The new Nicole Kidman film, Holland, follows Nicole's character Nancy as she slowly discovers her idyllic life in a small Michigan town is not exactly what she thinks it is. She befriends a fellow teacher (Dave, played by Gael García Bernal) amid suspicions that her husband (Frank, played by Matthew Macfadyen) might be cheating on her. If you're reading this post to validate your feelings about the end of the film, you probably already know that the truth of Nancy and Fred's life is much worse. He's not a cheater, he's a serial killer. Here's what the film does with that information once its revealed.

How does the film end?

Okay, so Nancy decided it was best to stay in town for Tulip Time. (As a note, I grew up in the town next to the real Holland, Michigan, and while I didn't encounter any serial killers, I did encounter Tulip Time. It's real, and seeing it immortalized on film is wild.) When she sits down at the parade, her friends make a comment that they saw Fred earlier that day. She's confused, because obviously she thinks that situation has been handled. But then she does spot him across the way. He survived the attack and he is, in fact alive. Bleak!

Nancy rushes to find Harry (played by Jude Hill) and runs into Dave on the way. He has a gun, and Nancy is really freaked out by this. She grabs Harry, gets in their car, and leaves Dave behind. She and Harry drive to a motel to try to wait things out. Well, obviously Dave finds them at the motel. He says he's trying to protect her and tells her Fred tried to kill him. He wants to call the police and tell them everything, but Nancy tells him not to because it'll ruin Harry's life. They disagree, and a TV falls on his head.

As Nancy goes to try to get help for Dave, she realizes Harry is gone. He's outside with Fred. He found them in their hiding spot. He guilts Nancy, saying "Do you know how hard I tried to keep you safe?" He also says it's not the "real him" that does all those bad things (killing people), and he's going to "make it like nothing ever happened." They just need to get in the car and go home, press the "reset" button. Okay, sure! This definitely won't end poorly!

They all get in the car, and Nancy realizes she needs to get Harry out of there. She makes something up about how he's not buckled and they need to pull over, and once they do, she tells Harry to run. She pulls out a gun to kill Fred, but unfortunately, she only grazes his ear. He attacks in her in response, so she beats him to death with a wooden shoe.

She goes back to the hotel to check on Dave, and he's gone. Then, a voiceover starts, intertwining Nancy and Fred's voices: "I wanted to believe I lived in the best place on earth—Holland, Michigan. There were days it all felt like a dream. The people, the tulips, the windmill. It was perfect. When I came here, I was afraid. I was confused. I couldn't trust anyone, even myself.... I finally saw a way out. But sometimes I wonder, was it even real?"

What does it mean!?

The end of the film is intentionally ambiguous. It leaves the viewer to wonder how much of what they just saw was the truth. Especially juxtaposed with the miniature model of the town. But even though the ending kind of suggests otherwise, I'm choosing to believe the story as it appeared on the screen.

What about Dave?

Considering he wasn't in the motel room when Nancy got back there, I'm going to assume he made it out alive and got away while he still could. And considering he didn't really like living in Holland, I like to think he got far, far away. Nancy could probably use a move, too, now that I think about it.

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