Ok, we need to talk about *that* ending of The Unforgivable on Netflix

There’s one film on Netflix right now that everyone is talking about. It’s in number one in the top 10 in loads of different countries and the thriller is packed with plot twists and shocking moments. The film is called The Unforgivable, and it’s widely getting incredible reviews – but one thing everyone can’t seem to get their head around is the ending.

The film follows Ruth Slater (Sandra Bullock). She’s just been released from prison after spending 20 years behind bars for killing a police officer in her home. Her mother died during the child birth of her younger sister, and their father died by suicide. The two young girls were about to be evicted from their home when the incident took place. Now having been released, Ruth is trying to rebuild her life – and one of the main things in that is finding her sister, Katherine. However, Katherine is so traumatised by what happened when she was child that she has no memory of her life before her new foster family.

The ending of The Unforgivable on Netflix is full of twists and turns, and it’s divided a lot of viewers. Here’s a full explainer of what happened, and exactly what people have been saying about it.

*Contains spoilers for The Unforgivable on Netflix and its ending*

Ok, so here’s the ending of The Unforgivable on Netflix explained

The end of the film has a lot of twists and turns to unpack, but it’s pretty straight forward. We saw Ruth go and secretly meet up with Katherine’s sister, Emily. Steve, the son of the Sherif who was killed sees this, and thinks Emily is Katherine. At this point, everyone believes Ruth is the one who killed the Sherif and therefore Steve sees taking who he believes is Katherine hostage and killing her as the perfect revenge on Ruth for what she did.

However, we then see a flashback to what actually happened on that day. It was actually five-year-old Katherine who pulled the trigger and shot the Sherif, not Ruth, and Ruth took the fall to protect her sister and spent 20 years in jail for it. After finding out the truth, Liz, the woman who lives in Ruth’s old house with her family now, comes round to helping Ruth, and says she will drop her off at Katherine’s piano recital. When they get there, Ruth gets a call from Steve saying he has Katherine (which is obviously actually Emily) and he’s going to kill her, so Ruth and Liz head straight there.

As Ruth goes in to save Emily, Liz rings the police. Emily and Ruth both end up getting out okay and Steve is taken away by police. As Katherine’s family arrive to see Emily, they catch Ruth there. Katherine goes over to her and the film ends with the two sisters embracing for, tbh, a bit more long than needed.

What’s not completely clear is how much Katherine knows now. Has she just been told that’s her sister? Does she know what really happened on that day or the history of her family now? Or is she just hugging Ruth because she sees her as the woman who just saved her sister from a gunman? And what’s going to happen to Steve now? He’s unhinged because he found out his brother was sleeping with his wife and he’s still very much not over the death of his dad – will he end up in prison?

People are completely divided about the ending of The Unforgivable

Everyone is divided by the ending of The Unforgivable. Like, I cried my little eyes out, but I’m not sure why. A hug? Is that all we’re getting? All those twists for a hug? What does that mean now? But then, I sort of loved it? It was closure, and it was beautiful. WHERE DO WE STAND?

The Unforgivable is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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