Summary

• Joel and Clementine's relationship in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a beautiful yet complex journey of love, memory, and acceptance.
• The film's ambiguous and satisfying ending explores the cyclical nature of love and the importance of memories in shaping our lives.
• Despite the risks and potential pitfalls, Joel and Clementine choose to take a leap of faith and explore their feelings, embracing the unpredictable nature of love.

The ending of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explained the story of Joel & Clementine and the full impact of their deliberate memory-wiping. Directed by Michael Gondry from a script by Charlie Kauffman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind follows Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), two strangers who meet on a train and then fall in and out of love. The pair both undergo treatment to have their memories of the other removed, although not before recording tapes to remind them of every little thing they hated about the other.

Despite trying to forget one-another, Joel and Clementine find their way back to each other, although it's not an easy path, nor a linear one. Large portions of the movie take place in Joel's mind. As the story pushes forward, events replay with blanks being filled in, and their relationship starts to blossom — again to the audience, but for the first time for them. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has been celebrated as a modern masterpiece since its release, and a large part of that is down to its ambiguous and satisfying ending.

What Happens In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's Ending

Joel And Clementine's Ill-Fated Romance Begins Anew

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has Joel and Clementine learning the truth about what happened to them, and what they thought about each other before undergoing the procedure. Having both made their way to Montauk, which itself stemmed from a memory Joel had during his treatment, they receive the tapes thanks to Mary, a technician at Lacuna, discovering that she underwent the memory erasure procedure to forget about her affair with the head of the company, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ends with Joel and Clementine agreeing to start again.

Mary mails out all the tapes, and eventually both Joel and Clementine come to listen. They're horrified at the things they said — and felt — about one another, especially because to them the relationship is so new and exciting. However, they decide to give things another go. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ends with Joel and Clementine agreeing to start again/for the first time, before closing out with a loop of the pair in the snow.

Why Joel & Clementine Get Back Together In Eternal Sunshine's Ending

The Quirky Sci-Fi Is About The Importance Of Memory

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending not only sees Clementine almost walk out of Joel's life, but it acknowledges the pair getting back together is a potential mistake. While Joel insists he "can't think of anything" he doesn't like about her, Clementine responds that he will and that she'll "get bored...and feel trapped." Despite that, the closing moments of the film ostensibly see them getting back together despite those risks; both are accepting of it, as evidenced by Eternal Sunshine's repetition of "okay."

Although the film isn't explicit, which is by its design, and that "okay" could mean "okay, let's not try again," the implication is they are back together at this point. But knowing what they do now, it begs a fair question of why they're going to go through with it, despite having heard where it'll lead. Joel and Clementine make the romantic choice at the end of Eternal Sunshine: that it's better to love, lose, love, and potentially lose again than it is to not have those real memories.

In the end, they choose to take a leap of faith with one another and decide to explore their feelings and see where they lead, rather than shutting them off completely and being miserable again.

It might not work out, but right now, that's all part of the adventure they can go on together, as they re-discover who the other person is, and also find a big part of themselves that's been missing too. Even if they do break up again, they cannot be complete without knowing what it's like to be with each other, because it's a very literal missing piece of their respective puzzles. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is about memory — and so too is life, but that goes for both good and bad.

It's all those memories that make up a person's life, and Joel and Clementine need that if they're to go on. Things could end up different this time, especially with prior knowledge of these things. In the end, they choose to take a leap of faith with one another and decide to explore their feelings and see where they lead, rather than shutting them off completely and being miserable again. It may end in heartache, but they also know it'll bring happiness, laughter, and love into their lives, so it is worth a shot.

Is Joel & Clementine's Relationship Doomed To Fail Again

Their May Not Be A Happily Ever After

With Joel and Clementine entering into this new relationship, the audience is aware of the potential dangers. While the choice they make is the right, albeit more difficult, one, it doesn't guarantee a happy ending. There are no hints in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending that this is a couple built to last, or that things will end differently. If getting back together is to highlight the oft-cyclical nature of life and the way people can repeat mistakes, then it would be easy to argue they will break up once more.

Joel and Clementine have a rare second chance to start anew together.

