Son of Saul ending explained

What happens

During the revolt, Saul flees into the forest carrying the boy's body, but the river sweeps it away. In a hut he sees a living boy who smiles at him. Soldiers arrive, the boy runs, and shots are heard.

The last image

The boy runs into the trees as gunfire sounds, and the camera stays on the empty forest.

Two readings

1 · A moment of graceWith the body lost, the boy's smile is a small consolation: something of what Saul fought for survives.

2 · Saul's last illusionThe smile may be a vision, the mind's final comfort before the soldiers arrive.

What it says

Saul never gets his burial, and the film never confirms the boy was his son. What it offers is the attempt itself, and the smile as the barest sign that his stubborn act of care mattered.