Absolution movie ending explained: What becomes Thug's way of finding redemption?

Norwegian filmmaker Hans Petter Moland has directed the recently released American action thriller, Absolution. Tony Gayton wrote the script for the film, which follows an aging gangster suffering from a terminal mental illness. The gangster, named Thug, estranged from his family for years and is on a journey toward finding his redemption.

Thug realizes that his terminal illness has left him with limited time, and he has embarked on a journey to correct the mistakes from the past. This involves doing the right things, even if it means doing them the wrong way.

At the end of Absolution, Thug reconciles with his estranged family and finds his redemption by breaking the chain of parental violence he suffered as a kid. Thug shows kindness to his grandson Dre and teaches him to pass it on in the future.

Liam Neeson plays the role of Thug in Absolution, with other actors like Yolonda Ross, Ron Perlman, Daniel Diemer, and Tom Kemp. As mentioned earlier, Tony Gayton has written the script while Hans Petter Moland has directed it.

Warning: This article may contain spoilers for Absolution. Viewer discretion is advised.

What disease is Thug suffering from in Absolution?

Thug is suffering from deteriorating mental health in Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

The story of Absolution begins with Thug working on a mission with Kyle Conner, the son of his boss, Charlie Connor. Charlie is a Boston gangster who wants one of his most trusted workers to introduce his son to his line of work from a professional. The protagonist of Absolution is simply introduced as Thug, an ex-boxer working as an assassin, known for his precision in completing his missions.

Thug lives a secluded life away from his family. Outside of work, he spends most of his time, either in the boxing gym or drinking in the local bar. In between one of these drinking nights, Thug gets increasingly annoyed by a bully who is fighting and screaming at his girlfriend. Thug tells him to stay quiet, but when he refuses, Thug knocks him off with a jab.

The Woman in Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Since he believes that his night has been ruined, Thug storms out of the bar, only to find the bully's girlfriend following him. Introduced just as the Woman, she is interested in the Macho character after initially quarreling with him. The two eventually end up making out. However, things become complicated after the gangster is unable to remember his way back home the next morning.

It is then revealed that Thug has been buying bundles of oxycodone illegally from Doctor Gilbert. He has been buying the drug to deal with the intense pain after his boxing matches.

He tells Dr. Gilbert that he has been forgetting things, and the doctor asks him to immediately go to a neurologist, who tells him that he has a terminal illness. Thug is in the advanced stage of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE.

The neurologist explained that multiple and repeated injuries to the head can cause CTE. She added that a lot of footballers and boxers suffer from this condition. When asked if he had multiple concussions in the past, Thug revealed that he had been having head injuries since he was six years old, partly referring to his childhood domestic violence.

The physician added that there was no treatment or drugs for his condition as it was in advanced stages. She further asked him about his family and when he brushed it off, she revealed that his condition will only worsen and will experience a sharp decline in his memory. Eventually, she stated, a time will come when he won't be able to take care of himself.

When he asks the neurologist how much time he has left, she hesitated before saying that he only had a couple of years at the most. Realizing his fate, he decided to take his own life after a little girl saw him putting the barrel of a gun inside of his mouth. Thug decides not to take his life and reaches out to his family.

Thug attempts to reunite with his estranged family

Daisy in Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

After deciding against taking his own life, the lead protagonist of Absolution considers reaching out to his family. He finds it growingly difficult to remember their whereabouts and their names. To help him with this, he put all the important information in the pocket notepad he carries. Thug manages to call his daughter Daisy, asking if he could meet her. She denies it, returning his wish with some very hard words.

When he asks about his son Colin, he finds out that he died three years ago. He completely breaks down after this, realizing that he couldn't be with his son when he was on his deathbed. Thug visits his son's grave and seemingly regrets running away from his kids.

Despite her refusal, he visits his daughter anyway and sees that she has been renting a shaggy apartment where she lives with her two kids. Like him, her husband too has left the family, leaving them to fend off their own. However, what catches his attention is his grandson, Dre, who has never met his grandfather. Looking at the child, Thug realizes how much he has missed.

