Fountain of Youth is Guy Ritchie’s latest star-studded adventure movie, and the ending has plenty of characters and thematic ideas to examine. Fountain of Youth’s cast is led by John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, who play estranged siblings Luke and Charlotte. Luke ropes Charlotte into a scheme by billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson) to locate and use the Fountain of Youth, the mythical pool that supposedly offers immortality to those who drink from it. Owen claims that he’s dying from cancer and wishes to use the Fountain to save his life.

The movie’s ending sees Luke and Charlotte successfully lead Owen Carver to the Fountain of Youth, where Luke is the first to test the mystical liquid. After stepping into it and glimpsing its power, he decides not to drink from it, leaving Owen to do so. We see Owen transformed by the liquid’s power before Esme (Eiza González) uses the key given to her by the Elder (Stanley Tucci) to shut it down.

What Luke Really Sees In The Fountain Of Youth

Luke Realizes He Wants To Be With His Loved Ones

When Luke glimpses into the Fountain of Youth, he sees Charlotte and her son Thomas in an old, sickly state, and he decides not to drink from the Fountain. As the Elder says, the Fountain contains something that human beings can’t quite comprehend just yet, and by drinking from it, Luke would drain the life from his loved ones and take it for himself. Later, Luke describes the Fountain’s contents as “Everything.”

In terms of Luke’s character arc, what he’s describing as “everything” could be a reflection of what truly matters in his life: his family. By seeing them in such a decrepit state, he realizes that he doesn’t need to obtain immortality or vast power; he just wants to restore his bond with his sister and her son. In a metaphysical sense, he might be suggesting that the Fountain of Youth contained something beyond comprehension, such as answers to spiritual questions.

What John Krasinski Has Said About Fountain Of Youth’s Ending

Following the film’s release, Krasinski explained Fountain of Youth‘s ending as far as Luke’s conclusion is concerned. He talked about what went into bringing this scene to life and what the Fountain of Youth represents, further revealing why Luke saw Charlotte and Thomas.

It’s a very human desire to always want something more than you already have. Guy talked about that all the time and said, “What if the fountain of youth was inside you? What if it’s just a metaphor for the light inside you that you can either make brighter or dimmer? And what if you worked really hard to pull out all the things that made you joyful, rather than the things that you were wanting? What could you do to make people around you happier?”

I thought that philosophical angle was really beautiful. Charlotte showed me that the bond that we have is rarer than any artifact that I could have. Guy said, “It will be your sister that convinces you that you have the access to everything you could possibly want right here.” And I thought that was pretty heavy.

The fountain is everything that you could possibly want, but if you get everything you want, then you have to live there and you have to remain there. You can’t have both things.

Charlotte’s Plan To “Find Something Lost” Explained

Luke, Charlotte, & Thomas Will Continue Their Adventures Together

The final lines of Fountain of Youth show Luke and Charlotte discussing their next movie, with Charlotte saying they should continue to find things that are lost. She and her brother had their differences following the loss of their father, finding themselves on opposite ends of a spectrum; he wanted to continue adventuring and couldn’t settle down or find internal peace, while she struggled with an everyday life, ultimately getting a divorce from her husband. After the movie’s climax, they strike a balance.

Luke and Charlotte have both realized how much they need these adventures. It’s what they were essentially raised to do, and their pᴀssion is for uncovering mysterious artifacts. Now, with Thomas involved, they can do so in a way that benefits all of them, allowing them to spend time together as a family, hunting treasure and exploring the world together.

Owen Carver’s Full Plan & What Happens When He Drinks From The Fountain Explained

Owen Carver Wanted To Commercialize The Fountain’s Liquid

Owen Carver begins the film seeming like an ally to the protagonists, as the benefactor behind this search for buried treasure. He’s been stealing art from around the world to gather clues to find the Fountain of Youth, claiming that he has cancer and wants to use it to save his life. Luke buys into this story, but Charlotte is the one who’s skeptical, realizing that Owen is a billionaire who’s obtained his wealth by ruthlessly taking over other companies, suggesting that he might want to commercialize the fountain’s liquid.

