Ending Explanation of the ‘Ray Donovan: The Movie’ 2022

Ray Donovan The Movie Ending Explained
Liev Schreiber as Ray Donovan in RAY DONOVAN, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Photo Credit: Jeff Neumann/SHOWTIME.

In ‘Ray Donovan: The Movie,’ the titular fixer (Liev Schreiber) returns, following on from the famous Showtime crime drama series of the same name.

This time, the story digs into Ray’s turbulent history, focusing on a significant event in his relationship with his father, Mickey.

In the present, the family’s intergenerational predisposition for violence is putting them in dangerous positions.

Many long-running narratives are resolved in the film, and some big holes in Ray’s past are filled up.

The dramatic ending, on the other hand, shows that the Donovan family isn’t out of the woods yet. There is no triumph here, only a sombre reminder that some stains are impossible to remove.

You’ve come to the correct place if you want to learn more about ‘Ray Donovan: The Movie‘ and what the ending signifies for our moody hero.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

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The Plot Synopsis of Ray Donovan: The Movie

We see the Donovan brothers — Ray, Terry, Bunchy, and Daryll — at home, reminiscing about their father, after which the film commences with a montage of significant scenes from the show.

A sad Bridget interrupts their storey exchange, chastising Ray for readily forgetting deaths by drowning his sorrows in drinks.

Ray is stunned into silence, and after some deliberation, he departs the house late at night for Boston.

Meanwhile, Ray’s father Mickey has a briefcase full of priceless documents that he is trying to sell for a profit.

As he drives to a rendezvous, he is unaware that his son follows him. Mickey’s contacts, on the other hand, get the start on Ray, and a brawl follows, with the attackers slain.

Ray, who is seriously hurt, points his gun towards Mickey, who is looking at his father with anxiety. The gun, on the other hand, is empty.

Mickey moves away from Ray after receiving the message. Mickey phones the Sullivans (to whom the documents belong) and offers to sell them back for 25% of his asking price, desperate to sell the documents in the briefcase for money.

We watch a young Ray Donovan, courtesy of his father, getting his first few criminal encounters in flashbacks.

Ezra Goldman, a wealthy Hollywood producer who is filming in the area, introduces him to him.

Mickey befriends Ezra and his film’s lead actor, Sean Walker, after realising he can charge the producer for protection.

The latter is immediately taken with Mickey’s true Boston persona, and the two embark on a drinking binge together. When Ezra detects trouble, he hires young Ray to keep an eye on them.

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Ray Donovan The Movie Ending

Is Ray Donovan Dead or Alive in the “Ray Donovan: The Movie”?

As the flashback progresses, we see young Ray watching Mickey, Sean, and Colleen become increasingly rowdy.

Finally, Sean picks up his gun after Mickey passes out and inadvertently kills Colleen with it.

Ray and Ezra then conspire to get Sean out of the crime scene and blame it on Mickey, who awakens from a coma to find himself surrounded by cops.

Ray meets with Molly Sullivan in the present to discover if Mickey has returned the briefcase. Molly begs Ray to tell her what he did with her father (Jim Sullivan), but Ray remains mute.

Finally, Molly shoots Ray in the stomach as he prepares to leave. Our hero returns to his hotel room, where Mickey, who has followed him from the Sullivan house, keeps a wary eye on his son.

Before Mickey is shot and killed by Bridget, who enters the room to find her father also badly hurt, the two reminisce.

The cops arrive, and the movie concludes with Ray being carried into an ambulance (years ago) and his father being arrested for Colleen’s murder in parallel scenes.

Ray Donovan is left with many injuries at the end of the movie, including a bullet wound from Molly Sullivan.

He appears to be dying based on Bridget’s reaction. Ray’s assurances to his daughter that he will live, on the other hand, appear to be more accurate.

Ray’s interview with his therapist, Dr. Arthur Amiot (Alan Alda), finishes with the injured hero informing the doctor of his motel room number, which is visible intermittently throughout the film.

When the doctor notices Ray is seriously hurt, he summons the authorities, who arrive with physicians and (apparently) save Ray’s life.

The fact that Ray is likely to recover is one of the reasons Bunchy abandons his crippled sibling.

Bunchy, of course, needs to get Bridget away before the cops arrive, but it doesn’t appear like he’d abandon Ray if he knew his brother was dying.

As a result, Molly Sullivan’s bullet in the belly does not appear to have killed Ray, and our brooding hero survives to fight another day.

Ray emerging from a puddle of water in the final scene could be misinterpreted as a sign that he is dead.

Ray and the rest of the family, on the other hand, appear to have been cleaned of one of their most prolific causes of conflict with his father’s death. Ray also confronts the sad realisation that he betrayed his father by sending him to prison (for Colleen’s murder), revealing a long-buried secret.

Though the Donavan family’s gritty predilection for murder and violence is unlikely to change, Ray rising from the pool appears to indicate that he has been cleansed of some of his prior demons.

Why Does Bridget Shoot Mickey

Bridget’s Motive for Shooting Mickey? Is He Still Alive?

The film’s climax offers a twist that is as predictable as it is surprising. Mickey has been playing with fire for a long time, and Ray considers or attempts to kill him on several occasions (both in the show and in the film).

As a result, it’s no surprise that the elderly Donovan is shot. Bridget is the last person we’d think to be the one to pull the trigger, but a closer look at her character reveals that she has plenty of reasons to kill her grandfather.

Bridget is seen throughout the film lamenting the murder of her husband, Smitty, who is killed in part due to Mickey’s avarice.

However, when Bridget discovers that her father, Ray, has gone to Boston to face (and potentially kill) Mickey, it’s the final straw.

Ray’s daughter, who has recently lost her spouse, is concerned for her father’s safety and insists on joining Bunchy in Boston.

Bridget explains that “it has to end” when she shoots Mickey, referring to the multi-generational cycle of violence that has taken so many of their family members.

Bridget appears to be at her wit’s end. While it’s uncertain whether the Donovan family’s circumstances (or life expectancy) will improve, Ray’s daughter appears to take a big step in the right direction by shooting Mickey in the head.

Of course, Ray’s willingness to take the blame for the murder in order to save Bridget completes a decades-long arc that begins with a young Ray framing and imprisoning his father.

Ray appears to be going to prison for the murder of his father at the end of the film.

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