Paul is an endearing science fiction comedy with quite the tumultuous ending, with a wide variety of different plot threads suddenly wrapping together before resolving in a swirling storm of chaotic fun. Often considered to be the unofficial fourth entry in the Cornetto Flavours trilogy thanks to Nick Frost and Simon Pegg’s humor in both the acting and the writing, Paul has all the markings of an irreverent Edgar Wright genre tribute without the acclaimed British director himself. In fact, Paul is a blatant love letter to family-friendly blockbusters of a bygone age, despite being quite foul-mouthed itself.

Paul centers on a pair of self-described science fiction nerds from the United Kingdom, Simon Pegg’s Graeme and Nick Frost’s Clive, who do write and do artwork for their own independent comic book, respectively. On a road trip across the Southwestern United States to see the various locations of famous alien sightings, they get the shock of a lifetime when they encounter a real, living extraterrestrial, Paul. Voiced by Seth Rogen, Paul is a wisecracking gray alien who has grown accustomed to Earth culture after living on the planet for years.

How Does Paul’s Story On Earth End

Paul’s Ending Ties Up Many Loose Ends

Despite his acclimation to the local culture, Paul voices his desire to return home, and Graeme and Clive agree to help him signal his mothership by launching fireworks off of the Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming, famous for its use in the Spielberg movie Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. This is fitting enough, as much of Paul is essentially one giant love letter to Spielberg’s Summer blockbusters, especially those centered around aliens, such as the latter and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

During their adventure, Graeme and Clive recruit help from religious fundamentalist Ruth Buggs, played by Kristen Wiig, and Tara Walton, the first human Paul encountered on Earth whose life was ruined by her claims of meeting alien life. Along the way, they also have to dodge pursuit by Secret Service special agents O’Reilly, Haggard, and Zoil, played hilariously by Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, and Jason Bateman, directed by the mysterious “Big Guy”. Eventually, Clive, Graeme, Ruth, and Tara are able to overcome them and deliver Paul back to his mothership.

What Happens With The Government Agents Tracking Paul

Paul Slips From The U.S. Government’s Grasp

Eventually, the ominous “Big Guy” directing the government agents turns out to be a woman, played by none other than Sigourney Weaver. In another twist, Jason Bateman’s Agent Zoil turns traitor, revealed to be a close friend of Paul’s the whole time, secretly facilitating his escape as a double agent. This explains a lot about the Special Agents’ continued incompetency in capturing Paul, from allowing Ruth to escape to trying to stall “The Big Guy” for as long as possible. Hilariously, Zoil’s first name is revealed to be Lorenzo, a pun on the George Miller film Lorenzo’s Oil.

Ultimately, The Big Guy is crushed by the landing of Paul’s spacecraft. Like most people who experience Paul’s healing powers, the government agents present during Paul’s escape seem to have a dramatic change in worldview after being healed by the other members of Paul’s species, expressing graтιтude for their rescue and promising not to come after the other human characters in the future. The pilot of The Big Guy’s helicopter can even be seen chatting with an alien pilot about the specifications of their spacecraft.

Why Tara Goes With Paul

After Years Of Being Shunned, She’s Given The Chance To Explore The Universe

Right before he steps on the ramp to leave, Paul offers Tara a chance to come with him into space to see the wonders of the cosmos. He does this out of a sense of guilt for essentially ruining her life on Earth by revealing herself to her privately, burdening her with the incredible knowledge of extraterrestrial life. Tara has a clear deep-seated wonder for the aliens and the galaxy, and with little tethering her back to Earth, she accepts the last-minute proposal.

Funnily enough, it seems like Paul didn’t clear Tara’s tagging along with his alien buddies, having to specify to them that Tara is coming along. The decision certainly seems to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, with Tara not even having time to pack a toothbrush. Despite the hardships of space travel and possibly never seeing another human again, Paul could hypothetically keep Tara immortal by healing her over and over again. If there were ever to be a Paul 2, it could center on Paul and Tara’s adventures in space.

Where Clive, Graeme, And Ruth End Up After Their Encounter With Paul

The Human Characters Get Quite The Happy Ending

Perhaps the last big development of Paul‘s ending is the development of Graeme and Ruth’s relationship, with the former’s romantic feelings for the latter seeded from pretty much the moment they meet. Initially, Graeme and Ruth may seem to have nothing in common, with the Ruth being a fundamentalist Christian and Graeme being a religion-agnostic science fiction geek. However, Ruth’s transformative experience being healed by Paul and the ensuing journey led to the two becoming close enough to eventually share a kiss when Graeme is resurrected by the wisecracking alien.

The anti-religious narrative of Paul is fueled by Ruth’s father Moses, played by character actor John Carrol Lynch, who sees the wandering British duo and Paul himself as a bad influence on his daughter, leading her away from the light of God. Moses survives the firefight with the Secret Service to blast a hole in Graeme’s chest, only for him to be healed by Paul. This, in turn, causes Moses to believe that Paul is the messiah, prompting him to lay down his weapon and accept Paul’s word as gospel.

At the very end of the film, Ruth, Graeme, and Clive are shown at San Diego Comic Con two years later, enjoying the success of their graphic novel simply тιтled Paul, clearly based off of their experiences. This provides a way for the three of them to tell their story without necessarily admitting that what happened was actually true, avoiding the damage Paul’s existence caused to Tara’s life. It’s surprising just how heartwarming of an ending a crᴀss comedy like Paul manages to close out with, but that’s exactly what the film is able to accomplish.