This article contains spoilers for Barron’s Cove.Garrett Hedlund and Stephen Lang explain the true meaning behind Barron’s Cove‘s ending. The film stars Hedlund as a father named Caleb who goes through the unthinkable — the death of his beloved son. When Caleb suspects that foul play may be involved, and has an idea of who might have been behind it, he is sent on a quest for justice. In addition to Hedlund and Lang, Barron’s Cove features a leading cast including Hamish Linklater, Brittany Snow, and Sweet Tooth‘s Christian Convery.

In an interview with ScreenRant, Hedlund and Lang speak about the Barron’s Cove ending. Hedlund confirms that the final hit against Caleb in the movie was “from his uncle,” played by Lang. Lang had an interesting take on these events, however, as he noted that the movie ends up with Caleb smiling for the first time in the entire movie. Laughing, he noted, “Benji ain’t such a bad guy, is he?” Check out the full quotes from Hedlund and Lang below:

Garrett Hedlund: That was absolutely from his uncle. Good family, good family. [Chuckles] Because the uncle felt like he had busted his a– to get to where he is, and then set the structure up for all of his mischievous businesses and runnings to work like a well-oiled machine, and everything was finally going right, and Caleb was the only one that could stand in the way of this and expose the villain. So, yeah. But, at the end of the day, all he really wanted was to be reunited with his son, anyway, so there’s a version where, potentially, everybody won.

Stephen Lang: It’s an interesting question, and I think there are any number of reasons. Number one, having to do with, first of all, “You’ve disobeyed me for the last time. I told you, I told you, I told you if I see your face again, I’m going to kill you.” It’s in the movie. The other thing is, and I almost prefer this, is that he’s doing him a favor. His life is over to me, and maybe that’s pure rationalization on my part. However, I will say the film ends the only way it possibly could end. It ends for Caleb, and that’s because Benji is the one who facilitates that, brings it about. And let’s not forget, Caleb ends up with a smile on his face, and it’s probably the first smile we’ve seen in the entire film. So Benji ain’t such a bad guy, is he? [Chuckles]

What This Means For Barron’s Cove

This Confirms Benji’s Actions

Barron’s Cove is all about complex and often fraught family relationships. There are several father-son relationships portrayed, but only one uncle-nephew relationship is shown in detail. That is this fracturing bond between Hedlund’s Caleb and his uncle, Benji. While Caleb has been communicating with Benji throughout the movie, it is later revealed that it is Benji who carried out a hit on Caleb in the film’s second act. It is interesting to hear confirmation that this final hit was ordered by Benji as well.

Lang and Hedlund also take an interesting perspective on how things end up for Caleb at the end of Barron’s Cove. There is a reading of the film wherein the ending is strictly negative. After all, the movie sees Caleb get sH๏τ and fall into the water, starting to drown before seemingly being rescued. If Caleb is truly ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, this is the moment when Caleb is “reunited with his son,” who died at the beginning of the movie. In this reading, the ending is happy.

Our Take On The Barron’s Cove Ending

Caleb’s Death Makes Sense

Barron’s Cove is an extremely dark film, filled with both the murder of one child and the torturing of another. Caleb is so grief-stricken and heartbroken that it makes sense that the only way he might be able to find peace is to die. The film tacks on additional scenes after Caleb gets sH๏τ, leading us to believe that he has survived his wounds. Even under this interpretation, wherein the scenes did happen and Caleb lived to tell the tale by the end of the film, his near-death moment was a way to reconnect with his son, whose life (and death) had been his biggest motivator.

Barron’s Cove is currently available in a limited theatrical release and on VOD.