Meet Joe Black is a charming romantic drama, with a fantastical twist, and it’s a bit more heady than it appears at first glance. Premiering in 1998 and directed by Martin Brest, Meet Joe Black is a unique romantic drama with a dash of fantasy that helps it stand out amongst the deep crowd of 90s romance movies. With a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes and a total shut out at the 1999 Academy Awards, Meet Joe Black was middlingly received upon debut. But time has been kind to the odd but moving story of a romance across existence.

The film stars Anthony Hopkins as a dying media mogul, Bill Parrish. Bill’s daughter, Susan (Claire Forlani), has recently called off an engagement, with the help of her father, who preaches waiting for love to come. Inspired by his view of the world, the personification of Death arrives, taking the form of a man Susan met at a coffee shop (Brad Pitt). Together, Joe and the Parrishes learn about life and love. Thoughtful, sweet, and romantic, if I were the type to cry at romance movies, I probably would have done so at the end of Meet Joe Black.

What Happens At The End Of Meet Joe Black

Joe And Bill Pᴀss On Together Without Regrets

As the end of Meet Joe Black approaches, Joe has come to like what he’s learned about the world of the living. The embodiment of Death now appreciates life, and what’s more, he’s fallen in love with Susan Parrish. Unable to comprehend the finality of death towards the living, Joe plans to take Susan’s life, so they can be together forever. Bill pleads with Joe to try and understand what true love really is, and that stealing Susan’s life would be a betrayal. Bill’s 65th birthday party approaches, which means time is running out for Bill, Joe, and Susan.

At the party, Joe and Susan dance together, and Joe decides to reveal himself fully to his love. He does so with a hug, and a light in Susan’s eyes indicates she understands everything now. Susan knows why the sweet man from the coffee shop has been acting so strange. He’s not the man from the coffee shop after all. Now understanding that Susan was never in love with him, Joe allows her to live, comprehending true love, and leaves with Bill. Only Susan watches, now tearfully accepting what will happen.

Joe and Bill cross a nearby bridge, and Susan sees them disappear. However, she gets a surprise in return. Coming back over the hill, looking disheveled and confused is the man from the coffee shop. The same one who was killed in a car accident earlier in Meet Joe Black and whose body Joe occupied for the rest of the film. It’s clear he doesn’t remember anything since meeting Susan at the coffee shop. One thing he does know is that he’s sweet on this girl from the coffee shop, and the couple walk hand-in-hand back to the party.

Joe And Susan’s Love Story Is Bittersweet

Joe Learns What True Love Really Means

It’s a bittersweet story between Susan and Joe, though more for Joe than anyone. Joe Black, who is death, has never experienced the human feeling of love before, but he does when he meets Susan. It’s such a powerful force that he determines to take her from the world of the living. It’s a little like the Greek myth of Hades taking Persephone down to the Underworld. However, Joe fortunately learns an important rule of love: if you love something, let it go.

So that’s what Joe does. Not only does he realize that Susan loved the man who died, whose body joe is inhabiting, Joe realizes that ripping Susan from this world would be selfish, and therefore not an act of love. It’s a very bittersweet ending in that both people realize they can’t, and really shouldn’t be together. If that part doesn’t bring on the waterworks, then Joe resurrecting the man from the coffee shop as a last gift to Susan, will.

Joe Helps Bill Take Back Control Of His Company From Drew

Quince Helps Joe Get Drew Fired From The Board

A side plot in Meet Joe Black involves Susan’s former fiance, Drew (Jake Weber), trying to wrestle control of Bill’s media company away from him. He nearly gets away with it too. When Bill starts bringing the enigmatic and odd Joe Black around everywhere, Drew uses this and sows disinformation among the other bord members. Drew makes it look like Bill is letting this random man make major decisions for the company, and the board votes Bill out.

Bill’s son-in-law, Quince (Jeffrey Tambor), inadvertently let Drew know about Joe Black and Bill talking business, and now feels terrible for what resulted. However, Joe hatches a plan with the contrite Quince. Joe reveals his “true” idenтιтy to Drew and the board, who are attending the birthday party. He pretends to be an IRS agent investigating dirty dealings with the company and Drew. The board fires Drew on the spot, and reinstates Bill’s legacy, making sure he goes out on top.

Susan Loved The Man In The Coffee Shop, Not Joe Black

Joe Was Never Meant To Be With Susan

One major question in Meet Joe Black is whether Susan loved the enтιтy that calls itself Joe Black, or if she truly loved the man from the coffee shop. While she does spend most of the movie with Joe Black, it’s clear that the real person she fell in love with was the man from the coffee shop. They had the initial connection. In fact, she’s a bit confused by Joe Black’s antics, and doesn’t understand why the charming man from the café is acting so strangely now.

However, her initial feelings for the man are enough to keep her interested, even when he is figuring out what peanut ʙuттer is. In the end, Susan understands that Joe and the man from the coffee shop are two different “people” and also understands that she only loves one of them. When the man returns, he tells Susan that he wishes he knew her father, and she says she wishes the same, implying she knows Joe Black is gone.

Susan asks the coffee shop man a question she asked Joe Black earlier in the film: “What do we do now?” Joe and the coffee shop man give the same answer, “It will come to us”. That answer is something that touched Susan. The fact that the coffee shop man says it independent of Joe Black helps confirm to Susan that he truly is the man she loves. It’s a fantasy romance, and the rules of the genre say that for the loss of Joe and her father, Susan gains the reward of love.

The Real Meaning Of Meet Joe Black’s Ending

Meet Joe Black Is About Living Your Life To The Fullest

Meet Joe Black is a thoughtful look at death and love, and works to show how death isn’t some frightening monster, but maybe just a guy who is unaccustomed to life on earth. What is frightening is the thought of leaving this Earth unfulfilled, or not saying the things you meant to say. Bill finally has a conversation with his eldest daughter, Allison (Marcia Gay Harden), and the two come to an understanding. He shares a dance with Susan. He says goodbye to those he knew and loved and wishes them all well. It’s a life well-lived.

That’s why he walks off so calmly to his death, he’s lived a fulfilled life. In Meet Joe Black​​​​​​​, Death is somewhat scary, but it’s the part of life that makes it worth living. If we lived forever, it would all be meaningless. That’s what Joe Black comes to understand. If he were to take Susan into the realm of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ to live forever, their love would turn meaningless. Even death comes to learn that it’s the very finite aspects of death that make life worth living. That’s why it’s so hard for Joe to leave in the end.