'Ballerina' Ana de Armas spills on that explosive 'John Wick' ending

USA Today

7 hours ago

'Ballerina' Ana de Armas spills on that explosive 'John Wick' ending
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Ian McShane talks working with Ana de Armas in 'Ballerina'
Ian McShane shares why it was smart to bring Ana de Armas into the "John Wick" franchise in the new film "Ballerina."
Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of 'Ballerina' (in theaters now), so beware if you haven't seen it yet.
Ana de Armas goes through snowy hell to find vengeance in 'Ballerina,' and by the end, she winds up a wanted woman.
The 'John Wick' franchise spinoff introduces dancer/assassin Eve Macarro (de Armas), who's trained by the same Ruska Roma organization that begat John Wick (Keanu Reeves). She's still a rookie hitwoman when Eve discovers that the mystery men who murdered her father when she was a little girl belong to a killer cult. Eve defies the wishes of the Ruska Roma's Director (Anjelica Huston) and goes after the cult and its leader, the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne).
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Along the way, Eve also has to rescue Ella, the young kidnapped daughter of an ex-cult member (Norman Reedus). And before the explosive finale, Eve learns that Lena (Catalina Sandino Moreno), one of the Chancellor's enforcers, is actually her long-thought-dead older sister, though Lena is killed by her own people soon after the revelation.
'She really is alone,' de Armas says of her character. 'So she really now feels like she has nothing to lose except for maybe Ella. Maybe that's what's going to give her some purpose from now on.'
Let's dig into the best spoilers from 'Ballerina,' from the very Keanu ending to a mystery awaiting Eve's next mission.
What happens in the ending of 'Ballerina'?
Eve travels to a little Austrian town full of murderous locals to track down the Chancellor, and as she gets closer to accomplishing her mission, he reaches out to the Director to help deal with his problem. (Because the cult is such a wild card, Ruska Roma and other crime organizations try to keep the peace with them.) The Director sends in the feared 'Baba Yaga,' John Wick (who's still alive at this point in the story, which takes place between the third and fourth 'Wick' movies), to take care of the situation.
John gives Eve an out, explaining that her actions have consequences but she can leave peacefully if she wants. She refuses and they tussle, though John doesn't kill her – they have a quite a bit in common, from being orphans to wanting vengeance for loved ones. Wick gives her a half hour to take care of the Chancellor before he needs to take care of her, but just before time runs out, and Eve is confronting the villain, Wick shoots him from a sniper position.
Eve returns Ella to her dad and goes to the ballet to see the performance of an old Ruska Roma friend who couldn't cut being an assassin. Eve's phone pings, she sees that there's a $5 million bounty on her head, and she walks out quietly from the theater.
'It is a really good ending,' de Armas says. 'It can go anywhere from here. I do feel like she found herself. She got what she wanted: 'I chose this life, this is what I want to do.' '
Although 'she looks up to John,' de Armas adds, Eve can't take his or anyone else's advice to move on from her loss. 'Literally every person she goes to tells her, 'Stop it. Let it go.' And she can't, it's just stronger than her. There's some relief in her and now she will deal with the consequences. She's not afraid of that and it'll be what it'll be.'
Does the new 'John Wick' movie have a post-credits scene?
Nope! Although 'John Wick: Chapter 4' had a mid-credits sequence, 'Ballerina' doesn't. What it does boast, however, is the rockin' new Evanescence track 'Fight Like a Girl' (which is a theme in the movie).
For those looking for a tease of where Eve could go next, director Len Wiseman says to pay attention to the bounty on Eve at the end of the movie. That was 'a Keanu idea,' the filmmaker says, and it speaks to 'the spirit of the consequences behind this world.'
But 'it's ambiguous who put that contract out,' Wiseman adds. And while audiences will have to wait to see who that mystery person is, 'I have my fun, really dark ideas.'