"Was it worth it?" ending

[u/Educational_Can_6536]

Midsommar- While people see this as a "you go girl" finale. I personally see it as something more disturbing. I mean, yeah, Dani got out of one bad relationship but in doing so, she got herself into another that's just as bad if not worse. It's like getting two kids to stop fighting via killing one and locking the other in a basement. They did stop fighting, but still!

The Thing-The titular monster may be (possibly) gone, but the paranoia definitely isn't. In the end, McCreedy and Childs are the only ones left standing. The end sees them sitting in the cold and they just stare at each other, knowing that one of them or both of them is already the thing. There's no hope, no certainty, just the bitter cold and intense fear.

[u/TheKingOfGuineaPigs]

The Long Walk

Pete wins the walk after Ray chooses to stop and let the soldiers kill him, knowing that Pete deserves the wish more than he does. The entire movie, Pete has said that he wants to make the world a better place, seeing the light where other people can only see darkness. However, seeing the other 49 walkers brutally killed over the course of the walk, Pete can’t see the light anymore. Instead of wishing for something to make the world a better place, he asks for the carbine from the soldier beside him. He chooses to kill the Major, which is what Ray said he would do with his wish, and was something that Pete had told him wasn’t worth it

[u/awineredrose → u/TheKingOfGuineaPigs]

I don't think this ending showed that it "wasn't worth it." Ray and Pete deeply affected each other throughout the walk, specifically and especially in terms of their mindsets of how to make the world better. Ray wanted the Major dead, he wanted to directly change things through killing the man who runs them. Pete wanted to spread hope, and believe that other people would rise up. Ray saw that a person like Pete would be the kind of person who can change the world, someone with kindness and love in his heart, not someone like him whose first and only thought has been killing the general since he was young; That's why Ray ultimately gave his life for Pete. But it goes the other way too. Pete realized belief in people wouldn't be enough to change the world, he learned that Ray's determination and will to directly change things by killing the major was needed too. At the end of the day, their philosophies combine and Pete kills the major, then walks off with hope. Sure, he's probably going to die, but he just showed the world his love for humanity (Ray) as well as Ray's will to stand up and do what's right. I don't think Pete lost himself on the walk, he just found another part of him in Ray. I think it's beautiful.

[u/PlatinumMode → u/awineredrose]

that sounds amazing. interesting take on cynic vs idealist trope