Summary

• What really happened to Arthur and Joseph reveals The Woman in Black's chilling ending twists and ethereal resolution.
• Jennet Humfrye's vengeance transcends mere reunification with her son, driving her to torment and punishment.
• The Woman in Black's haunting atmosphere, reminiscent of Hammer horror films, delivers a Victorian ghost story with unexpected twists.

The Woman in Black ending is mysterious and what happened to Jennet Humfrye isn't thoroughly explained. Based on Susan Hill’s 1983 gothic ghost story of the same name, The Woman in Black is a 2012 film set in 20th-century England. The movie creates an atmosphere reminiscent of Hammer's gothic horror films through both writing and cinematography for a chilling Victorian ghost story. The Woman in Black follows Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) as a widowed lawyer who travels to the remote village of Illmarsh to sort out the affairs of a recently deceased client.

However, when Arthur arrives, he discovers that a vengeful ghost is terrorizing the locals and their children, and his client's house is at the center of the mystery. Following a traditional ghost story formula through most of the story, The Woman in Black ending brings some unexpected twists that leave audiences a little confused. While The Woman in Black is one of Daniel Radcliffe's best horror movies, viewers are left wondering what really happened to Arthur and his son and what Jennet Humfrye actually wanted.

What Happened To Arthur & Joseph?

They're Both Hit By A Train, But They Move On Peacefully

After reuniting the spirits of Jennet and Nathaniel, Daniel Radcliffe's Arthur assumes that the ghosts must now be at rest. Having finished the task he set out to complete, he travels to the train station with Sam Daily (Ciarán Hinds) to meet his son and nanny, arriving just as they’re getting off the train. But, the woman in black’s work is not complete; she enchants Joseph into stepping away from his nanny and walking on the train tracks.

Seeing his son on the tracks, Arthur leaps down to save him at the last minute, but as he grabs his son, the two of them are hit by the train and killed. This is shown by the horror on the faces of both Sam and the nanny, how Arthur and Joseph can no longer see anyone in the train station when they open their eyes, and the greyed-out background around them. Of course, the biggest clue to Arthur and Joseph’s death is their reunion with Stella, Arthur’s late wife and Joseph’s mother.

...Arthur's presence with Joseph that prevents Jennet from taking him and keeping him trapped with the rest of the children she's killed

The reason that Arthur and Joseph are allowed to die and move on peacefully instead of being trapped in limbo with the woman in black is most likely that Arthur and Joseph died together. It's maybe even specifically because they were embracing that they were allowed to transition to the next life. Either way, it's Arthur's presence with Joseph that prevents Jennet from taking him and keeping him trapped with the rest of the children she's killed.

What Does Jennet Humfrye Really Want?

She Wants To Punish The Drablows For Nathaniel's Death Forever

Arthur believes that Jennet Humfrye’s motivation is to be reunited with her son, and that her murderous rampage will end once her son is brought to rest. However, as is shown by Arthur and Joseph’s death at the end of the movie, Jennet is not sated by Nathaniel receiving a proper burial, so, it isn't totally clear why she continues to take the lives of children or what is it that she actually wants.

She harbors extreme rage towards the couple both for having her locked away and for taking her son from her.

Shown through her letters to Nathaniel’s adoptive mother and Jennet’s sister, Alice Drablow, Jennet repeatedly says she will never forgive the Drablows for Nathaniel’s death. She harbors extreme rage towards the couple both for having her locked away and for taking her son from her. Jennet’s rage transcends a simple desire to be reunited with Nathaniel. She now exists only to bring pain to other parents in the area. She wants to ensure that no member of the township can escape having to feel the agony that she was put through in losing her own child.

Both in Susan Hill’s novel and in early 1900s folklore, the “woman in black” is a supernatural figure that exists solely to punish. Thus, Jennet cannot rest with her son because she is no longer just a spirit of herself; her extreme anger and pain have transformed her into the mythical figure of The Woman in Black.