‘Jagged Mind’ Ending Explained: Hulu Delivers Lesbian Time Loop Gaslighting, Just In Time For Pride

Nothing says “Happy Pride!” like an emotionally abusive lesbian who gaslights her girlfriend into dating her forever, right? Lucky for Hulu subscribers, that’s exactly what Jagged Mind on Hulu, which began streaming today, delivers.

Directed by Kelley Kali, with a script by Allyson Morgan, this new queer horror movie offers a new, fresh twist on the time loop trope made famous by Groundhog Day. In the case of Jagged Mind, the power to repeat time is used for romance, but unlike in Groundhog Day, there’s nothing cute nor funny nor romantic about it.

Audiences may be familiar with the logistics of time loops by now, but the rules in Jagged Mind work a bit differently. If you got confused while you were watching, don’t worry: Decider is here to help. Read on for a breakdown of the Jagged Mind movie plot summary and the Jagged Mind movie ending, explained.

Jagged Mind 2023 plot summary:

Billie (played by Maisie Richardson-Sellers) is an art curator who has been dealing with intense nightmares and memory loss issues. Her mom had a debilitative neurological disorder, so she assumes this is an inherited medical issue.

One night, a beautiful woman named Alex (Shannon Woodard) hits on Billie at a bar. Billie is receptive but, despite Alex’s pleas to stay, she ultimately leaves to attend a work event for an artist’s gallery opening. At the event, Billie hooks up with her ex-girlfriend. While making out with her, Billie feels faint and passes out. When she wakes up, she’s back at the bar flirting with Alex, with seemingly no memory that she’s done this before.

The time loop repeats a few more times, with Billie always leaving the bar, and Alex telling her, “See you next time.” In one of the loops, the artist, Rose (Shein Mompremier), approaches Billie at the gallery opening and urges her to “try to remember.” Billie sees flashes of a strange man and a wooden box carved with strange symbols, but ultimately does not remember.

On the next loop, Billie invites Alex to attend the work event with her, much to Alex’s surprise and delight. The two women start dating for real, and pretty soon have been together for six months. Billie’s blackouts and memory loss are getting worse. There are a few instances where Alex reveals her dark, controlling nature to Billie; only to have the scene repeat itself with a nicer version of Alex. It becomes clear that Alex somehow has the power to turn back time and rewrite her girlfriend’s memory, and is using it to cover up her bad behavior. It’s the ultimate form of gaslighting.

Billie discovers that Alex and that artist, Rose, are exes. Billie and Alex have a huge fight, and break up. Following a hunch, Billie goes to Rose’s house and finds her dead. (Alex killed her!) She also finds a wooden container with strange symbols carved into it. Inside, she finds a flash drive with a video of herself having a conversation she doesn’t remember, with Rose and a Haitian man (Jimmy Jean-Louis). Rose explains to Billie that Alex is using a magical crystal to turn back time in an attempt to have a perfect romantic relationship with Billie. All of Billie’s weird dreams are memories that actually happened.

The crystal requires Billie’s blood to work, which is why she has mysterious wounds on her body. And the reason Rose knows about the crystal is that she used it first, on Alex, when Alex first broke up with her and Rose couldn’t accept it. But Alex figured out what was going on, and stole the crystal for herself. Rose went to the Haitian man, Papa Juste, for help, and he gave her the box with the symbols on it. Anything inside the box is protected from the time reversal. Billie just manages to write a note to herself and put it in the box, before Alex reverses time again.

Jagged Mind movie ending explained:

Billie re-discovers the box and reads the many notes she has written to herself over the course of the loops. Her memories come back. She remembers a conversation with Rose, in which Rose instructed Billie to get the crystal, reset time back to before Rose met Alex, and then give the crystal to Papa Juste. Rose stressed that Billie should not keep the crystal, because its power will corrupt her.

Billie manages to get her hands on the crystal but is not able to reset time before Alex discovers her. In her villain monologue, Alex reveals this is not the first time Billie has gotten the crystal. In fact, Alex has killed Billie many times, and is willing to do it again, “for love.” After a physical confrontation, Billie manages to stab Alex with a broken wine bottle. Billie then uses the crystal, with Alex’s blood, to reset time, like she told Rose she would.

In the film’s final sequence, we see Bille give Papa Juste the wooden container with the symbols. Then we see Billie refuse Alex’s advances at the bar, and attend her work event. This time, she doesn’t hook up with her ex. Instead, we hear Billie tell her BFF in a voiceover that she’s keeping her romantic options open. “If anything goes wrong,” she says, “I’ve got it covered.”

We cut to Papa Juste, who opens the wooden container and finds it empty. Then we see that the blood crystal is in Billie’s purse. Gasp! She disobeyed Rose and kept the time loop crystal for herself. (Be honest: Wouldn’t you?)

With that, the movie ends. Does this mean that Billie is going to go to the dark side like Alex did? Or will she use her time loop power responsibly? Jagged Mind leaves it up to you to decide for yourself.