Spoilers · the ending
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: the ending, explained
Steven Spielberg · 1977
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
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Spoilers · the ending
Steven Spielberg · 1977
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
What happens
At Devil's Tower, the mothership lands and returns people taken over the decades, including Barry. Roy is chosen to go aboard, and he walks into the ship, leaving his family and his old life behind as Lacombe watches him go.
The last image
The mothership rises into the night sky, its lights glowing, carrying Roy away.
What it says
The ending treats Roy's obsession as a calling, not madness, and replaces the expected conflict with a conversation of tones and lights. It admires his leap, yet never lets you forget what he leaves behind.