knocks her out with chloroform.

The escape

Josefine is intended to be the sacrifice, Karen has her chained up in the woods. Meanwhile, a bloodstained Moller comes stumbling out of his house. He’s still alive, and he’s decided to help the family bring back Josefine. He knows where Karen has taken her, and races to help the family bring back their daughter.

They find Josefine, just as Kee-Ko appears and starts helping her with the chains. Karen lurks in the shadows and she shows herself, pointing a gun at the family. However, Kee-Ko jumps on Karen’s back and bites her. When Karen throws it off, shooting at Kee-Ko, a monstrous elf shows up and immediately pounces on Karen, mutilating her. Karen falls in the pit and is attacked by elves, and it appears that she is the one who is the sacrifice.

The rest of the family charges off, including Josefine, who tries (and fails) to convince Kee-Ko to join them. The gang makes it through the gates, the generator starts up again, and Moller hurriedly locks the fence. They find themselves in a high-speed chase with an elf attacking their car.

The elf attacks Liv and pulls her out of the window. Kasper attacks the creature with the cattle prod and saves Liv. Moller eventually crashes the car, but everyone is fine except for the elf, who ends up crushed beneath one of the tires.

Muller fires off a flare that summons a ferry from the mainland, and as he says his farewells to Josefine, he explains that the locals will sort all this out “their way,” and Kee Ko will always live in her heart. Liv expresses the same to Kasper. She appears pensive; when Moller signals to get on to the ferry, she jumps onto the ferry and leaves the island; as the ferry leaves, she rests her head in Kasper’s shoulder.

In the climax, as the family all happily sit inside the car, ready to leave the island once and for all, the camera pans down and reveals that Kee-Ko is clinging to the underside of the vehicle


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