Sucker Punch ending explained: Babydoll’s fate and the ideas of sacrifice and victory

Co-written and directed by Zack Snyder, Sucker Punch is a fantasy action flick that was heavily panned upon release in 2011 for a number of reasons. Although visually engaging, action-packed, and symbolically layered (like a Russian Doll), it was said to be hollow and offensive in its portrayal of central female characters. The casual moviegoers were not all fans of this film either.

Regardless of these facts, even 15 years after its release, many people are interested in breaking down the film's final moments, and to understand what really happens at the end of Sucker Punch. Before diving into these details, let us understand what it's about. Per IMDb, its official logline reads,

"A young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape."

The cast includes Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, and Jon Hamm in key roles. The film is available to watch on the streaming service, Starz.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch. Reader discretion is advised.

What is the plot of Sucker Punch?

Here are a few things to know about Sucker Punch before we go further analyzing its ending that many felt was incoherent. The film revolves around a young woman, dubbed Babydoll (Emily Browning), who is put into a mental asylum by her abusive father to get lobotomized. In order to escape, she needs to acquire a few objects.

The film supposedly takes place in narrator Sweet Pea's mind, which goes through different layers of realities to save her. There's an asylum layer, there's a club, and then there's a fantasy layer. The script ties in with her emotional instability and shows her traveling from one to another to seek an escape.

Unlike the asylum where Babydoll is a patient, in the club, she is a dancer along with Amber (Jamie Chung), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Rocket (Jena Malone), and Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). Here, Babydoll realizes she will be se*ually ab*sed by a person. With other inmates, she escapes into a fantasy realm to enter the different chapters.

What happens at the end of Sucker Punch?

A still from Sucker Punch (Image via YouTube/WarnerBros.)

In the fantasy layer, Babydoll and the other female inmates fight battles that have parallels in their real world (the asylum layer). During these challenges, Rocket gets sacrificed. It leads Babydoll to realize that her sacrifice is a way for her escape in this crooked tale. She helps the narrator Sweet Pea to escape.

Toward the end of Sucker Punch, asylum orderly Blue is revealed to be the evil force behind everyone's torture and in authorizing Babydoll's lobotomy. So, he gets arrested and so does her father. In the final moments, she tries to enter a bus, only to be stopped by the authorities. However, the bus driver happens to be "the wise man," who lets her board the bus and helps her.

The point of this film is revealed in its title. It tries to have its last few moments have an effect akin to a trickster ending a trick by saying "Haha, gotcha!".

Unfortunately, it falls flat in exploring the idea of liberation and in presenting a satirical critique of female objectification. Instead, many felt that for nearly two hours it does the exact opposite — it uses its female characters as self-gratifying entertainment for the audiences.

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Edited by Vinayak Chakravorty