MovieChat Forums > Project Almanac (2015) Discussion > My take on the ending

My take on the ending

posted 6 years ago by awsemadeni
25 replies | jump to latest

I'm not sure if this is right or wrong, but here is what I got on the ending.

David goes back in time after Jesse goes missing, back to his 7th birthday party. He sees his father and talks to him, telling him to say goodbye to his son. His dad leaves, and he destroys certain aspects of the time traveling machine. He purposefully leaves the camera behind, the camera that has documented all of his adventures (as stated earlier in the film). He then stays and lets that self die.

Then his 7 year old self grows up exactly as intended to be. The only difference would be the camera that was left in the room, which possesses all the adventures (including the mistakes) that he previously made. Now that he knows what to do, he can "change the world".

Thoughts??

[–] awilltokill4 6 years ago

Yeah, that's what I got too! Not sure if it's accurate or not, but I came out thinking the same exact thing

[–] pennilayne 6 years ago

MY GOD THANK YOU. Someone wrote like a freaking 10 paragraph essay on their take of the ending, and it literally FRIED my brain. Certain things they were saying made some sense---they have a pretty diff take than this, but THIS one makes sense, you wrote it clearly so people can understand what the hell you're talking about, and this conclusion seems much more plausible and what they were going for than the other poster trying to explain the ending. my brain now feels less fried, and i think i pretty much get it now. i love time travel movies and then i hate them. they can be so effing confusing if not laid out in an understandable way. THANK YOU.

[–] superharrybird 6 years ago

does that means they could still built the time machine without the stuffs David destroyed?

[–] awsemadeni 6 years ago

Yes I believe so. I think he went back and destroyed certain aspects of the time machine, but since he left the camera, which literally has every thing they did on it, the process of building the time machine takes way less time than it did originally. He has a step by step instruction of how to make it work.

[–] Ohio9 6 years ago

I really liked the ending because it was a big departure from the "found footage" genre. In pretty much all the other films, everyone ends up dead, with the idea being that the only way their story will be known is if someone finds the footage.

But here, not only did everyone survive, but it's the main characters themselves who find the footage. That's huge twist, and one I did not expect. I also liked how the ending wasn't super depressing or mega-happy. They lost everything they had worked for, but they got to resume their normal lives.

[–] hackheaven 6 years ago

Well since he is smart and they have the footage of them building at least some of the machine my guess is he most likely would be able to build it again maybe not the same way

And since he says i think we are about to change the world im guessing he did build it and they are about to use it knowing what happened the first time

[–] desertrose0601-690-503760 5 years ago

Ahhh yes - this does make sense. Thank you! I was trying to figure out how future David disappeared but the camera didn't. The David at the end is the boy grown up. This helps un-melt my brain a bit! Thank you! :)

[–] Cyber-Logic 5 years ago

I think this is pretty much it.

I like to think that in this timeline, David and his sister will keep the whole thing a secret and merely use the knowledge they gained from the footage to stay safe.

The training is nothing. WILL is everything.

[–] transmentalist 5 years ago

I like to think that in this timeline, David and his sister will keep the whole thing a secret and merely use the knowledge they gained from the footage to stay safe.

I'd like to think that too, but the very last shot suggest otherwise... he's about to tell Jessie how they're going to "change the world."

[–] howard_w13 5 years ago

Ultimately; David is gonna time-travel again and make another set of mistakes that he'll try to undo....

--------
The movie has a plot hole?!?
EVERY FRIGGIN' MOVIE HAS A FRIGGIN' PLOT HOLE!!!!!

[–] whizkid-93-509377 5 years ago

The big question is : is his dad still alive now?
It wasn't made clear if his dad now does -NOT- die in a car crash.

In fact when David enters the basement, he finds his dad retrieving the time machine from the hiding place. Just before he is supposed to be leaving (and die).
So I assume he was leaving the house to do something with it (at least take it with him), possibly resulting in his death.

Now David destroys the time machine, and it can no longer result in his dad's death.

Also, back in present, when David and his sister find the two camera's in the attic,
the biggest indication that his dad is alive is given :

His sister literary says : "Dad must have a million ideas lying around up here".
That's not how you would say it if someone was not alive anymore.

[–] awsemadeni 5 years ago

I can't imagine him being alive. A main part of the film's premise is that going back in time and doing something different, however small it may seem, affects the present heavily. I interpret the ending as David realizing that his dad HAS to die so that Young David will grow up very similar to the way Older David did. That way the timeline is affected as minimally as possible, allowing Young David to "change the world" as he seems fit.

[–] carl_johnson-1 5 years ago

I'm not even sure Dad is dead in the original timeline. David thinks he died in a car crash but admits "I don't know the whole story." Wouldn't surprise me if his death was faked

His sister literary says : "Dad must have a million ideas lying around up here".
That's not how you would say it if someone was not alive anymore.

Problem there is she says that exact same thing at the beginning of the movie, when she thought her dad was dead. There are only two places where that conversation changes. Comparing the two scenes using a subtitles file:

Scene 1

What are you, sulking?
God! You scared the *beep* out of me. I'm not sulking.
Dude, you should be happy. You're getting what you wanted. I'm the one who's getting screwed.
This isn't what I wanted, Chris.
I remember this thing.
I'm trying to solve this, okay?
How are you solving this in the creepy attic?
It's dumb. You know, there's this one last scholarship where I have to submit a proposal for an experiment and I thought maybe if I got it, Mom wouldn't have to sell the house.
Dad must have a million ideas lying around up here.
I don't know, Chris. I mean, I thought there'd be something up here. I can't find anything I can use.
Hey, what is this? When did we get a video camera?
Oh, that's Dad's old camera, yeah. Remember that?
Yeah.
Hey, look, it still works.
Really?
Wow. Yeah.
Let me see.
Check it out.
That's my seventh birthday.
I guess it makes sense that's the last thing he would have filmed, right.
*beep*.

Scene 2

What are you, sulking?
God! You scared the *beep* out of me. I'm not sulking.
Why are you up here?
It's dumb. You know, there's this one last scholarship where I have to submit a proposal for an experiment and I thought maybe if I got it, Mom wouldn't have to sell the house.
Dad must have a million ideas lying around up here.
I don't know, Chris. I mean, I thought there'd be something up here. I can't find anything I can use.
Hey, what is this? When did we get a video camera?
It's right here. This is Dad's old camera.
Did Dad have two old cameras?
I don't know. Yeah. I guess.
They both say "Property of Ben Raskin."
Yeah, let me see.
Weird. Do they work?
Yeah, it's playing.

[–] raytech-790-178703 5 years ago

One of the lines spoken by his dad, or echoed was "There are no 2nd chances."

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