George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s new movie, Wolfs, takes audiences on a wild ride of crime, betrayal, and comedy, building toward an ending filled with twists. The Wolfs cast is led by the two veteran movie stars, both of whom play lone fixers who are called upon for the same job, forcing them to put aside their egos and work together. But what ensues is a multi-layered plot that involves both of them, their bosses, a mysterious District Attorney client, and the Kid (Austin Abrams).
Clooney and Pitt’s fixers spend the night working the job, which leads them to the middle of a gunfight between rival gangs at the final drop-off. As Clooney and Pitt deal with the Croatian gangsters from Dimitri’s club event, the Kid ends up hiding in the trunk of a car while the remaining gunmen kill each other off. They drop off the drugs, Clooney decides not to execute the Kid, and they all depart. The final scene sees Clooney and Pitt’s characters sitting at a diner mulling the evening over, where they finally put the pieces together on what’s happened.
Do Brad Pitt & George Clooney’s Fixers Die In Wolfs’ Ending?
It’s Ambiguous, But A Sequel Is In The Works, So Probably Not
The Wolfs ending sees Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s characters eating at a diner when they realize something is off. Moments later, they notice that the diner is surrounded by armed gunmen there to kill them, and they prepare for another shootout before the movie ends. It’s left ambiguous whether or not they die, and the movie ending pays homage to the classic Western film Butch Cᴀssidy and the Sundance Kid, where the movie ends as the two тιтular gunslingers are surrounded and about to fight for their lives.
[I]t seems more likely that they survive the encounter, escape, and live to seek out revenge on those who set them up.
In the case of Wolfs, the fact that Apple is planning a sequel for the film with the two leads set to return as their characters implies that they likely aren’t ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. The ending pays homage to Butch and Sundance, a movie where it’s implied that the two protagonists die. However, in Wolfs, it seems more likely that they survive the encounter, escape, and live to seek out revenge on those who set them up.
This is all predicated on the idea that there will be a sequel. Until that sequel is official, the viewer can decide how they’d like to treat the ending’s ambiguity.
Wolfs’ Set-Up & Trap For Brad Pitt & George Clooney’s Fixers Explained
Their Mutual Boss Meant To Have Them Both Killed
In the final moments of Wolfs, Clooney and Pitt’s characters realize what’s been at stake the whole time. The most important realization they have is that they work for the same guy, which allows them to re-examine the rest of their information.
They quickly weed through the events of the evening and realize that the only way it all makes sense is that it was a set-up for the two of them and that, for whatever reason, their mutual boss wants them out of the picture. Without more information, it’s impossible to know why, but this will likely be explored if a sequel happens.
Why The Fixers Don’t Reveal Their Names In Wolfs Explained
The Wolfs Are Purposefully Anonymous
Brad Pitt and George Clooney’s characters in Wolfs never reveal their names, and this is crucial to their character development. The film offers some character study into the life of the crime fixer, demonstrating how the anonymity required for such a job would seep into one’s personal life, with the fixer eventually losing his sense of self. It’s important in Wolfs that Pitt and Clooney’s characters don’t even remember they haven’t shared their names until the end of the movie.
Maybe they used to have names, and maybe those names carried meaning to them, but now they’re just two individual guys who do a job no one else can do.
Another aspect present is the fact that Pitt and Clooney’s characters are meant to resemble each other. Even the Kid says they’re practically the same person. They’re two sides of the same coin, and only in seeing each other do they finally catch their reflection in the mirror, realizing how distant they’ve grown from their humanity. Maybe they used to have names, and maybe those names carried meaning to them, but now they’re just two individual guys who do a job no one else can do.
Who Brad Pitt & George Clooney’s Fixers’ Real Employers Are
Both Fixers Share The Same Employer
The employers behind Pitt and Clooney are notably absent from the film, and this is intentional. Both of them are familiar with June and Dimitri from previous work experiences, but they aren’t their bosses, merely clients. The most important aspect is that their real employer is the same person, as it means they’ve spent much of their lives working under the illusion that they were the only one. The revelation that such a significant portion of their careers has been a lie is game-changing to them and instantly shifts their perspective.
Why The Fixers Don’t Kill The Kid In Wolfs
The Fixers Want To Retain Some Part Of Their Humanity
As much as Brad Pitt and George Clooney are reflections of each other in Wolfs, the Kid is a representation of something they’ve both lost. He may have gotten mixed up in some bad business, but he comes off as a deeply innocent person who allows the fixers to remember their own humanity. Clooney’s character contemplates killing him, and Pitt’s character offers to be a secondary gunman in case he can’t bring himself to do it.
By not killing the Kid, the fixers have retained some semblance of their humanity.
In the climactic moment, neither of them shoots the Kid, with Pitt’s character shooting at a stash of drugs on the ground instead, revealing there to be a tracker. By not killing the Kid, the fixers have retained some semblance of their humanity. In the past, they might have done so without a second thought, as it’s a logical part of the job, but deciding against executing him demonstrates their internal growth over the course of the night.
Wolfs’ Mid-Credits Scene & Original Crime Explained
Someone Has Video Footage Of Everything
The Wolfs mid-credits scene shows exactly what happened in the original crime with District Attorney Margaret and the Kid. This shows the Kid having his drug overdose and falling off the bed, much like how Margaret described it at the beginning of the movie. But the important aspect of the mid-credit scene is that it’s sH๏τ from a camera footage perspective, implying that this footage exists and that someone has it. This could tie into the plot of a Wolfs sequel, as it puts Margaret and the two fixers at risk.
The Real Meaning Of Wolfs Explained
Wolfs Is About The Importance Of
Jon Watts’ Wolfs is a comedic film with serious thematic undertones and some moments that are sure to prompt an emotional response. Action, crime, and conspiracy aside, Wolfs is a movie about two men forced to face the regret and loneliness in their lives. They’ve spent years working a job in the shadows, pushing them further and further from their personal lives and idenтιтies so that barely anything remains. Only by meeting each other do they realize how much they crave partnership and to have someone in their lives who understands what they’ve experienced.
How The Wolfs Ending Was Received
Wolfs’ Ending Was Seen As Indicative Of The Movie’s Bigger Problems
Wolfs received generally mixed reviews upon its release with many critics suggesting the chemistry between the two leads was the strong aspect of the movie while the story left a lot to be desired. Those negative feelings about the story largely extended to the ending with many critics expressing their dissatisfaction with how the movie concludes or being even more critical than that. In the cast of Chris Carey at The Film Legacy, he felt the tacked-on twist was not suited for such a film:
This is all suddenly pieced together in the last five minutes, and it’s complete nonsense. It’s just a dreadful ending, and feels like shameless sequel bait. This might have been an appropriate ending for a Marvel movie, but it absolutely does not work for a film like Wolfs.
While Tania Hussain at Collider was not quite as harsh on the ending, she did note that the abrupt conclusion does mirror the issues with the rest of Wolfs. In short, while certain things are hinted at or half explained, the movie doesn’t feel the need to strengthen the story as it can simply lean on the star power of Brad Pitt and George Clooney:
This all leads to the film’s rather abrupt ending, which makes sense now as Watts is working to establish a world that opens up the Apple TV+ production to franchise potential. Yet, even as it sets itself up with classier star power than Netflix’s saturation of “blockbusters,” there is something not quite satisfying from the experience.
