Z ending explained · Cinespective

What happens

The magistrate's inquiry wins, briefly: a general and senior officers are indicted. Then it collapses. Light punishments, a jailed photojournalist, the magistrate removed, and a military coup. The truth was exposed and still changed nothing.

The last image

Closing titles list what the new regime has banned, including long hair, the Beatles and the letter Z, which means 'he lives'.

What it says

The ending shows the gap between exposing a lie and changing anything. The banned-things list turns the thriller into an indictment of authoritarianism. Z, the symbol of the murdered deputy, still means 'he lives', which is why the regime fears it.