The Red Shoes ending explained

What happens

Torn between Julian and the ballet, Vicky throws herself from a balcony onto the railway and dies. It reveals that Lermontov's demand and Julian's love could never both be satisfied.

The last image

Julian walks behind Vicky's empty shoes as a spotlight moves across the stage where she should be dancing.

What it says

The film refuses to name a winner between art and love. Lermontov's argument and the lovers' claim both stay true, and like the fairy tale's shoes, Vicky's compulsion cannot be switched off. The unresolved spotlight leaves the question with you.