I Came By is a 2022 crime drama directed by Babak Anvari. It’s a familiar thriller done reasonably well but leaves a bunch of incomplete threads. Here’s the plot and ending of the movie I Came By explained in short.

I Came By: What’s it about?

The film is centred on two boys attempting an underground revolution against the powerful and corrupt. When they go up against a murderous judge, things turn nasty quickly, leading to a trail of deaths; spoilers ahead.

Who is Hector?

Hector grew up in a dysfunctional family. His father pushed away his wife after he took in an Indian Persian asylum-seeker named Ravi, with whom he started a relationship. Hector’s mother killed herself as a result, and Hector was sent to a boarding school where he was forced to study law. Eventually, he became a judge and finally retired.

I Came By: What happened to Ravi?

When Hector was old enough, he attacked Ravi and possibly killed him, although Hector says he thought he killed him.

Honestly, this doesn’t make sense. It would have been impossible for Hector to somehow kill [his father and] Ravi, with no evidence pointing back to him, given Hector was a young boy who visited home during summers. If Hector attacked and mauled Ravi’s face and didn’t kill him, it would have counted as assault, and Hector couldn’t have become a judge since his record would no longer be clean.

Why does he (Hector) kill? 

Hector wants Revenge. He sees Ravi in every gay person seeking asylum. His external persona claims to help these individuals, but secretly he’s a serial killer who murders them.

As a judge, Hector got word of many estranged individuals over the years, people who wouldn’t be searched for if they went missing. Hector kidnapped them, kept them in his basement, tortured them, killed them and finally flushed their ashes down the toilet.

What did Toby see? What is the secret? What’s behind the door?

Toby breaks into Hector’s house and realizes someone is locked up in the basement behind a hidden door. The secret room is Hector’s kill zone, where he tortures and murders his victims.

I Came By: What happened to Toby?

Toby slips on blood and hurts himself trying to attack Hector [in an oddly unintentional comic sequence]. Hector wacks Toby with a cricket bat and then kills and burns Toby, flushing his ashes down the toilet.

What did Hector say to the officer?

Hector closes the door before provoking the lady officer saying, “Is that all you got? You looked like one of the smart ones”. The two other cops don’t see or hear what Hector says.

The lady officer notices that the peephole looks in from the outside, which is the opposite of what a panic room would have. When he provokes her, she arrests Hector but has no eyewitness to corroborate her statement. Besides, Hector is a close friend of William, the superintendent and is released.

I Came By: What happened to Lizzie (Toby’s mom)?

Hector acts like he’s going out for a jog and traps Lizzie, who breaks into the house. After telling her that he killed Toby, Hector kills and incinerates Liz too.

I Came By: Ending Explained: What happens in the end?

The ending of the movie I Came By shows that Jay did not kill Hector but tapes him and leaves him for the cops to find with the graffiti on the wall saying, “I Came By”.

Toby and Jay set out to start an underground movement where they wanted to make a statement that they could break into any rich and powerful person’s house despite all their security. Jay’s girlfriend gets pregnant, so he opts out of this dangerous path.

After discovering that Hector has kidnapped someone, Toby reaches out to Jay, who refuses to join him. Once Toby goes missing, his mother, Lizzie, begs Jay for help, and he refuses again. 

Did Toby and his mom die?

Well, yes, they’re both killed, and the guilt of that weighs upon Jay, who finally breaks into Hector’s home, beats him up, and leaves him for the cops. Jay also frees Hector’s latest victim.

As a tribute to his pal, Toby, Jay leaves their trademark graffiti on Hector’s wall saying, “I Came By”. Does this mean Jay is going to be a vigilante superhero? We don’t know, as the film ends pretty abruptly. We also don’t get any closure on Jay and Naz’s relationship, which is rather cruel to the viewers because all of Jay’s decisions were based on that relationship and parenthood.

I Came By: Who was the man in the basement?

As stated by the director and the casting, the man in the basement in the end is not Ravi or the same person we see earlier. He is yet another victim of Hector who fits the description of estranged asylum-seeker.

So, in effect, Ravi was a long time ago. The first house has a secret basement with a victim who Toby ties to save. This person is most likely killed by Hector before emptying his house. Hector’s second house has a secret basement too with another victim who is saved by Jay.