Rings (2017)

Last updated:
October 23, 2025

Rings (2017) is the third installment in the American adaptation of the Japanese horror franchise Ringu. Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez, this film attempts to revive the eerie myth of the cursed videotape for a new generation, blending old-school horror with a modern, digital-age twist.

Table of Contents

Detailed Summary

Opening Sequence: Death at 30,000 Feet

The movie starts in a plane where a terrified passenger confesses to his seatmate that he’s watched a cursed video tape that will kill him in seven days. Just as he reveals this, the plane’s systems go haywire, and the screen flickers with the infamous Ring girl, Samara Morgan. The plane crashes, killing everyone on board. This chaotic opener sets the tone—Samara’s curse has gone airborne, in a sense.

Introducing Julia and Holt

We then meet Julia (Matilda Lutz) and her boyfriend Holt (Alex Roe), college students in a long-distance relationship. Holt joins a mysterious university experiment led by Professor Gabriel (Johnny Galecki), who’s investigating the curse. The experiment, known as “The Sevens,” involves participants watching the tape, then making copies (called “tails”) to pass the curse along before they die.

When Julia can’t reach Holt for several days, she grows worried and tracks him down, discovering the group experimenting with the tape. She watches the cursed video herself to save Holt—only to discover that her version of the tape has extra footage no one has seen before.

The New Visions

Julia’s unique version of the video leads her to terrifying visions of Samara’s life. She sees cryptic symbols, an old church, and a town that seems to hold secrets about Samara’s past. Her version of the curse behaves differently, implying Samara is evolving.

The Investigation: Tolar and Evelyn

Julia and Holt follow the clues to the small town of Sacrament Valley, where Samara’s remains were supposedly buried. They encounter a blind man named Burke (Vincent D’Onofrio), who knows more than he lets on. Julia’s visions intensify—she sees a well, an underground crypt, and the abuse that Samara endured in life.

Julia discovers that Samara’s body was never properly buried and that her spirit remains restless. Burke warns them to leave, claiming that Samara’s evil should never be disturbed. But Julia’s curiosity pushes her forward.

Movie Ending

Julia uncovers the dark truth: Burke is actually Galilei Burke, Samara’s biological father. He blinded himself to stop Samara from reaching him through her images, but he still tried to keep her trapped. Julia, realizing the only way to stop the curse is to burn Samara’s remains, confronts him.

Burke attacks Julia, fearing that freeing Samara will unleash her completely. In a tense fight, Julia kills Burke and burns Samara’s body, thinking she’s finally ended the curse.

However, the film twists sharply in its final act. Julia receives strange marks on her hands—similar to Samara’s scars—and coughs up black hair. When Holt tries to call for help, his phone and computer glitch, revealing that Julia’s version of the video is automatically sending itself to other phones.

Samara has used Julia as a new vessel—a way to spread her curse through the digital world. The curse is no longer bound by tapes or screens—it’s everywhere. The movie ends with Julia’s computer rebooting, showing the word “RING” burned into the screen, implying that the curse will never die.

Are There Post-Credits Scenes?

No, Rings does not have any post-credits scenes. Once the haunting final scene fades to black, the movie is over. However, the ending itself serves as a setup for a possible sequel—though none has been confirmed.

Type of Movie

Rings is a supernatural horror film and part of the psychological horror subgenre. It blends traditional ghost story elements with a modern, tech-based twist, exploring how ancient curses adapt to digital technology.

Cast

Matilda Lutz as Julia
Alex Roe as Holt Anthony
Johnny Galecki as Professor Gabriel Brown
Vincent D’Onofrio as Galilei Burke
Aimee Teegarden as Skye Johnston
Bonnie Morgan as Samara Morgan

Film Music and Composer

The eerie, atmospheric score was composed by Matthew Margeson, known for combining orchestral sounds with haunting electronic undertones. The music plays a key role in building tension, using unsettling, slow crescendos rather than cheap jump-scare cues.

Filming Locations

The movie was shot primarily in Atlanta, Georgia and Seattle, Washington, chosen for their moody, rain-drenched environments that echo the tone of the original films. The small-town scenes were filmed in Douglasville, Georgia, while the underground crypt and church sequences were largely constructed on soundstages. The damp, overcast visuals create the perfect setting for Samara’s ghostly appearances.

Awards and Nominations

Rings didn’t win any major awards but was nominated for a few technical and horror category honors, mainly for its visual effects and makeup design at smaller horror film festivals.

Behind the Scenes Insights

The movie’s timeline is confusing by design—it takes place both before and after The Ring 2 (2005).
The cursed video was re-shot entirely using practical effects to give it a more “authentic” look.
Matilda Lutz performed most of her own stunts, including the terrifying well sequence.
Director F. Javier Gutiérrez originally planned to set the story in the early 2000s but changed it to explore how viral videos spread online.
The production used over 100 different video monitors to create Samara’s glitchy on-screen appearances.

Inspirations and References

The film draws direct inspiration from Koji Suzuki’s novel “Ringu” and the 1998 Japanese film of the same name by Hideo Nakata. Gutiérrez stated that he wanted to “reimagine Samara for the YouTube generation,” making the curse digital and self-replicating like a computer virus.

Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

There were two notable deleted scenes:

A longer version of the opening plane crash, showing Samara appearing outside the window before the crash.
A flashback of Burke’s past revealing more of his twisted attempts to contain Samara.

An alternate ending (cut for pacing) supposedly showed Julia’s full transformation into Samara’s host, but it was deemed too grim for release.

Book Adaptations and Differences

The movie is loosely based on Koji Suzuki’s Rings short story but takes significant liberties. In the book, the cursed tape is treated more like a virus spreading among people, while the movie adds the element of technology and digital duplication. The novel also explores the curse’s origins scientifically, whereas the movie leans into supernatural horror.

Memorable Scenes and Quotes

Key Scenes

The terrifying plane crash opening.
Julia watching the cursed video for the first time.
The discovery of Samara’s skeleton in the crypt.
Julia’s reflection turning into Samara in the mirror.

Iconic Quotes

Julia: “She’s not gone. She’s inside me.”
Burke: “You don’t find Samara. She finds you.”
Gabriel: “We opened a door, and she walked through it.”

Easter Eggs and Hidden Details

A VHS labeled “Anna M.” (Samara’s adoptive mother) appears in the lab, a nod to the first film.
The number “7” appears repeatedly—in clocks, dates, and timestamps—representing the curse’s timeline.
Julia’s phone ringtone matches the eerie tone used in The Ring (2002) when Samara calls her victims.
The original Japanese Ringu video symbols can briefly be seen in Julia’s version of the tape.

Trivia

Rings was meant to launch a new trilogy, but poor box office performance canceled those plans.
The movie’s viral marketing campaign included a prank where Samara crawled out of a TV in a real electronics store—terrifying unsuspecting shoppers.
Samara’s actor, Bonnie Morgan, is a professional contortionist, performing all the unnerving crawling scenes herself.

Why Watch?

If you’re a fan of slow-burn supernatural horror and the idea of classic curses meeting modern technology intrigues you, Rings offers eerie atmosphere and unsettling imagery. It’s not just a rehash—it expands the lore in unexpected ways.

Director’s Other Movies

Before the Fall (Tres Días) (2008)

Rings (2017)