T.I.M. ending explained: What happened to Abi and Paul?

Eamon Farren as T.I.M.
(Image credit: Netflix)

T.I.M. is a thrilling new sci-fi movie that marks the feature-length debut of director
Spencer Brown, which he co-wrote with his wife Sarah Govett.

It follows a robotics engineer named Abi who relocates with her husband to try and work on their marriage and start a family, but things become complicated when Abi is gifted one of the T.I.M. models she's been developing at work.

But things take a dark turn when T.I.M. becomes obsessed with her. In the gripping plot, Netflix teases: "He will do anything he can to take Paul’s place, using his access to their data to manipulate her into thinking he's straying again. 

"What hope does trust have against an intelligence that can deep fake your voice, access your bank account, control the locks on your smart home, and take control of your driverless car?"

Here's what happened in the Netflix movie T.I.M... (we also have a T.I.M. cast who's who guide if you want to know more about the characters).

T.I.M. ending explained

T.I.M. opens with married couple Abi (Georgina Campbell) and Paul (Mark Rowley) who are moving to a new house in the countryside. They're given a tour of the property and learn it's a smart home and can be controlled remotely via an app.

Abi works as a robotics engineer where she's been developing T.I.M (Eamon Farren), which stands for Technologically Integrated Manservant. She is thrilled when the company gifts her one as a moving-in present.

However, Abi and Paul argue about T.I.M. She is keen to have him as a part of the house, quickly giving him access to her smart devices so he can pair with them, whereas Paul is way more apprehensive and isn't sure he wants him around.

Paul is also disapproving when T.I.M. asks for passwords and steps in when he tries to run a bath for Abi, so the tensions are building from the get-go.

Abi and Paul join Abi's boss and his wife for dinner and notice they also have a T.I.M. who they've assigned to serve as a butler for the evening. 

Abi speaks to her boss and reveals they've been debating whether or not to keep their T.I.M. due to Paul's reservations, and is told that it "isn't optional" and it would reflect badly on the company if employees don't want the A.I. around.

Back at home, Abi invites T.I.M. to watch a movie with her and Paul and attempts to get used to having him around, even striking up a conversation with him about the film. T.I.M. claims he "liked" the film because of "the beauty of love".

Abi asks if he understands what that means and he claims he doesn't know, asking her to explain what love actually means. It appears the film stirred something in him, and T.I.M. claims he'd "like to be loved".

The next morning, T.I.M. has prepared breakfast for Abi alongside a rose, which clearly annoys Paul. She goes to work as normal and comes home where she learns from T.I.M. that he is out and his phone is off, which makes Abi suspicious.

Paul claims he was out visiting recruitment agencies and his phone had died. We later see the duo at a fertility clinic, so they're making progress toward starting a family.

Later that evening, Abi asks Tim to help her choose a dress to wear. She asks him to do up the zip and he explains he's not able to perform delicate tasks until his next update, but she chooses to override this command.

He tries to do up the zipper but the dress rips and he visibly freaks out, saying he'll call local seamstresses and the lights start flickering, which scares Abi. She attempts to calm him down.

Abi and Paul get into an argument at dinner when Paul reveals he could take a job in London, but she argues it would be an hour and a half commute which "wasn't part of the deal", and they'd "never see each other".

At work, Abi is dealing with some stress, particularly when it comes to a known weak spot in the android's hand, but her boss is impatient and wants things to go out immediately.

Abi starts accusing Paul of being interested in Rose, their neighbor who lives in a cottage down the street, especially when she sees her at the house. Paul claims she'd just gifted them a plant for the garden and there's nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, Abi is also learning some eerie things about T.I.M. He can send emails on behalf of her in a matter of minutes, and she sees he's able to mimic her voice perfectly when he makes a phone call pretending to be her.

T.I.M. returns to the house after an upgrade where he's changed his hair color because it reflects Abi's "preferences". He also tells Paul she prefers clean-shaven men, which annoys him. Abi tells T.I.M. to go back to his previous appearance and not do anything like that again.