Upon reaching the Fountain, we learn that Owen doesn’t have cancer and that he’s purely searching for the Fountain to obtain power and wealth, describing the liquid as the world’s most valuable commodity. When he takes a sip, however, it begins to drain the life from his body. As the Elder says, if the person drinking from the Fountain loves themself more than anything else, it will have a more sporadic effect. Esme is forced to shut the Fountain down using the key, and Owen Carver’s fate is left ambiguous, with him left behind as everyone else escapes.

What Guy Ritchie & Domhnall Gleeson Have Said About Owen’s Fate

The film’s director and its Owen actor have chimed in on the character’s fate, too. Ritchie talked about the “temptation which few can resist” being a reason for the Fountain of Youth’s concealment, while Gleeson described how his character’s decision is perfectly in line with who Owen is.

Ritchie: There’s an idea that it wasn’t the first bite of the apple, but the reactive bite of the apple in the Garden of Eden that caused all the trouble. It is all well and good if you can taste something, if you don’t then have to go back and inhale the stimulating elixir that the fountain offers. The principle of the fountain is that the reason it’s concealed is because the inevitable temptation of having to drink more than you should is a temptation which few can resist.

Gleeson: He went into some sort of a void where he had to make a big decision, which was to fully take it, to fully commit to it, or to step back? He’s not one to step back. He keeps going forward. So, he dives in headfirst, and there’s a price to be paid for that. And it seems that he pays it.

How Esme Stops Carver From Using The Fountain

Esme Uses The Key As A Fail-Safe

Esme is a mysterious character throughout Fountain of Youth. Though she initially seems like an antagonist, she’s ultimately working for the betterment of humankind. While Jamal Abbas (Arian Moayed) pursues the protagonists to arrest them for stealing art, Esme pursues them to stop them from reaching the Fountain. She doesn’t trust Luke not to drink from it, but Owen Carver is the real threat.

During Esme’s conversation with the Elder, he hands her a key. Essentially, this key is used as a fail-safe to halt the activation of the Fountain once its power has been set in motion. Esme turns the key, enclosing the Fountain in its outer shell and recalling the stairs, giving Luke, Charlotte, and Thomas limited time to escape.

What Stanley Tucci’s The Elder Is Really Doing?

The Elder Protects Hidden Treasures Like The Fountain

Stanley Tucci’s character, the Elder, only really appears in Fountain of Youth for one scene, though we hear more exposition from him later on in the movie. The Elder seems to be the leader of an organization that protects mythical places like the Fountain (ᴀssuming there are others). As he says, humanity isn’t ready for the power of the Fountain, and it must be protected until then. The film leaves out many of the details of this organization, so it’s best to consider them as mystical as the location they protect.

The Real Meaning Of Fountain Of Youth Explained

Fountain Of Youth Is About Discovering What Really Matters In Life

Luke spends most of the film in pursuit of the Fountain of Youth, believing it to be the final prize in a lifetime of searching. While Charlotte has attempted to settle down, Luke has continued to pursue adventure after adventure, running from the law and mysterious organizations, putting his life at risk to chase what he believes is his purpose. While Charlotte evidently hasn’t succeeded in remaining in one place, trying to patch her holes with a marriage, Luke’s disposition isn’t working in his favor either, constantly leaving him unfulfilled.

The pair of siblings realize by the end of the film that the journey is what they’ve been pursuing all along. They repeat this phrase throughout the film, but it’s not until Luke glimpses at a much older Charlotte in the Fountain of Youth that he realizes what he truly wants isn’t at the end of an archaeological mystery, but to be with the family and loved ones he has around him. Fountain of Youth is a film that contrasts the appeal of immense power and immortality with the simple needs that are taken for granted in life.