WARNING: Spoilers for Things Heard & Seen.
What happens to George Claire at the end of 2021 Netflix movie doesn't explicitly show the character's death. Based on the religious themes in Things Heard & Seen, it's safe to assume that George was transported to Hell.
Things Heard & Seen stars James Norton as George, an art historian who leaves Manhattan to teach at Saginaw College in New York's Hudson Valley. He acclimates to country life with his wife Catherine (Amanda Seyfried) and daughter Franny (Ana Sophia Heger) and discusses the work of Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg with colleagues. George comes across as a philandering and arrogant intellectual in Things Heard & Seen, and eventually murders a peer, Floyd DeBeers (F. Murray Abraham), who could expose his history of deceit and academic fraud. The Claires' home is full of good and evil spirits, evidenced by a guardian angel named Ella who looks after Catherine and a devilish soul who takes control of Norton's character. By the climax, a possessed George inadvertently kills his wife with an axe, and later appears to sink in a burning boat while navigating the Atlantic Ocean off the Connecticut coast.
The ending of Things Heard & Seen implies that George descends into Hell. When factoring in the collective themes, along with the final narration from the spirits of Ella and Catherine, Norton's character is doomed because of his "damned" existence, which results in the "punishment of evil." Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini reveal that George's death scene is actually part of a painting, which thematically links to the aforementioned Swedenborg and his book Heaven and the World of Spirits and Hell. The religious cross imagery also connects to the painting "The Valley of the Shadow of Death" by George Inness, an artist who was influenced by Swedenborg and the Hudson River school of artists.
In Things Heard & Seen, the aesthetics of George's death scene thematically align with the film's artistic citations, but there's also a deeper spiritual meaning. Catherine represents "the sacred," whereas her husband symbolizes "the profane." Long before they moved into their home, the reverend Jakob Smit murdered his wife in the same Hudson Valley location (as noted through character dialogue), presumably because of the woman's religious beliefs. Later, Ella was killed by her husband as well. All of these women are connected by fate and spirituality. During George's death scene, the spirits of Catherine and Ella state, "The world of spirits is not Heaven or Hell." In this case, they exist "between the two" to guide humans to their ultimate destiny.
By the end, George is condemned because of his spiritual connection to evil forces that lingered within the Claire home, and his actions through the film. Catherine and Ella are both killed by men, but they exist in a spiritual state to help others. From beginning to end, the Netflix movie suggests that George is fundamentally a bad person and that Catherine is a woman with a conflicted Catholic background who needs to find her way. It's a tale about good vs. evil, and how residents of the Hudson Valley are seemingly under the influence of forces beyond their control. Things Heard & Seen is also about free will and the judgment that comes from abandoning one's faith and committing acts of violence.
