The Grey’s post-credit scene offers some closure as to Liam Neeson’s fate with the alpha wolf, but it’s incidental in the broader context of the film.
SUMMARY
The Grey’s ending leaves the fate of Ottway in question, as he faces off against an Alpha wolf, emphasizing the movie’s larger themes of spirituality and man’s quest for meaning.
The deaths of the other characters in The Grey highlight the protagonists’ sense of purpose and what gives their lives meaning, while also exploring themes of faith and the afterlife.
Ottway’s perseverance in the face of adversity is rooted in his father’s poem, which urges him to continue fighting, emphasizing the idea that a life without purpose is a wasted death. The ending of The Grey prompts viewers to question how they choose to react to life’s battles.
2011’s The Grey ending sees John Ottway (Liam Neeson) ready for a fight to the death with a wolf, but who wins and what does it really mean?
Joe Carnahan’s film tells the story of a group of oil rig workers who survive a plane crash and find themselves stranded in the vast and unforgiving Alaskan wilderness.
The men must figure out how to endure not only freezing temperatures but also evade a pack of wolves that perceive the men’s presence on their hunting grounds and proximity to their den as a threat.
Led by Ottway, a marksman who spends his days shooting wolves to protect the pipeline assemblers, the group sets out in search of civilization.
Forced to grapple with the reality of their impending deaths as their numbers dwindle, the men consider their place in the universe and the legacies they’ll leave behind.
Some think The Grey was ruined by the final act, and The Grey ending has proved divisive for its sharp cut-to-black and then a similarly inconclusive post-credits scene.
However, that’s all very much deliberate from Carnahan, who uses The Grey‘s ending to drive home its broader messages and themes