Brandon Cronenberg, son of renowned director David Cronenberg, has released his next film, Infinity Pool, which stars Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth, and Cleopatra Coleman. The movie is undoubtedly a complicated experience, with some story elements that are incredibly easy to follow while others that are much more confusing, including the film’s conclusion. If Infinity Pool proved to be a confusing experience for you, then you’ve come to the right place, as this is Infinity Pool’s ending explained.
***Warning: Major spoilers for the whole plot of Infinity Pool are below.***
What Does the Ending of Infinity Pool Mean? Explained
When looking at what exactly is happening in Infinity Pool, a lot of the puzzle pieces come together when you realize that the film is a critique of not only the rich and what they can get away with, but also masculinity.
Infinity Pool revolves around struggling writer James, who, along with his wealthy wife Em, decides to vacation in a foreign country. Unbeknownst to them, James is being targeted by another rich couple at the resort, particularly by the attractive wife, Gabi.
After accidentally running over a farmer, James and Em learn that the country has a zero-tolerance policy for crime, with every crime punishable by death. However, the rich have an exploit: to pay for a clone of themself to be made, which will be executed instead. This is an exploit that Gabi, her husband Alban, and their wealthy friends exploit as it effectively means that they can commit whatever crime they want without fear of repercussions.
The rest of the movie then proceeds to explore the debauchery that James, Gabi, Alban, and Gabi’s rich friends get up to as the group slowly breaks James down to a point where he can possibly become one of them, which includes tricking James into beating up a clone of himself.
Gabi reveals to James that she purposely targeted him when she saw him at the resort and tries to convince him to kill his clone with his own hands. When James refuses, the clone attacks him, which ends with the writer becoming rageful and beating his clone to death, and in response, Gabi comforts him by letting him suck on her nipple. Gabi’s group, along with James, then proceed to leave the resort as it is now closing for the “rainy season,” acting as if nothing has happened. However, James decides to stay behind at the now-empty resort, seemingly accepting the fact that he belongs there.
So, as was pointed out earlier, Infinity Pool is mainly a critique of two things: the rich getting away with whatever they want and toxic masculinity. The movie’s analysis of the rich is simple yet powerful, as it seeks to showcase how those with money can do anything they want and suffer little to no consequences. Gabi and her friends are able to get an unlimited amount of chances in this country, as they can commit whatever crime they want and just simply send a clone of themselves in to receive the punishment that they were meant to receive.
The title Infinity Pool, while referring to an actual infinity pool, also refers to how the rich get infinite opportunities just because they can pay for them. Then at the very end, with Gabi and her friends just casually brushing off the whole experience is meant to show how casually the rich treat these infinite chances. Nevertheless, James realizes that he isn’t like the others and, in turn, decides that he deserves to stay in the country and never return to his wife, who leaves the resort halfway through the movie.
All of this leads to the film’s other major theme, toxic masculinity, which is focused on James and his reactions to the events throughout the movie. When James is first locked up in jail, he is terrified until he sees the execution of his clone, an event that the writer ends up smiling at as it starts to click in his head that he got away with killing someone. However, it is essential to remember that James is not the wealthy one; his wife is thanks to her rich parents, with this moment being the first apparent moment where he got away with something thanks to money.
Gabi saw in James that there was something repressed in him as he was made to feel less than those around him because Em was the provider for the two of them; this is why Gabi chose James as her mark. The struggling writer finds his freedom from consequence to be exhilarating, participating with Gabi’s group in kidnappings, orgies, and even murder, with his aggressive side coming out.
Yet, when the gang tricks James into beating up a clone of himself, he begins to revert back to a more passive personality as he realizes that he genuinely isn’t the alpha male that the group was building him up to be. James only ends up killing his clone when he has no other choice. The fact that he goes on to suck Gabi’s breasts like a baby showcases how he has completely reverted to his more passive personality, with his choice to stay in the country being a way for the film to show that even though he may have tried, he is not like the other wealthy tourists.
There are a few questions that remain unanswered, though, like what exactly the group’s goal was and whether or not the group has accepted James into being one of their own. Infinity Pool’s ending makes it clear that James himself does not feel as though he is a part of the group, but as for the group’s feelings about him, it is unclear, seeing as how they are acting completely ordinary and mundane following the events of the movie. As for what Gabi and her group’s motivations were and if James did exactly what they wanted, it is seemingly left up to the audience’s interpretation on whether or not they expected him to kill his clone.
That is everything you need to know regarding the ending of Infinity Pool. Despite being an incredibly polarizing movie, it is undoubtedly one of the most memorable movies ever, with a plot that is sure to stick with audiences for a long while.
