In 2007, Joel and Ethan Coen released No Country for Old Men. It quickly became established
as one of their greatest films — but its ambiguous final scene confuses audiences to
this day. So let's journey back to Texas in 1980 and delve into the ending of No Country
for Old Men.
The primary narrative of the film is kicked off when Llewelyn Moss, played by Josh Brolin,
stumbles upon the aftermath of a shootout and walks away with a satchel packed full
of money. The deadly confrontation involved two major crime organizations, one based in
Mexico and the other in the United States.
Viewers know the Mexican half of this drug deal went seriously wrong, but it's clear
from the events of the film that the other side may be worse off by the time the dust
settles. The American organization attempting to buy the drugs has neither the goods they
wanted nor the cash that Llewelyn made off with. Then, to make matters worse, Javier
Bardem's character, Anton Chigurh, launches a reign of terror against them that seems
to go all the way to the top. And, as anyone who has seen this movie knows, you do not
want to be on the wrong side of Anton Chigurh.
"Who's this guy supposed to be? The ultimate badass?"
Thanks to the relentless Chigurh, No Country for Old Men is a white-knuckle ride with shootouts
in the street, life or death decisions based on the toss of a coin, and harrowing scenes
involving a captive bolt pistol that was meant to be used in slaughterhouses. However, along
with action and suspense, the film has plenty of introspective moments and thoughtful themes
that give viewers a lot to think about long after the movie is over.
Much of No Country for Old Men follows Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones, as
he becomes increasingly concerned about his place in the world as an aging lawman. The
deeper Bell gets into the situation involving Moss, Chigurh, and the missing money, the
more concerned he is about the future. At one point, he flat-out says that he just feels
"overmatched," and worries that the violence around him is escalating in a way that he
can't contend with.
By the end of the film, Bell is retired with his sense of law and order upended by the
Moss affair, which means someone else has to follow in his footsteps and become the
next sheriff. Whether that's his deputy or someone else, Bell will no doubt have some
standing in his community as a kind of elder statesman.
The MacGuffin at the center of No Country for Old Men is a case containing more than
$2 million in cash. We watch as the money changes hands from the drug dealers to Moss,
and then to the hitman Chigurh.
So, what happens to the money after that? We know that a tracking device was placed
in the case from the very beginning to keep tabs on its whereabouts, but Moss eventually
gets rid of it. We also know that Chigurh was still able to hunt Moss down without the
tracker, and Chigurh didn't exactly disappear quietly. Even after a massive car accident
and a broken arm, he was able to patch himself up on the spot and simply walk away.
Will his surviving former employers track him down, or will Chigurh make himself disappear?
If anyone can manage to hide himself and $2 million in plain sight, it's Anton Chigurh.
Midway through the film, a man in a mysterious office building hires Woody Harrelson's character,
Carson Wells, to seek out Moss and get the money back before Chigurh gets his hands on
it. Wells, a savvy contract killer in his own right, is familiar enough with Chigurh
to know how dangerous he is, and smart enough to try to get to the money without directly
involving him. Unfortunately for Wells, Chigurh finds him anyway and kills him on principle.
If the organization that hired Wells is still trying to track down Chigurh and the money
after the film ends, it's easy to imagine that they'll be sending out other hired killers
to see who can finally bag Chigurh. It's also easy to imagine him killing every single one
of them without a moment of hesitation or concern.
Near the end of the film, after he's found Moss dead and realized that the money is gone,
Sheriff Bell returns home to visit his Uncle Ellis, a former lawman living all alone in
a ramshackle house. Over the course of their conversation, Bell makes it clear that he
feels he can't contend with the modern class of criminal.
Ellis responds with a certain degree of sympathy, but also tells him about a horrific crime
from many decades earlier. While not quite on par with the massive drug shootout at the
beginning of the film, it reminds Bell that violence is nothing new. The world is a dark
place, particularly if you devote your life to fighting on the side of the light. Ellis
explains to Bell that it's vanity to believe that this struggle is new and unique to him.
"You can't stop what's coming. It ain't all waitin' on you."
Bell seems to concede this point, but also feels the time is right to hang it up. The
scene is a perfect encapsulation of the film's meditation on how violence preys upon the
soul.
No Country for Old Men is remembered for a great many things, but perhaps one of the
most discussed moments of the film is its ambiguous final scene. Bell sits at his dining
room table and tells his wife about a dream he had. In the dream, he and his father are
riding on horseback through the night, and his father rides past him silently carrying
fire in a horn. He knows his father will be waiting up ahead, having made a fire for them,
as Bell says, "in all that dark and all that cold."
The former sheriff concludes by saying this…
"And I knew that whenever I got there, he'd be there. And then I woke up."
And with that line, both the dream and the film ends, leaving most viewers scratching
their heads.
In the context of the rest of the movie, as Bell reckons with his place in a world, the
dream feels like the conclusion of a man who knows that death is the next milestone. He's
retired from law enforcement, like his late-father before him, and so his subconscious is telling
him that their reunion in the afterlife is imminent. But, of course, Bell's dream ends
before he joins his father at the fire, which means that he still has some living left to
do.
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