The end of ‘Interstellar’, explained: The keys to deciphering Christopher Nolan’s film

Did you also keep thinking after the end of ‘Interstellar’? It’s normal: the film is one of the great successes of director Christopher Nolan and has managed to make a name for itself among The best science fiction movies in the history of cinema, but its confusing script has managed to impress (and confuse) the most diverse audience. After its theatrical release, thousands of people gathered to admire this journey into the cosmos, about the survival and exile of humanity, accompanied by the unbeatable music by Hans Zimmer, who quickly became one of the best soundtracks in movie history.

Was Nolan prophesying a not-so-distant future? Press play on the movie, which is among the best hbo max moviesand continue reading when finished. Before you can even go through the ‘Interstellar’ review that we published in FOTOGRAMAS at its premiere in 2013, which already offers some clues. But let’s go back to the movie: as you may have seen, throughout this story we follow Cooper, an engineer and former NASA pilot who lives on a small farm in the US with his father-in-law and his two children (the youngest, Murphy, will also be a central pillar of the story). There he is dedicated to growing corn, a necessary commodity due to the prevailing desertification of the planet and the scarcity of resources. Nolan places us in a society that is dangerously close to extinction.

Thanks to a series of exceptional situations, Cooper will embark on an interstellar journey to a distant planetary system that revolves around a black hole called Gargantua.. There, he and his crew will dive into different planets exploring their habitability. On Earth, Murphy and Professor Brand will seek to solve an “impossible” equation that will allow humanity to leave the planet.

What important elements should be highlighted in this complex film? whatWhat the hell happens over time? How many years have passed? Who is that endearing old woman we see at the end of the film? Questions, questions and more questions in one of the best endings in movie history. And, without a doubt, the most important of all: Do I have to study a master’s degree in quantum physics to understand this movie? (For this we have the quickest answer: of course not.)

Of course, its ending not only aroused great praise, it also raised many doubts. Today, years after its premiere and with ‘oppenheimer‘, the new Nolan film that is counted among the best movies of 2023just around the corner, we will recount the end of ‘Interstellar’, for all those who wish to see the light inside the black hole on which this exciting story revolves. We already did it with him ‘Origin’ ending explainedanother one of his most demanding films, but what this later film introduced us to is on another level.

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How does time work in ‘Interstellar’?

Time is one of the fundamental elements of the film. As a result of him, the entire complex plot that Nolan reels off in almost 3 hours of footage of him is structured. From the beginning we are entangled by him without knowing it. Not only because of the race against time that our protagonists face, but also because of his strange behavior when he submits to the laws of gravity.

At what moments does ‘time’ change history?

• the wormhole: When Cooper and the crew go through this curious phenomenon, time and space fold back allowing them to cross a great distance of the cosmos in just a few minutes.
• miller’s planet: Due to the great gravitational pull of Gargantua, the concept of time here is distorted. 1 hour on Miller’s planet becomes 7 years on Earth. It is not a place to sit down and share a very deep talk. The inconveniences that Copper and Brand suffer on the surface of this place make them lose 23 years of time (and the life of one of their companions…)
• “surfing“in Gargantua: The last of Cooper’s reckless maneuvers, skirting the event horizon of the black hole to gain momentum to Edmunds’ planet, makes another 50 years pass on Earth in just a few minutes.
• The tesseract: This final moment of the film will have its own section. It is one of the most important and most complex fragments of the plot.

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What is a tesseract?

Great question. Y noOr is it that we are astrophysicists (or anything like that) but Nolan tries to explain it the best he can in the movie (yes, maybe you have to watch it two or three times to get it). This place appears when Cooper throws himself into Gargantua. He does this so that the ship can gain momentum and Brand can safely reach Edmunds’ planet, the last of the possible “new worlds” in his path.

As darkness closes in on him, interference begins to appear on the screens and the small shuttle he is in begins to destroy itself. Before doing so, his seat is projected and Cooper shoots off into (literally) nowhere. In his uncontrolled movement, arrives in a strange place indeed. It is what looks like a succession of moments, superimposed on each other, of a specific space. From Murphy’s roomactually.

The beings that have brought you there have developed a three-dimensional structure so that Cooper can communicate with his daughter and, in this way, that she can save humanity.



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This is how he prepares to do it with the help of TARS, one of the crew’s robots, which has been projected into the black hole just like him. Through the bookshelf, Cooper begins to send a series of messages to his daughter.…Which brings us to the next item on this list:

Who is the ghost in Murphy’s room in ‘Interstellar’?

From the beginning of the movie, Murphy talks about a supposed ghost that tries to communicate with her through the bookcase in her room. ring a bell? Yes, indeed, it is about Cooper. But how is that possible, how can his father be in two places at once?

This is one of the most attractive tangles in the movie. Her father, who was always skeptical of his daughter’s ghost stories, turned out to be the source of them. Thanks to the wonders of relativity and gravity, Cooper is able to “time travel” through the tesseract to send specific messages, at exact times.

This is how it communicates THREE FUNDAMENTAL THINGS:

• The message STAY (QUEDATE): In a first fit of emotion, after discovering where he is, Cooper tries to warn himself not to embark on such a mission. Later, he will understand that he must do it if he wants to save the species from him.
• NASA Coordinates: Thanks to them, father and daughter will be able to go to the place of origin of the space mission.
• The secrets about the interior of Gargantua: With the help of TARS, Cooper will Morse code the data collected from inside the black hole. With them, Murphy will be able to solve the equation that will make it possible to modify gravity and remove humans from Earth. The species will finally be saved.


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Who is the old woman at the end of ‘Interstellar’? And what about the species and Brand?

After communicating this vital information, the tesseract closes and Cooper appears floating in the orbit of Saturn (the place where, in its day, the wormhole had been).

There he is rescued by a ship. Who’s on board? Thanks to everything that happened before, we soon found out: the inhabitants of Earth! Yes, humanity is already heading to its new home. Which one is that? We’ll explain it to you right now!

After you have received all the data through the shelf, Murphy has developed a new physical theory that allows manipulating gravity and, with it, transporting large ships off Earth. In a simple way. This is how these are created”superboats” where huge amounts of population will move through the Universe.



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In all this temporary game, the young Doctor Brand has arrived on the planet of Edmunds, the one who always suspected that he could harbor the ideal qualities for life. And, since Anne Hathaway is so much Anne Hathaway, she was right.

When they got there, her lover Wolf Edmunds had already passed away (due to the decades the adventure cost them, If this is still not clear to you, review point number one!), but the planet was perfect to create a colony. He would soon plunge into a cryosleepuntil being rescued by humanity on the way.

The elderly protagonist of the emotional final scene is none other than little Murphy, through which more than 73 years have also passed. Now, surrounded by her family, prepares to die after being reunited with his father. Cooper’s destiny will be at the side of Doctor Brand, with whom his mission will continue in this new home.



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Y This is how ‘Interstellar’ ends, one of the best science fiction movies and one of the most interesting mysteries to solve. If you haven’t taken a walk through the cosmos for a long time, take advantage of these keys to see it again with different eyes! And, if you were already an expert long before reading this “ending explained”, get back on the ‘Endurance’, it never hurts to revisit this movie!

‘Interstellar’ is available on streaming in HBO Max.

Manuel D’Ocon
Actor and writer specialized in film criticism, graduated from the Carlos III University of Madrid, the Estudio Corazza for the actor and the ECAM.