Extraction ending: The meaning behind the Netflix series' ambiguous conclusion

The movie's conclusion left viewers scratching their heads
Jasin Boland/NETFLIX
Emma Clarke27 April 2020

Since it arrived on Netflix last Friday, many people have devoured the new action-thriller, Extraction.

As well as featuring some pulse-racing scenes, the movie has a stellar cast, including Chris Hemsworth and Rudraksh Jaiswal.

And while the film is proving to be popular among fans, many were left confused by its ambiguous ending.

Here, we take a look at what the conclusion of Extraction means. Naturally, there are spoilers ahead...

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What is the Extraction about?

Mercenary Tyler Rake (played by Hemsworth) undertakes a dangerous mission to rescue the kidnapped son of a drug lord.

But, as you'd probably expect, things don't exactly go to plan and Tyler takes quite a bashing throughout the series.

As teased in a flash-forward at the start of the film, Tyler is left virtually at death's door, after being shot in the neck by a thug who has throughout been trying to 'prove' himself.

Not only does Tyler get shot, the impact from the gunshot sees him fall over the barrier on the bridge and he plunges into the water below.

What does the ending of Extraction mean?

Fans think they spotted Chris Hemsworth's character Tyler at the end of the movie
Netflix

Despite suffering what would normally be fatal injuries, the last few seconds of the film see the kidnapped boy swimming in a pool at his school.

While the camera focuses on him, there is a blurred figure in the background that appears to be none other Tyler.

So has he managed to survive the blow?

Speaking to Cinema Blend, Hemsworth explained: "The idea to sort of keep it ambiguous, you know, based on different audience responses in the testing and so on about kind of what they believe would have happened or wanted to happen.

"And we shot a few different versions of the ending just as a sort of a backup. And I'm thankful for that, that Sam [Hargrave, the film's director] insisted on doing that just to cover all bases, you know?"

Of the decision to leave the ending ambiguous, Hargrave said: "Because there was a split reaction amongst audiences, we tried to satisfy both sides. Hopefully if you as an audience member loved the character, want to see more then you will see one result of that final image.

"You'll see Tyler there. If you felt like his story is completed through sacrifice, you might see someone different standing there.

"So hopefully it was satisfying even though people might have a question, but maybe they get talking to their friends saying, 'Hey, go see this movie cause I want to talk to you about the ending'. It was purposefully ambiguous."

Extraction is available to stream on Netflix

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