Summary
- David's sacrifice in the Life movie ending fails, leading to a shocking twist for Miranda and a bleak, eerie conclusion.
- Director Daniel Espinosa drew inspiration from noir films for the dark Life ending, creating a memorable and impactful finale.
- While Life's ending may not have saved the film from middling reviews, it remains a highlight for fans of the sci-fi horror movie.
The Life movie ending took audiences by surprise in 2017, offering a bleak and haunting conclusion to director Daniel Espinosa's sci-fi horror. While Life was not a box office or critical hit, it managed to impress many fans with its take on the contained killer alien story that draws a lot of inspiration from Ridley Scott's Alien. However, the aspect of the movie that seems to get the most attention is the unforgettable ending that is worth examining further.
Life stars Rebecca Ferguson, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds as a team of scientists working on a space station that discovers a living organism they dub "Calvin," who was found in a soil sample from Mars. As can be expected with horror movies in outer space, the organism soon turns hostile and starts absorbing crew members to nurture itself and grow larger. As Calvin continues to grow, it threatens not only the crew of the space station, but also the population of Earth if it manages to reach the nearby planet. It makes for an intense sci-fi ride leading up to Life's memorable ending.
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What Happens In The Life Ending
David Sacrifices Himself To Save Humanity
The Life movie ending comes with only two remaining scientists alive and battling Calvin to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. Despite numerous attempts to kill Calvin, including burning him with a flamethrower and a failed attempt to eject him from the station, David (Gyllenhaal) and Miranda (Ferguson) hatch a plan. They know that under no circumstances can Calvin reach Earth since he'd quickly evolve and annihilate the human race as it continues to grow, so David proposes to sacrifice himself by luring Calvin into an escape pod and heading for deep space.
Meanwhile, Miranda will take another pod and head back to Earth to warn of other lifeforms from Mars. The final few minutes of Life find David succeeding in luring Calvin into his pod, while Miranda also escapes. The pods are hit by some debris as they detach, however, sending one into space. While David attempts to manually steer the pod Calvin soon overwhelms him, and the movie cuts to the Earthbound pod as it breaks the atmosphere.
The Twist In The Life Ending Explained
It Wasn't David's Pod That Jettisoned Into Space
The Life movie ending provides a unique horror movie twist ending that shocks the audience by revealing that the heroes' plan has failed. When some Vietnamese fishermen see the Earthbound pod land and quickly rush to help, it is revealed that it is David inside, and he is covered in some kind of cocoon. Despite Miranda and David's plans, Calvin had other ideas. Just as the pods left the ISS, Calvin messed with the control's of David's pod, causing it to crash into Miranda's.
The cruel ending of Life reveals it was Miranda's pod that was sent flying into space, with the last viewers see of her being the character screaming as she spirals into the void. Meanwhile, David desperately begs the fishermen not to open his pod, but the final scene is the door being pried open as more boats arrive.
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The Meaning Of The Life Ending
The 2017 Movie Has Similar Thematic Undertones To The Thing
The Life movie ending is a devastating blow to the audience as the desperate and selfless acts of Miranda and David to save the Earth from this alien menace proves to be futile. Miranda is faced with dying alone in the cold depths of space, while David can only watch helplessly as the dangerous new form of life is free upon the world. Indeed, the ending also gives new meaning to the movie's title. While it initially seemed to refer to the new lifeform of Calvin, it also could refer to Calvin feeding off of other life and how, ultimately, life on Earth is now threatened.
Given that Life was not a huge success, there is little hope of the movie getting a sequel, but that is fine given the ending. While there are plenty of questions about what will happen next, the Life movie ending was not meant to set up a sequel. Instead, it is more similar to the ending of The Thing which also hints at an alien species making its way into populated areas and taking over. However, the fact that the audience is left to imagine what happens next is more effective than actually seeing it.
What The Director Said About The Life Ending
The Director Was Channeling Cynical Noir Movies
The Life movie ending is quite a dark and bleak conclusion for a big blockbuster with A-list stars. However, it was something that was very important for director Daniel Espinosa to include in the movie. Espinosa explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he took inspiration for the ending from the noir genre which was known for its cynical finales. He also insisted the ending was a big part of the reason he wanted to make Life, so he was vocal about that fact with the producers before filming even began:
"When I met the producers, I told them, “I completely understand that this ending might not be the preferable choice, but for me it was a fundamental part of the reason I want to do the movie.” If we couldn’t see eye to eye with the ending, we should part ways before we get something started. My producers were completely supportive, which I thought was surprising and bold."
Indeed, the bleak movie ending does feel like something special outside of Life's more mainstream feel. While that could be part of the reason the movie didn't become more popular, those who do enjoy the movie, point to the ending of Life as its best aspect.
How The Life Ending Was Received
While the Life movie has managed to garner itself a fanbase, the sci-fi horror film received middling reviews on its release. Life currently sits on a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a 54% audience score, which proves just how hit-and-miss it's been when it comes to reviews. However, most of the negative reviews seem to focus on aspects other than the ending. For all its star power, the characters in Life come up as a common criticism, as does the fact that Daniel Espinosa's story doesn't seem to tread new ground and has many similarities to other films in the sci-fi horror subgenre.
That being said, the ending twist doesn't crop up too often in positive reviews of LIfe, either. The main praise has seemed to be for the visual effects, especially the zero gravity aspects and the CGI used to create Calvin. It seems to be that the ending of Life served its purpose as far as fans of the film are concerned. It's not a twist that became the key hook for a film like, for example, The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects. It was a satisfying ending to Life, but it's also not the reason that those who enjoy the film responded to the overall movie positively.
Life
R
Set in the near future on a spaceship returning from a mission to Mars, Life follows the crew of the ship as they inadvertently awaken an alien lifeform in one of their Martian soil samples. Not only intelligent but extremely hostile, the alien begins to attack the crew, who end up in a fight for their lives as they attempt to eliminate the threat their ship now poses to Earth. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, Olga Dihovichnaya, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Ariyon Bakare.
- Director
- Daniel Espinosa
- Release Date
- March 24, 2017
- Cast
- Ryan Reynolds , Alexandre Nguyen , Rebecca Ferguson , Hiroyuki Sanada , Ariyon Bakare , Olga Dihovichnaya , Jake Gyllenhaal
- Runtime
- 104 Minutes