Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Uncut Gems.
The Uncut Gems ending comes almost as a sigh of relief, relinquishing the audience from two hours of unnerving and unrestrained stress courtesy of its main character, Howard Ratner. Directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, the film follows Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic and eccentric jeweler in the Big Apple's Diamond District, through a series of ill-conceived bets and a sea of ferocious loan sharks until he finally achieves what he always wanted: his big break. In a surprisingly successful turn of events, Uncut Gems implements a hybrid cast of high-brow performers (most of which are making their big screen debuts) and fresh faces for its immersive and stressful theatrical experience. Joining Sandler are fellow actors Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, and Judd Hirsch, as well as non-film-related celebrities like NBA star Kevin Garnett, Canadian singer The Weeknd, sports broadcaster Mike Francesca, and model Paloma Elsesser.
Set in 2012 on the brink of the Boston Celtics semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Uncut Gems begins with Ratner obtaining what he considers to be a perfectly priced possession: a rare and illegal gem from an Ethiopian Jewish mining company. With it, he hopes to settle his outstanding gambling debts – most prominently, the hefty sum he owes his brother-in-law Arno (Eric Bogosian) – by selling the opal at an auction. But when his assistant Demany (Stanfield) brings Kevin Garnett to the store, things start to go awry. Garnett, who peers into the immaculate crystals, feels that with the opal in his possession, his on-court performance would be unstoppable, and successfully bargains to hold onto the gem for his upcoming games. Meanwhile, Ratner's gambling obsession is coupled by his crippling marriage with Dinah (Idina Menzel) and his off-the-rails affair with his much younger employee, Julia (Julia Fox).
As the film unwinds, dispelling a voluptuously unsettling series of events onto the audience, the levels of paranoia, intensity, and fright all rapidly increase until finally bursting in the Uncut Gems ending. For what it's worth, this climax is just as stressful as the rest of the film, concluding on one last shot that may have audience members scratching their heads out of the theater. Here's a breakdown of all that happened in the Uncut Gems ending.
What Happens In Uncut Gems' Ending
There comes a point in Uncut Gems where it seems like a very fine line is crossed. Witnessing Ratner squirm out of countless numbers of close calls and dodgy bets, while simultaneously digging himself into a bigger and bigger hole, the viewer begins to sense that there is absolutely no way the New York jeweler can come out on top. To the film's credit, however, for a good long while, Howard looks like he may actually wiggle his way out of this jam.
After botching his chances at the auction by asking his father-in-law Gooey (Hirsch) to drive up the price, Howard and Garnett soon come to an understanding over the gem, finally settling on the $175,000 the basketball star had originally offered towards the beginning of the film. Though he now has enough money to pay off his brother-in-law, whose patience is quickly drying out, Ratner opts instead to put the money on the line once again and place another bet on Garnett. Handing off the money to Julia, who in turn, sneaks out of the office away from Arno's goons and to a casino, Howard then traps his brother-in-law and his muscle in between the locked doors separating the jewelry store from the hallway. In this predicament, Howard forces them to watch the game as Kevin Garnett's historic performance provides the gambling jeweler with his big break.
Arno, awestruck by what he just witnessed, experiences a change of heart, though his hitman Phil (Keith Williams Richards) does not. After being relinquished from the claustrophobic prison Howard had kept them in for the duration of the basketball game, Phil leaps up, steams over to Howard and shoots him in the head at point blank range. When Arno protests to the death of his brother-in-law, Phil similarly shoots his boss in the head, before proceeding to loot Howard's store of all the jewelry inside.
Howard Ratner's Death Explained & Meaning
Uncut Gem's final shot leaves off on Howard's corpse, lying on its back and staring up at the sky in a rapidly growing pool of blood. The camera engages in another one of its uncomfortably extensive zooms, this time penetrating through the bullet hole in Howard's cheek and through his head until finally coasting through the familiar geologic and colorful terrain of the opal. This symbiotic conclusion confirms what the bulk of Uncut Gems' 135-minute runtime infers: that Howard's life revolved around greed. The Safdie Brothers' have confirmed to The Wrap that the kaleidoscopic aesthetic achieved by peering into the gemstone is a representation of the circle of life. So just as Howard had lived by the pursuit of money, just so had he died.
Where Does The Money Go?
Julia's rather heroic exit making off with Howard's money seals Uncut Gems off on a relatively happy note. In reality, should Uncut Gems have continued, Julia's happiness would not have lasted long, given that she would have inevitably discovered that the life she was excited to begin and the man she was prepared to spend it with were now both dead. This does leave the question of what happens with Howard's winnings up in the air.
Because Julia was aware of Howard's familial situation, and that she, other than that one pervasive scene with The Weeknd, is a good person, it's likely that she wouldn't leave Howard's three fatherless children completely ignorant of their father's grand prize. Splitting the several hundreds of thousands of dollars with the rest of the Ratners in their time of grieving (though the children, other than Howard's eldest son, don't seem too enthused by their father), it's a good feeling knowing that Julia has a relatively open path at a new start in New York City, or anywhere else she'd please.
This is assuming, of course, that Julia makes it out with the money alive. Because Howard has been killed, it is very possible that the few remaining people he'd owed would relinquish their pursuit of getting their money back. But Phil and his team, as the only people who know how much money Howard had just earned, could very possibly go after her and the cash, especially since their professional ties with Arno have ceased to be. But if what happens to Julia was of pressing concern, the Safdie Brothers would have included it in Uncut Gems, their horrifyingly entrapping tale of greed, addiction, and, in an odd way, Judaism.
