if.... ending explained · Cinespective

What happens

On Founders' Day, Mick, Johnny, Wallace and the Girl set a fire, take the roof and shoot at the fleeing crowd. The Girl shoots the Headmaster as he calls for calm. Mick keeps firing as the film ends.

The last image

Mick, still firing down at the crowd from the roof, is the last thing you see.

Three readings

1 · A real massacreThe shooting is literal, the only answer left for boys the school has beaten into hardness.

2 · A dream of revoltIt is a fantasy of rebellion, which the film has been blurring with reality since the café.

3 · Both at onceIt works as a wish and a warning, so the film never has to settle which.

What it says

The ending turns the school's own ceremony against it, with the whole establishment gathered in one place. By refusing to say whether it happens, the film shows rebellion as both a wish and an act, and leaves the choice to you.