The Adam Project ending: Director Shawn Levy explains why there wasn't a happy ending

The Adam Project is a Netflix original movie currently streaming on the platform, directed by Shawn Levy. Starring the electrifying Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Jennifer Garner, and more, the plot revolves around how a time-traveling fighter bumps against his 12-year old self, only to team up with him and engage in a mission to save the future.

The movie is full of fast-paced action sequences, and Reynolds pulled off his role with absolute perfection. However, fans were disappointed to find the movie ending on a sad note. Here we will talk about the director's take on the ending, which will undoubtedly answer many questions.

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Shawn Levy explains why The Adam Project had an unhappy ending

Shawn Levy recently mentioned in an interview that he never intended the ending of the movie to be a happy one but full of redemption. Here is what he said,

"It was never something else, but I knew I wanted to not shy away from that catharsis at the end. I like movies that make me feel a lot," Levy explained. "I just, again, I felt lucky that I had my guy, now one of my greatest friends of my life in Ryan, and we're making a movie that is a blast in action and funny, but also gets to be a drama in some moments where it counts. It just felt thrilling to me. It still feels thrilling to me. So that ending was always built in that there was going to be a goodbye. We were never going to give it a happy ending, but we had to give it an ending with closure and redemption. So we did a little rewrite on it, but then we shot that scene."

In another interview, he added,

“Being the kind of filmmaker I am, I’m betting that if I do my job right people are gonna ride a feeling. And it certainly worked that way on ‘Free Guy,’ and it seems to be working that way on ‘The Adam Project’. It doesn’t mean every critic is gonna agree – I’m sure people will talk s— about it here and there. But the reality is I’m trying to make decidedly uncynical, humanist movies in an era where darkness, nihilism, cynicism are de facto gestures. I know what I am now as a filmmaker. I don’t apologize for it, I don’t run from it.”

After The Free Guy and The Adam Project, Shawn Levy has finally left his mark as a director who likes to treat movie endings differently.