Mark Rowley

(Image credit: Netflix)

T.I.M. thanks Abi for his new motorics skills after his hands were replaced with better functioning ones, and he demonstrates the new functions by giving her a foot massage. This is swiftly interrupted by Paul returning, where he tells her he wants T.I.M. gone within a week and he's sick of having him around.

Things seem to be picking up between the couple, with Abi finding a necklace that she'd observed in shop window hidden in the wardrobe, and she assumes it's a surprise gift for her.

Tensions build as T.I.M. becomes increasingly obsessed with Abi. He starts meddling more, claiming he's "unable" to reach Paul and that he's gone to see Rose, which makes Abi annoyed.

In addition to this, he purposely builds an office space in the room that Abi wanted to turn into a nursery, and she gets aggressive asking why he chose that space. They get into an argument and Paul tells her that T.I.M. is trying to get between them, but Abi says he's "just a machine".

T.I.M. continues meddling while Paul is attempting to expose the android for what he truly is. He attempts to meet with Abi for lunch but takes a driverless car, which T.I.M. manages to override and causes it to drive erratically.

The car collides with a tree and injures Paul, but he survives the ordeal and Abi visits him in the hospital. Paul blames T.I.M. and Abi tells him he's being ridiculous.

Rose stops off at the house asking after Paul and Abi following the crash and T.I.M. lets her in. Abi realises the necklace is missing and assumes that Paul must've given it to Rose.

T.I.M. shows Abi footage of Rose and Paul kissing and attempts to break them apart further. Paul returns to the house and both Abi and T.I.M. confront him about the video and necklace.

Paul attempts to call the house to convince Abi to meet with him. She asks him to come to the house and the scene cuts tor reveal it was actually T.I.M who took the call, using Abi's voice.

T.I.M. convinces Abi to go for a run and knocks Paul out with a shovel when he returns to the house. He ties him up in the bathroom and answers the door to Rose, telling her that both Abi and Paul are not available.

With Rose gone, T.I.M. drowns Paul in the bathtub and offers to run Abi a bath soon after she arrives, having disposed of Paul's body. 

He presents Abi with the repaired dress claiming he wants to "verify" the quality of the repair, telling her she looks "perfect" after she tries it on. Abi asks if T.I.M. would hold her for a second, and he puts his arms around her. He tells Abi she deserves better than Paul.

T.I.M. confesses his love for her and Abi brushes him off, saying he doesn't understand what he's saying. Abi starts to become suspicious and she realises that T.I.M has slowly been controlling things without her even noticing.

Abi sends T.I.M. to pick up some flowers so he's out of the way and finds Paul buried in the garden. She attempts to shut T.I.M. down by activating the code but he reveals he overrode it by mimicking her voice.

T.I.M knocks Abi out and when she comes to, she finds he's run her a bath and put candles everywhere. Disturbed by this, she attempts to sneak out of the house but is stopped by T.I.M.

Abi attempts to attack T.I.M. but is unsuccessful, and he chases her around the house. He catches her, tying up and telling her that her life is finite. He pours pills into her mouth and forces them down with water, causing an overdose.

Abi manages to escape and stabs him in the known weak point in his hand. Rose breaks into the house by crashing her car through the window and impales T.I.M. with one of her gardening tools. However, it doesn't stop him.

T.I.M. stabs Rose repeatedly in front of Abi then calls the police mirroring her voice and recites a confession claiming she murdered Paul and Rose. Abi realizes he still has a safe phrase but T.I.M. reveals it's "something she'd never say".

He grabs her by the throat and leaves her dangling off the edge of the roof. Desperate, she tries to get him to calm down at says "I love you, T.I.M.", which is revealed to be the safe phrase that shuts him down.

She survives the ordeal and later finds out she's pregnant, causing her to react in a very mixed way, at first she's delighted and then breaks down into tears.

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress