A perfect American family of four—an overly cocky husband, a slightly anxious wife, their rebellious teenage daughter, and an adorably obedient son—are vacationing in an RV around the countryside. Suddenly, two hillbillies appear out of nowhere. The family is understandably bothered by these two men. But then comes a big, freaking twist that none of us saw coming. Yeah, we’re talking about Lowlifes here, a Tubi original film directed by Tesh Guttikonda and Mitch Oliver. I’m going to go a bit personal here (promise it’s relevant): as I was struggling with another assignment and also couldn’t sleep, I thought about looking into the next assignment a bit, which happens to be this movie. I planned to watch only fifteen minutes or so before coming back to it again, but that plan went for a toss when I couldn’t pause and watched the whole thing in one go. This well-made film is a rarity from Tubi. Even though the plot comes off as silly, they sell it so well that you’ll have no problem buying it. Lowlifes‘ ending must have been a surprise for you. We’re going to discuss that and also take a closer look at the whole thing.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Movie?
Lowlifes opens in the middle of a dark night. A man appears to be running for his life through the woods. Sadly, he fails at it as another man, who was chasing him, catches up and violently stabs him to death. We don’t get to see the faces of either the victim and the perpetrator. We now move on to our central family. Keith is a clean-cut, bespectacled American man doing his barbeque duty on a family vacation. His wife, Kathleen, and teenage son, Jeffrey, look visibly enthused. The daughter, Amy, is talking to someone on the phone inside their RV, and she has clearly come here for the sake of the family. Keith is a little annoyed at Amy, as he asks her to be present on the trip. Kathleen thinks their daughter might be too old for this kind of trip. The jolly mood changes soon when Vern and Billy appear out of nowhere in their worn-out car. Their appearance is uncouth, and they look disheveled, which is enough to make Keith and the family uncomfortable. They’re looking for their cousin Melior and want to know if they’ve seen him anywhere. Keith politely replies they haven’t and also mentions they’re outsiders who’re only passing through.
The duo departs, and the family is on their way, only to get interrupted again. This time, Vern casually flaunts a shotgun, which adds to the intimidating factor. However, all they want is help with their car trouble. Calling a tow truck is a luxury in this place, so Vern asks if Billy can board the RV, so the nice family can drop him off at his place. Then he can come back with another car and pick up Vern. Kathleen is skeptical about the plan; she is apprehensive about allowing a hillbilly into their personal space. But Keith agrees, and Vern gleefully gets on board. He’s visibly amazed to see the inside of the RV. And then it happens. You know exactly what I’m talking about here. Yes, just like most of y’all, I didn’t see it coming either. Jeffrey ferociously stabbing a knife into Billy’s neck and instantly killing him is the first major moment of “Lowlifes.” The very normal-looking family of four just happen to be cannibals, and they’re out for blood. It also becomes clear that the victim in the very first scene was none other than Melior (we get a glimpse of him in the family’s freezer).
What Goes On In The Cleary Household?
One of the best things about Lowlifes is that even after the big twist, the narrative continues to surprise you. The family may seem happily united in their meat preference, but there are issues here. Kathleen suffers from anxiety and is on medication. Amy is into girls, and her homophobic father has zero idea. Jeffrey still struggles to control his urges. Anyway, they are warmly welcomed at Billy’s house when his cousin Julie Ann invites them in. Julie Ann’s sister, Savannah, easily the smartest person in the family, is skeptical about these people being disturbingly nice. But the family patriarch, Neville, who’s Julie Ann and Savannah’s father, is absolutely sold on the idea of being a good Samaritan. So we find Keith and his family at the Cleary family table, and they can’t wait to gorge on these people, whose lives have zero value to them. It’s only an old man and two young women, so it should be an easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy job, but there’s one hitch. Julie Ann’s boyfriend is Big Mac, a gigantic man who dines with the family and spends the night there. However, Julie Ann and Big Mac are soon handled when Jeffrey gives them laced chocolate, leading to terrible bowel problems. Despite Keith repeatedly telling him not to, Jeffrey goes on to finish off Big Mac. Sick and dumb is not at all a good combination, and Big Mac is a profound example of that. At the same time, Keith swings an ax at Neville, effectively ending the old man’s life in the worst possible manner.
While all this is going on, Savannah and Amy get hot and heavy with each other. The chemistry is undeniable, and while Amy’s primary agenda is to kill Savannah, she hesitates and ends up injuring herself. Savannah gets out to get first aid and eventually discovers Meilor’s body (chopped up in parts) inside the RV and realizes that these people are up to no good. Inside the Cleary house, Julie Ann is captured by Keith, who then asks his wife to take care of the girl. Keith, in fact, gets really turned on when Kath is about to kill someone. But Kathleen hesitates. She’s now off her meds (thanks to Keith being an idiot and taking them away), and her anxiety is off the charts. Well, that goes away soon as an arrow pierces through her face, and she’s gone. Who did that? Who else but Savannah (the movie was smart enough to already establish her as this great archer)?
Does Amy get away?
It becomes clear as day that it’s going to be Savannah versus this remainder of the Cannibal lot. And while Savannah initially has the upper hand, she soon finds herself tied to her sister, with an absolutely mental Keith about to devour them with his two children. From there on, Lowlifes keeps upping the crazy, and the more it does, the more fun it becomes. About to lose her finger, Savannah drops a truthbomb on Keith that he can’t digest. Amy has slept with Savannah. He absolutely can’t believe his daughter would do something like that, and he gets livid. Amy also has had enough, and she gets into this screaming match while delivering the most iconic line of the movie—she would rather eat you-know-what instead of people. Thanks to the distraction, Julie Ann stabs a fork right into Keith’s left eye. But that’s not at all a problem, considering he literally takes the popping eyeball out, puts it in his own mouth, and starts chomping it. Remember Vern from before? Well, he enters the scene with his shotgun (dude has been looking for his friend Billy for so long). He’s obviously stunned looking at all the chaos, and Keith takes advantage of that. But Vern regroups and fights the maniac man with whatever he can.
Sadly, Keith gets the best of him. Meanwhile, Savannah manages to give one back by taking care of Jeffrey. And then her big sister gets her own hero moment when she serves up Keith a very violent death on a platter. But right after the win, Julie Ann gets stabbed from behind by Amy. Enraged to the core, Savannah attacks Amy, and thanks to the cannibal girl already being injured, she gets the opportunity for an easy final kill. But Savannah wants to make Amy suffer, so she makes the worst mistake of her life by asking Amy to run. Amy has no choice but to follow Savannah’s orders, so she runs for her life and gets out of the house. Savannah follows, and just as she steps on the porch, a local deputy sheriff arrives at the scene (the guy is only here because he was following a hunch thanks to a strange call made by Savannah only) and shoots her in the head. One might argue that the deputy could have stopped and asked, but it’s clearly a heat-of-the moment thing, and Lowlifes is clearly not a goodie-two-shoes movie with a moralistic ending.
In Lowlifes‘ ending, bad girl Amy emerges as the “final girl” instead of Savannah. Not to mention, she kills the deputy and torches the whole house before coolly driving away in their family RV. With her father gone, Amy can only flourish further in life, fulfilling her wish. However, her craving for meat ain’t going to go away, so she’ll probably find herself in new trouble in the sequel. No, there hasn’t been an announcement, but one can only hope. What’s the point of keeping Amy alive otherwise?
