Killer of Sheep ending explained

What happens

Nothing is settled. Stan is not rescued or broken; the film ends on small gestures of affection and on sheep being led to slaughter. His life goes on much as before, and the film shows you that continuing.

The last image

Sheep are herded toward slaughter, set against the small tendernesses that close the film.

What it says

The film was never about a plot that could resolve. It asks how a person endures when work and poverty hollow out feeling, so it ends mid-life. The quiet affection beside the sheep suggests that carrying on, and holding onto each other, is the point.