How It Ends (2018) Ending, Explained – When the action thriller How It Ends, starring Theo James, Forest Whitaker, and Kat Graham, first debuted on Netflix in 2018, it didn’t make much of an impression, but it’s presently trending in the Netflix Top 10, indicating that a lot of people are watching it. The film is an apocalyptic thriller set in the aftermath of a global panic caused by a seismic, offshore event that destroys major cities and produces absolute disorder in society.
The filmmaker of ‘Janie Jones‘ and ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ David M. Rosenthal, directed the understated 2018 catastrophe film ‘How It Ends.’ The story follows a long road trip from Chicago to Seattle, depicting a slice of an actual apocalypse. Samantha’s husband, Will travels to Chicago to meet Samantha’s parents while she is pregnant.
When an unknown cosmic event cuts off all communication with the west coast, Will is forced to go on a 2043-mile journey with Samantha’s ailing father, Tom. While the story hides a genuine representation of a widespread disaster and its aftermath of bewilderment and panic, the rushed conclusion leaves us hanging. If you have any unanswered questions, let us work together to make sense of the chaos.
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‘How It Ends’ (2018) Movie Plot Synopsis
The first few scenes switch between cosmic events and an ultrasound feed. Samantha “Sam” Sutherland is expecting a kid and wants to know the gender. Sam and her husband Will learn from the doctor that they are expecting a boy. Will departs from Samantha with the news, as he travels to Chicago to meet Samantha’s parents.
Will makes a pledge not to mention the boat, but he becomes agitated and says so anyway. At the dinner table, ex-military Tom is becoming increasingly dismissive, despite Will’s lack of job the last time he checked.
Will returns to his hotel room near the airport after a heated discussion. Will is awoken at the hotel by Samantha, who reminds him that he has a trip to catch. Shortly after, Will receives a phone call informing him that Flight 23 to Seattle has been delayed until further notice.
Will deduces from the ominous TV broadcast that there is a seismic event off the coast of southern California before the stream is interrupted. Will returns to Tom’s house, and the two of them drive to Seattle in Tom’s Cadillac, picking up the event’s terrible consequences along the way.
What Happens to Seattle at the End of the ‘How It Ends’ (2018) Movie?
The trek is torturous and fraught with unknown dangers. It leads the duo to abandoned communities or hazardous environments. Law enforcement seals all entrances in certain communities, while others stay deserted, with just food and gas to salvage. At an auto repair shop, Tom and Will meet a girl named Ricki and persuade her to join them on their voyage. Will kills a family after an incident involving retrieving stolen fuel.
Ricki, afraid and upset, walk away without saying goodbye. Tom then dies, presumably as a result of the ash particles in his lungs polluting his lungs. Tom appears to have an underlying respiratory ailment; therefore he brings his prescriptions with him on the trip. However, the injection is ineffective, and Tom dies on the way. On the sixth day, Will destroys the car with Tom’s remains inside (perhaps as a funeral) and continues the trek on foot.
Will hitches a ride with a family travelling north, bringing them to his father’s cabin in the woods, which is stocked with provisions. Rather than providing consolation, Will demands the keys to the family’s jeep from the patriarch, which the patriarch grants. Will then drive to Seattle in his jeep. The air has become virtually unbreathable thirty miles from Seattle, and the road has become white from ash particles. The film makes a smooth transition from the whispers of the disaster to the actual vision of the apocalypse.
Will sees a terrifying picture of the city as he crosses what appears to be Lake Washington. As a result of the disaster, Seattle has been virtually decimated. Rogue militants defend the town’s entrance points, with whom Will has a brief encounter. According to Samantha’s saviour, Jeremiah, the impact appears to be the result of a nuclear attack. When he claims that the government is trying a huge cover-up, he sounds like a conspiracy theorist.
What Was the Cause of the catastrophe in ‘How It Ends’ (2018) Movie?
The film encourages us to speculate on this million-dollar question since it provides no reasonable explanation for the catastrophe. Jeremiah believes it is a government plot to terrorise the public. He also considers the possibility that the disaster could be caused by the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
Some claim that earthquakes are to blame for the frequent tremors, while no one dismisses the likelihood of a volcanic eruption. However, based on the evidence, the disaster should be classified as a solar storm (or a geomagnetic storm).
A solar storm (produced by disturbances on the Sun’s surface) might be dangerous for humanity, according to NASA experts. While it may not cause deaths directly, it can lead to conditions that result in mass casualties. A large-scale solar storm, for example, could destroy all of the artificial satellites circling the globe, wreak havoc on electrical infrastructure, and effectively render us powerless.
The aurora, which Will believes can only be caused by solar storms, adds to our argument. The last large-scale solar storm (known as the Carrington Event) occurred in 1859; thus, they are not legendary. Auroras were visible all around the world, and telegraph systems across Europe and North America went down. A Carrington-class solar superstorm also missed Earth by an inch on July 23, 2012. As a result, humanity may not be as safe from a geomagnetic storm as you may think.
Will Jeremiah be killed by Will? Will and Samantha are they Alive or Dead?
Will eventually discovers Samantha in good health. Will arrives at their Seattle home to see that it, along with the other houses in the neighbourhood, has collapsed. Samantha, on the other hand, has left Will a note requesting that he meet her at a specific address. Will arrives at Jeremiah’s house, Samantha’s saviour, armed with the knowledge.
Will, on the other hand, becomes nervous when a third man enters the picture. Samantha expresses her thanks for the reconnection with Will, but it’s followed by an awkward campfire party. Jeremiah is a fan of conspiracies. Will insists that Jeremiah is just as clueless as the rest of them. Samantha attempts unsuccessfully to mediate, but to no avail.
Will shoots Jeremiah in the head in a direct confrontation the next morning before the latter can point the gun at him. As a result, Will’s “heroism” vanishes in an instant, as it appears that Will makes a hasty decision in the heat of the moment.
In the absence of Will, it’s difficult to know whether Samantha and Jeremiah were intimate, but Will can make a guess. Will finds it impossible to blame Samantha, his pregnant wife, and shooting Jeremiah may be the only solution that comes to mind. Furthermore, because there is no foundation of justice in an anarchic environment, pressing the gun appears simple, even liberating.
After Jeremiah’s death, Sam and Will travel out of town. However, a new visceral storm approaches, threatening to consume everything in its path. Will shifts into second gear and kisses Samantha. While the film ends here, Samantha and Will’s fate appears to be uncertain. Given the storm’s pace, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to avoid its deadly consequences. As a result, we deduce that Will and Samantha will perish in the end.
Stream ‘How it Ends’ movie on Netflix.
