Million Dollar Baby ending explained

What happens

After Maggie is paralysed in the title fight, she begs Frankie to let her die. He finally agrees, tells her what Mo Cuishle means, ends her life, and vanishes. It shows how far his love will go.

The last image

We hear Scrap's letter to Katy, saying only that Frankie was last seen at a diner he had mentioned before.

Two readings

1 · Love as mercyFrankie gives Maggie the last thing she asks for, honouring her dignity at terrible cost to himself.

2 · A troubling choiceSome read it as suggesting a life with severe disability isn't worth living, a view disability-rights groups protested.

What it says

The film sets protecting someone against respecting her wishes, and it won't settle the conflict. Frankie's final act is shown without comment, so the moral weight is left with you. The ending offers no easy comfort.