This "La La Land" Ending Theory Will Mend Your Broken Heart

At the end of the movie, a five year time jump shows Mia is an established actress and Sebastian has finally opened his jazz club. Mia and her husband arrive at the club on a date, and she locks eyes with Seb right before he sits down at the piano. While he plays the movie's theme, we see a montage of what their life would look like had they ended up together — and @caro.oke thinks it's more than just a montage.

"I think La La Land is actually two movies," she says. "When Mia and Sebastian have their first kiss, the shot closes in [which] is often used to denote an ending in classic film. And then there's this opening shot right after, which looks like the beginning of a movie."

"After this point in the movie, all of the songs become diegetic, which means the characters are aware that they're singing them," she continues. "So I think the first half is definitely a musical but the second half is more like a movie with music."

After Mia and Sebastian's kiss and this tiny intermission, songs like the "City of Stars" reprise and "Start A Fire" are definitely more like performances (especially since "Start A Fire" is during a literal concert), rather than more traditional musical numbers like "A Lovely Night."

That is, until we get to the ending, "when there's that little fantasy of what could have been, the movie turns back into a musical once again," Caro says.

Throughout the fantasy sequence, we see a variety of scenes we've already watched — but this time, they play out differently. Sebastian kisses Mia that first night they meet, and he turns down Keith's offer to work together. Mia's one woman show sells out, and they both move to Paris for Mia to work on her new movie. And after dancing around a soundstage that looks exactly like the planetarium scene from earlier in the film, they sit down and watch a home video.

"Mia and Sebastian sit down and watch a movie, [and] I think they're watching the movie that would have happened if there had not been an ending after the original planetarium scene," Caro says. "I think the first movie is an unfinished musical about love. The second is a movie with music about dreams and ambition."

As someone who was HEARTBROKEN the first time I saw the movie, this dreamy alternate ending actually got me thinking because in this version, while Mia achieves her dream, Seb doesn't achieve his. (And one Reddit user actually thinks "Mia is happy with her ending, Seb is not [and] would've done everything differently to be with her." Ouch!!!)

I love the La La Land ending because it feels realistic without being harsh, and it highlights how "having it all" looks differently than we might imagine. Sacrifice is an inevitable part of pursuing any dream, relationship, job, or move — and more than anything, the La La Land ending encourages me to figure out what I truly want. What more could you ask for?!