MovieChat Forums > Maryland (2016) Discussion > The Ending

The Ending

posted 8 years ago by freestyle3000
11 replies | jump to latest

Re: the last scene in the movie, right before the credits start rolling, did it really happen or was Vincent hallucinating? At the beginning of the movie, the doctor listed all of Vincent's symptoms of PTSD (which Vincent was claiming went away) and having hallucinations was mentioned. Additionally, Vincent was somewhat fixated on Jessie. Also, Jessie was pretty horrified when Vincent smashed that guy's head on the coffee table. All this points to the last scene being a figment of Vincent's imagination. But there were moments when there was some chemistry between the two leads. Jessie preferred Vincent to Dennis and she did ask Dennis where Vincent was before they got in the car to head to the airport. All this suggest that she did return. I read that the director intended the ending to be ambiguous. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[–] hollyholly 8 years ago

yeah i took it that she came back, but of course it's equally valid to hypothesise he imagined it, that would be more realistic i'd say... so more than a bit reminiscent of Drive, still i liked the ending
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[–] kyle_matt_c 8 years ago

I just rewatched the ending like 10 times. The only logical explanation for me is that he is hallucinating this. She is definitely in the car, as you see her briefly get in. You then see the car drive off completely. The time this happens till when you see her approaching Vincent is very fast. Way too fast to really be her. Interesting ending. I'm not entirely sure I would have ended it like this.

Overall, I would have liked to have seen more of his downward spiral into his illness. You do see quite a bit, but all the rest of the story for me clouded this somewhat. I'm not a writer or filmmaker, so my ideas don't have much merit. It's just I feel like something is missing here, something that could have turned this movie into something really special.

[–] Stovepipe99 7 years ago

I'm not a writer or filmmaker, so my ideas don't have much merit. It's just I feel like something is missing here, something that could have turned this movie into something really special.

Actually, I think that you're right on the money.

I think that the movie needed more ambiguity, more chances for us to see the way that Vincent's reality was splitting from the world around him. We get a few times where he hears noises that aren't really there, but I felt the movie could have used a lot more. For example, when they are attacked in the car it took me a long time to realize that it was actually happening and not just in his head. I thought he was imagining it, fantasizing about saving this beautiful woman (especially after being embarrassed when he drives recklessly and she makes him get out of the driver's seat).

I thought that the movie was a little too straigh-ahead in terms of him saving the wife and child from the anonymous bad guys.

Don't get me wrong: I really liked the movie and thought the performances were very good. But I wish they'd pushed the paranoia and disorientation of a trauma victim a little further. Too many of Vincent's fears and paranoia turned out to be actual things that were happening.

[–] trevasco 7 years ago

I think the most obvious tell that it wasn't Jessie was that there was no wedding ring. You can see a large ring and other jewelry after the first attack scene in the car. Hands in the end are bare.

My theory is that the person in the end was a past relationship who Vincent saw in Jessie, which explains his almost instant interest in her during the party scenes. It also relates to the beginning of the movie, when the doctor(?) asks Vincent about his relationships/sex life and the long pause Vincent gives.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 8 years ago

I can't believe that Jessie would leave Ali. IF she returned then I think the car stops, which neither Vincent nor the audience hears, and she returns to embrace him as a goodbye. I tend to think he was not hallucinating as he seemed surprised when she returned.

In the midst of winter I found there was, within me, an invincible summer

[–] Livevil9912 8 years ago

My interpretation of the ending is, He commits suicide. And Jessie hugging him is his minds way of saying "its time to go"

[–] Demarates 8 years ago

Yes, I believe he imagined it.

It's a visualization of what Vincent craves, but knows he will never have. There is a reason he did not go to the airport with them. He protected them from the bad guys, but he cannot protect them from himself.

🇧🇪 Now and always Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken.

[–] KutWrite (1220) 5 years ago

I agree with you.

The lighting on her made it even ambiguous that it was Jessie and not, as someone else said above, a previous relationship or just a generic woman in his psyche.

I did see some descent of him when he beat that last guy to a pulp. I'm sure their training would indicate keeping the guy intact to at least ensure there weren't any more infiltrators. Maybe keep him for the cops, if they are on his side, that is.

My guess is, as things stood, they'd all be killed. Denis, Ali and Jessie on the way to the airport and Vince when the cops arrive to "clean up."

I'm OK with the ambiguity, though.

[–] Seth_Rogue_One 7 years ago

In no way shape or form do I believe that Jessie (Diane Kruger) would send her kid off to Canada by himself and instead stay with Vincent.

Not only because she'd be risking her life and she'd abandon her son but also because when Vincent called Dennis to come over she was giggling like a school girl to whatever joke he made showing clear signs that she was into him.

And you could see in Vincent's expressions that he wasn't happy about that, in fact he was infatuated with her and that was the reason he wanted to go to Canada with her. Not to work as a bodyguard or whatever but as a couple.

He'd been misguided with her comments saying that she could see him in the Canadian woods as a beer hunter thinking that that meant that she wanted him to come with him as her man but that was probably not what she meant, especially since he overheard her asking Dennis what was wrong with him.

I think potentially it meant like just as the war had had a lasting effect on his life when he came back, Jessie and his feeling for her will also have a lasting effect even after she's there.

I got keys coming from overseas! T.I.P. Syke

[–] Victorgoat 7 years ago

Being a romantic I like to feel that she came back for him. She did ask 'where is Vincent?' before she left. Don't think it meant she would have abandoned her son, just that they would have all met up again before the flight to Canada after she had persuaded Vincent to go with them. Vincent and Jessie were caught in a similar world of betrayal and terror that maybe only they could understand, they needed one another.

[–] Chason_S 7 years ago

just that they would have all met up again before the flight to Canada after she had persuaded Vincent to go with them.

How dumb. Feel free to add your own happy ending - but that's not what happened.

Just a guy in Texas who loves movies. 