Having witnessed Joel and Clementine's relationship, it is clear there are many ways in which they're not compatible, with almost countless things about them that will irritate and wear down the other. And since it didn't work before, it could mean it won't work again. But at the same time, part of making mistakes is to take the opportunity to grow and learn from them; to do things differently. It may be that way with other people, but Joel and Clementine have a rare second chance to start anew together.

Part of the beauty of the ending is that ambiguous, bittersweet nature to it, where a person's interpretation can come down less to what the film presents, which could go either way, and more to the kind of person they are, allowing the viewer to take what they want from it without trading on delivering on the film's overall themes and messages, and still giving a satisfying sense of closure.

The Meaning Of Mary Sending Out The Lacuna Tapes

Mary's Sabotage Gave Joel And Clementine A Second Chance

One of the most decisive moments in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes not from Joel or Clementine, but from Mary (Kirsten Dunst), the Lacuna employee who sends out the tapes. While this serves a crucial narrative function — to effectively give Joel and Clementine their memories of one another back — it also has a greater thematic purpose as well. Mary's choice isn't just her lashing out in anger at Dr. Mierzwiak and an attempt at revenge, though it is both of those things.

This is not least because of the damage it will do to the company — but also because of how she gives Joel, Clementine, and all the other Lacuna patients the choice that she never had. Mary had to discover the hard way of the memory erasure procedure she went through, of the affair with Dr. Mierzwiak, and the fact it is happening all over again.

This regret at experiencing the same pain twice (and quite specifically, the pain of heartbreak), without first being allowed to learn and grow from it, is a key part of the human experience that she was robbed of. That's not something Mary can rectify with herself, because she went through the treatment alone and because of who she tried to forget, but it's something other people — especially Joel and Clementine — can learn from.

Joel & Clementine Might've Had Their Memories Erased Multiple Times

The Movie Hints That The Couple Are Stuck In A Loop

One of the major questions left behind by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending is whether what we're seeing play out is the first and/or only time Joel and Clementine have had their memories wiped. The cyclical, non-linear structure of the film's narrative itself suggests that this is a real possibility and that Joel and Clementine have walked down this path many times before. The key signifier of this comes in the movie's closing sequence, which sees Joel and Clementine in the snow in Montauk.

The scene briefly plays, and then jarringly cuts back to the beginning, happening several times over on a loop. This suggests that Joel and Clementine themselves are trapped in this very loop, of finding one another, falling in love, starting to resent each other, breaking up and having their memories wiped, and then finding their way back to each other again, the process beginning anew each time.

Even the weather fits this: snow itself can represent a fresh start, a blanket covering what went before, that then melts away. If this is the case, then Joel and Clementine could have been through this an untold number of times. The notion is also supported by Kauffman's original script for the film (via Screenplays For You) which, among its differences, ends with a much older version of Clementine, whose file has "a list of fifteen dates of previous erasures stretching back fifty years, all of them involving Joel Barish."

Although Kauffman shifted away from this, and into something that is at once perhaps more ambiguous and more hopeful (and works better, in truth), it supports the notions the film itself does have in that Joel and Clem have been through this before. That itself, however, does nothing to undercut their journey, but instead shows the powerful connection they share, and how they will keep finding their way back to one another.

What Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's Ending Really Means

The Movie Is About Love Being Worth It Despite The Pain

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's ending doesn't just bring together its various narrative beats and provide a resolution (of sorts) for Joel and Clementine, but it also ties together the themes and deeper meanings of the movie as a whole. That Joel and Clementine seemingly choose to try again (and perhaps do so many times) helps speak to the nature and importance of memories as a tool for life lessons; that they're something to be cherished, not erased.

That itself is ultimately a choice in favor of love, and a victory for it too. Despite the pain love can cause, it's ultimately going to be worth it for the joy and, of course, the memories it will bring and leave viewers with. It's an experience that is better to have than not have, which is something Joel and Clementine accept in the end. The ending of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explained grander themes still of love, and more specifically who they love, and the choices around that.

Joel and Clementine are very different people

Joel and Clementine are very different people, and they bring out both the best and the worst in each other. That they are so drawn together shows that love is boundless and a person cannot choose who they love; it can be unpredictable and senseless, but that's the way it works. What a person can choose is whether they accept that love or not, the risks that come with it, and if they're going to be worth it, which is what Joel and Clementine do at the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.