1917 Ending Explained
The 2019 film 1917, directed by Sam Mendes, tells a gripping World War I story through the eyes of two British soldiers on a desperate mission. It feels like one long unbroken shot, pulling you right into the trenches and chaos of 1917. The main characters are Lance Corporals Schofield, played by George MacKay, and Blake, played by Dean-Charles Chapman. They get orders from General Erinmore to cross no-man’s-land and deliver a message to stop a major attack by the 2nd Battalion at the front lines. Intelligence shows the Germans have set a trap, and without this warning, 1,600 men, including Blake’s brother, will die.
The movie kicks off with the soldiers racing against time. They dodge dead bodies, rats, and exploding shells in the trenches. Soon, they face a brutal fight with German soldiers in an abandoned farmhouse. A plane crashes nearby, leading to a fiery chase where Blake gets badly hurt. Schofield presses on alone, crossing ruined towns, eerie cherry orchards, and German hideouts. He barely survives sniper fire and a brutal hand-to-hand fight with a German pilot he ends up sparing.
As night falls, Schofield reaches the 2nd Battalion’s camp during a tense gathering. Soldiers are singing along to a folk song by David Bowie, unaware of the danger ahead. Schofield pushes through the crowd to find Colonel Mackenzie, the commander. He hands over the message just in time, canceling the doomed dawn attack. Mackenzie reads it and calls off the charge, saving the lives of all 1,600 men.
The final scenes show Schofield stumbling back to his own lines, exhausted and bloodied. He wakes up in a field hospital where a kind nurse tends to him. She takes him to see a baby she is caring for, whose mother died earlier. Schofield holds the baby briefly, sharing a quiet moment of humanity amid the war’s horror. He then races off to reunite with Tom Blake, his friend’s brother, who survived the night. The two share a nod of relief before parting ways. This ending hits hard because it shows one man’s grit stopped a massacre, but the war’s endless pain lingers in small acts of care like holding that baby.
What makes the close so powerful is how it mixes triumph with loss. Schofield succeeds, but Blake is gone, and the larger war rages on. The “one-shot” style makes every step feel real and urgent, leaving you drained yet hopeful. For a full recap of the story leading to this save, check out this video explanation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yvn5HvocwE
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yvn5HvocwE
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8579674/news/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_riot_of_1917
https://www.houstongrandopera.org
