The ending of Disney's Jungle Cruise,Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt's exotic river adventure, has just as many twists and turns as the Amazon. In Jungle Cruise, Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt), abotanist with shades of Indiana Jones, searches for theTears of the Moon, a mythical treewithunparalleled healingpowers. After an association of explorers denies Lily and her brother, McGregor (Jack Whitehall), access to an arrowhead that could help find the tree, Lily purloins the artifact, and the pair head to the Amazon searching for the magical plant. There, they are guided down the river byFrank Wolff (Johnson),who's after the Tears of the Moon for his own reasons.
Lily, McGregor, and Frank face many adversaries on their journey to the Tears of the Moon. The movie starts by introducing 16th-century Spanishconquistadors, led by Aguirre (Édgar Ramírez), who have been cursed after searching for the tree. Now, they are never able to die or leave theAmazon River. Leavingsight of the river leaves them trapped in stone and turns them into monsters. Additionally, the film takes place during World War I, and a German aristocrat namedPrince Joachim (Jesse Plemons) is also searching for the tree's healing powers, hoping it'll help win the war for Germany. For a time, the Germans evenjoinwith the Spaniards to stop Lily and her team.
Related:Jungle Cruise: Why The Reviews Are So Mixed
ThoughJungle Cruise is based on a Disney theme park ride,the plot is complicated and leads to many questions.For instance, what is actually going on with the Tears of the Moon and its healing powers? Also, what's the truth aboutJohnson's mysterious Frank Wolff? The ending of Jungle Cruisealso leaves questions aboutwhere the film's sequels will go in the future. Though, theDisney theme parkride mayoffer some answers.
What Happens At The End Of Jungle Cruise?
At the end of Jungle Cruise, Lily and Frank discover where Tears of the Moon is located, activating a device that drains part of the Amazon River and reveals a cave that holds the tree. Unfortunately, PrinceJoachim has captured Lily's brother, forcing him to reveal the tree's location.Frank, Lily, Joachim's Germans, and the Spaniards all converge on the cave, hoping to get the tree's petals. After Lily and Frank discover a gem inside the arrowhead, they place it in a contraption that lets the Tears of the Moon bloom. However, the treecan onlybloom under the blood moon, and it quickly wilts, leaving Lily as the only one to grab anunwilted petal. Eventually,McGregor kills Joachim and Frankblocks the river water, stopping the cursed conquistadors and turning them into stone. However, in an earlier twist,The Rock's Frank Wolffrevealed that he was one of the conquistadors as well. Because of that, he also turns into stone.Lily uses the petal to save her riverboat skipper and free him from the curse, turning him back into amortal person. She is then rewarded, as aray of moonlight makes another petal bloom.
McGregorshows up in a scene at the end, denyingan invitation to theRoyal Society explorers and rejecting them as they once rudely rejected him and his sister. He notes that his sister is now a professor at Cambridge, hinting thatLily took the petal back with her to London and has become renowned in her efforts to rid the world of disease. During their Amazon adventure, Lily and Frank developed feelings for each other. The end reveals the pair enjoying life together in London and ready to return in aJungle Cruise sequel.
WhatIs The Tears Of The Moon?
In Jungle Cruise, Tears of the Moonis the name of a tree withmagical healing petals. The tree's petals supposedlycure any disease or break any curse. With such extraordinary powers, the tree is thought to be a myth. Despite that, Lily devotes years of her life to discovering its whereabouts, hoping that the tree could save millions of lives.
Related:Pirates Of The Caribbean vs Jungle Cruise: Which Disney Ride Movie Is Better?
Adventurers can only find the tree with an ancient arrowhead, which theRoyal Societyexplorers eventually get a hold of. But, because the explorers don't take Lily's research seriously or respect her as a woman, they deny her the chance to use it. Because of that, she takes things into her own hands, stealing the arrowhead and making her way to the Amazon.After seeing the arrowhead, Frank leaves his life leading Jungle cruises for tourists and makes sure he's the riverboat skipper Lily travels with.
WhatIsThe Truth About Frank Wolff?
Though Frankoriginally tells Lily that the Tears of the Moonis a myth,she discovers thathe is after the tree and the arrowhead. With the help of friends who live along the river, Frank even tries to trick Lily and McGregor into thinking cannibals captured them and that they have to give up the arrowhead to live. Though he tried to trick Lily out of the arrowhead, Franklater seemingly gives up his life, taking a blade through the heart to save Lily and stop the cursed conquistadors from getting the artifact. Thoughit looked like he died, Lily and McGregor soon discover Frank is alive.
Frank reveals he is one ofAguirre's cursed conquistadorsforced to live along the river forever. He's been searching the river for hundreds of years for the Tears of the Moon, but he could never find it without the arrowhead. He wants to find the tree to lift his curse so he can die in peace. Though he never found the Tears of the Moon, he now knows the river inside and out. He's even the cartographer who drew the map that Lily follows.
What Is The Truth About The Cursed Soldiers?
There's more to the story of the Spanish conquistadors. According to Frank,Aguirre's daughter became ill hundreds of years ago, which prompted him to go out searching for the Tears of the Moon. Frank, whose real name is Francisco, was one of the men searching with villainous leader Aguirre. Unfortunately, many of the men died along the journey, and all was lost untila tribe saved the men with petals from Tears of the Moon.The village chief wouldn't tell Aguirre the tree's location, however, and soon the Spanish conqueror was leading his men in an attack on the village. The conquistadors were thenbound to the river by the chief and cursed to live forever. Frank helped the villagers during the conquistador attack, becomingAguirre's enemy and eternally fighting himalong the river.
Related:Jungle Cruise: Why Disney Thinks Theme Park Rides Make For Good Movies
After years of fighting, Frank became tired of being attacked by the conquistadors. So he devised a plan totrap Aguirre and his men, cutting them off from the river. Because they couldn't see the river water, the conquistadors were turned into stone and became monsters made ofthe Amazonian wildlife. They were later freed by anotherJungle Cruise character,Prince Joachim, who recruits them to help him stop Lily.
What Happens Next In Jungle Cruise?
The Rock is meeting with Disney about a sequel to the movie, and there may be some clues already about where it goes. As the inspiration for the film, Disney's Jungle Cruise ride seems to hint at the franchise's future.While Jungle Cruisetakes place in the Amazon, the ride covers various rivers from around the world, including the Mekong, the Nile, and the Congo.By focusing on the Amazon, Jungle Cruiseleaves the other rivers aspossible locations for future films.
What The Ending Of Jungle Cruise Really Means?
Jungle Cruiseis a romantic comedy wrapped up in anIndiana Jones-like adventure. Among the themes is a message aboutselflessness and sharing adventures with others. After Frank selflessly sacrifices his chance at freedom to stop the conquistadors, Lily also selflessly gives up theTears of the Moon petal to save him.Lily is rewarded for her selflessness, getting one last petal to take back to England andto save others. Thanks to the pair's self-sacrifice, theyare free to book as many future jungle cruises together as they want.
More: How Jungle Cruise Is Set Up To Replace Pirates Of The Caribbean