Thug embarks on a journey to fix his past mistakes in Absolution

Thug tries to cover for his past mistakes in Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

At this point in the film, it is clear that the disease is consuming Thug and when he reaches his house, he falls asleep on the couch. He dreams of sailing on a fishing boat with his dead father in the middle of the ocean. Thug hesitantly asks his Dad if he is still mad at him, which symbolizes the punishment from his father he has endured as a kid.

Meanwhile, his relationship with the woman from the bar deepens as the two simultaneously find a mutual ground for their emotions. Amidst all this, he is also completing his missions with Kyle Connor and encounters a pimp who is trafficking girls. One girl named Araceli runs away towards them, begging him to save her, and since the pimp seems to hate this, the girl is taken away.

When Thug goes home and falls asleep again, he has the same dream when his father tells him that people like them belong at the bottom of the sea. As he is looking at the deep blue water, the girl Araceli comes out from beneath, begging him to save her. This is the point when Thug decides he still can do the right things now, if not change his past.

After Dre's football match, Thug takes his grandson to the gym, giving him his first boxing lesson. The two quickly form a bond, and Thug gifts Dre the fishing reel he had acquired from his father as a kid.

Thug returns to where he saw Araceli and discovers that "to buy a girl" out of the house, they have to pay $20,000. Thug finds himself stuck in a dilemma as he wonders why an assassin like him is feeling for the people around him.

Araceli in Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

A group of shooters unexpectedly attack Thug while he is on a mission to retrieve Connor's money from a priest. Despite being shot, Thug manages to knock off the shooters and brings the money back to the Connors. Observing Charlie's surprising reaction on seeing him alive again partly makes Thug wonder if his boss had sent the shooters to kill him.

Meanwhile, the Woman makes a visit to Thug's home and gets to know about his disease. For the very first time, the viewers see him opening up about his emotions. He asks her to join him for dinner, where he has invited Daisy and the kids. However, Daisy doesn't end up showing up at the last moment, which leads to her father having a panic attack, thinking he had provided the wrong address to her.

After waking up, Thug finds his daughter in his house and gets furious when he realizes the Woman told his family about his CTE. Right as he is about to hit her, he stops and sees his grandson looking at him with hatred. This is the point where Thug realizes that willingly or unwillingly he has turned out to become the man he has always despised, his father.

That night, his nightmare turns the darkest, and he wakes up unable to call his daughter because he has forgotten her name. Thug realizes that he doesn't have a lot of time left and must try to make his past mistakes right before he is gone. Thug visits his boss Charlie to ask for $30,000 with the hope of freeing Araceli and providing for his estranged family.

Even after working for 30 years with Charlie and staying loyal to his orders, his request is turned down, and after learning about his condition, he is fired. Charlie's son, Kyle, mocks Thug and calls him a useless asset to the team.

Just as he is about to leave, Thug identifies one of Charlie's bodyguards as one of the men from the shooter gang, sent to kill him.

Thug shoots Charlie at the end of Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

He realizes that his suspicion about Charlie and Kyle is true, and after knocking the bodyguard off, he shoots Kyle in the leg. Thug then threatens Charlie and asks him to open the locker at gunpoint. He takes all the cash and ammunition before shooting his boss. Equipped with the money and ammunition, he embarks to fulfill two of his biggest responsibilities.

First, he sends a large proportion of money to Daisy to help them out of their situation. Secondly, he decides to finally buy out Araceli from the pimp. However, upon reaching there, he discovers that one of the customers has killed the girl.

A still from Absolution (Image via Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Thug points the gun at the Pimp and orders him to release all the girls and distributes the money among them as he frees most of them. However, the pimp stabs him and just before Thug loses consciousness, he sees that the last girl had shot the pimp and killed him.

The fight leaves him gravely injured, and Thug realizes that he may die soon. He decides to go and meet his grandson Dre for one last time. He shows kindness to the kid, which he never received. This ends the chain of parental trauma in the family that has been passed down for generations. The main character of Absolution finds his redemption by reconciling with his family and teaching his grandson to carry kindness to future generations.

Edited by Madhur Dave