Cure For Wellness Ending Explained, Cure For Wellness Wiki
by Subhashree M
Updated Mar 06, 2023
Cure For Wellness Wiki
A psychological neo-gothic horror film called A Cure for Wellness was released in 2016. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, based on a story co-written by Haythe and Verbinski. The film's inspiration came from Thomas Mann's 1924 novel The Magic Mountain. The movie starred Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, and Mia Goth, with the story revolving around a young executive who is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from a mysterious rehabilitation center in the Swiss Alps. The movie was an international co-production based in the United States, Germany, and Luxembourg, and was shot on location in various German places, including Hohenzollern Castle in Baden-Württemberg. The film was released by 20th Century Fox on February 17, 2017. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, cinematography, performances, and ambition but criticized its length, script, and narrative. The movie grossed $26 million against its $40 million production budget, making it a box-office bomb. The film marked Lisa Banes' final feature film role before her death in June 2021.
The movie premiered at the Butt-Numb-A-Thon Film Festival, held at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas on December 10, 2016, before being theatrically released in the United States on February 17, 2017, by 20th Century Fox. A 40-second exclusive commercial was aired during the 51st Super Bowl on February 5, 2017, in the United States, which resembled a medication advertisement. An article in Vulture reviewed the commercial and pointed out that it was actually a trailer for a new supernatural horror film and not a medication ad. Two days before the film's U.S. premiere, it was reported that 20th Century Fox had created a group of fake news sites as part of a viral marketing campaign for A Cure for Wellness. The movie trailer also gained media attention for showing a scene where Mia Goth was in a bathtub full of eels.
Cure For Wellness Ending Explained
At the conclusion, several significant points are presented. As a girl matures, she becomes enveloped in eels, serving as a metaphor for initiation and the influence of society on her intimate life. This symbolizes the gradual corruption of one's innocent consciousness. The film, A Cure for Wellness, has two endings and interpretations: one realistic and one fantastical. The first ending implies that the protagonist dies, while everything else is an alternate scenario. The second interpretation suggests that the main character escapes from the labyrinthine sanatorium and unexpectedly encounters the bosses from his corporation. The film's message is that Lockhart managed to break free from the corporation, which only cares about itself and disregards its employees. At the end of the movie, we witness the sanatorium being engulfed in flames, and people have nowhere to go. The protagonist is left with a choice: continue his career or seek freedom and start living. Lockhart's smile at the end is more of a smirk, indicating that he may not be able to maintain his sanity after destroying the vicious system. It is unclear if Lockhart was already insane or if everything that occurred was just a paranoid fantasy, but this is irrelevant for a symbolic interpretation of the film.
Cure For Wellness Ending Explained Smile
Lockhart discovers an old photograph of a man with bandages on his face walking with a little girl, who he realizes is Hannah. He also realizes that Volmer, the director of the spa, is actually the Baron, an infamous figure from the past. Concerned for Hannah's safety, Lockhart rushes to her rescue as Volmer takes her to his lair and begins to assault her. In a dramatic showdown, Lockhart sets Volmer on fire, but is beaten up in the process. The building catches fire and Hannah kills Volmer with a shovel, throwing away her vial of the mysterious cure. Lockhart and Hannah flee on her motorcycle, only to crash into a car carrying the board members from New York, who offer Lockhart a chance to escape punishment if he agrees to be the fall guy for the spa's unethical practices. Lockhart refuses and rides off with Hannah, ending the film with an enigmatic smile on his face.
The general interpretation of Lockhart's smile at the end is that he has become consumed by his desire for success and power, which has been intensified by his experiences at the spa. He is now the only surviving heir to the knowledge of eternal life, and has the trust of Hannah, who killed her own father to save him. Additionally, Lockhart knows that there is something special about Hannah, as she survived in the aquifer as a fetus. All of these factors combined make Lockhart feel like he is riding away with a prized bride and the key to eternal life, which is why he is smiling. However, this theory is not fully convincing and the ending leaves some plot holes. It is unclear how Lockhart will use the knowledge he has gained and if he has truly lost his mind. If anyone has other theories on the ending, please share them in the comments.
Cure For Wellness Plot transcript
The film A Cure for Wellness explores the idea that consumer society is slowly draining the life out of people. The main character, Lockhart, is a workaholic who is consumed by his job. He sees himself standing on the edge of a bridge, indicating his emotional burnout, and he puts his sick mother in a nursing home where he takes a ballerina as a reminder of her. Time is always a challenge for Lockhart, and he cannot rest even on the train. The head of the corporation where Lockhart works realizes that he is living for small, insignificant interests and that maintaining common sense is essential.In the film, the mad baron, who is also the head physician and director of the medical institution, inserts parasitic fish into the bodies of patients under the guise of wellness procedures. These fish slowly drain the life out of the patients, and the baron extracts a unique drug from their bodies that can preserve youth. This mirrors the situation in modern society where a few people with power and influence use others to achieve their goals. People voluntarily become involved in this process, offered significant benefits to stay young and healthy.
The film's title, A Cure for Wellness, is an oxymoron that accurately conveys the main idea. People become cogs in the giant consumption machine of modern society, sacrificing themselves to it and experiencing alienation. Forced labor becomes a means to satisfy the needs for more and more benefits, and people do not experience any pleasure from their activity. The film's meaning is that there is a price to pay for everything, and people should be aware of the hidden costs of their choices.
Cure For Wellness Ending Explained - FAQs
At the end of the movie, Lockhart and Hannah escape the burning spa and crash into a car carrying the board members from Lockhart's company. They ask Lockhart where Pembroke is, and Lockhart says he's gone. The board members then try to make Lockhart their fall guy, but he refuses and rides off on a bicycle with Hannah. The movie ends with Lockhart's evil smile.
No, Lockhart survives and escapes with Hannah.
The Baron is actually Dr. Heinrich Volmer, the director of the wellness center. He is using the spa's patients to create a serum that will give him eternal life.
The eels are a metaphor for the corruption of the human soul. The spa's patients are slowly losing their sense of self and becoming like the eels, mindlessly chasing after their own desires.
The meaning of Lockhart's smile is open to interpretation. It could suggest that he has embraced the evil corporate mindset that he was trying to escape from, or that he has realized the value of the knowledge he gained at the spa and is happy to have it.