What really happened at the end of Nocturnal Animals?

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Movie endings, they're usually pretty straight forward right? Everything pays off, the main characters learn something, and our heroes ride off into the sunset. Sometimes though, we don't get the typical ending from a movie, we get something much more nuanced, complex and open ended. The kind of endings that leave things up in the air for all of us to debate and theorize on until we're blue in the face. With Movie Endings Explained, we aim to delve into some of the more ambiguous and mysterious endings to films that have left audiences scratching their heads for years, and to attempt to explain them. In most cases, a definitive answer isn't really there, so we definitely want to hear from YOU on how you interpret the various endings we'll be discussing with this series.

This time we're looking at the 2016 psychological thriller NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, from fashion designer and occasional director Tom Ford, based on the 1993 novel Tony & Susan. A gripping tale of an art gallery owner, Susan (Amy Adams) who receives a manuscript to a novel (also entitled Nocturnal Animals) from her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gylenhaal) and reads it throughout the film. Cutting from the novel as Susan reads and imagines it in her head to the real world where Susan grows increasingly affected by the intense and horrific story, we piece together the backstory of Susan and Edward's relationship. It all builds to a finale that ends without a clear resolution. So in this episode we look into some of the reasons that may have led to the seemingly anti-climactic and refreshingly different ending of NOCTURNAL ANIMALS.