High Life ending explained: Who was the doctor?

Released on November 7, 2018, High Life ends with Monte and Willow's enigmatic trip into a black hole, then with the disturbing discovery of a deserted spacecraft full of semi-feral dogs. However, one of the most fascinating aspects of the movie is Doctor Dibs. His actions shape most of the story, and his performance begs serious issues regarding autonomy and humanity.

High Life tells about survival, humanity and the limits of morality. Robert Pattinson's character Monte is a criminal turned astronaut on a doomed mission to gather energy from a black hole. Beside him is a group of fellow inmates and a menacing doctor called Dibs, played by Juliette Binoche.

With Dibs conducting unethical fertility experiments on the crew, it becomes evident as the narrative progresses that the goal is not only about energy collecting but also about human body experimentation under extreme conditions.

Like its story, the film's ending is ambiguous and thought-provoking. Once the film ends, the viewers are left with a question of how it feels to be a human without morals or rules. The film's final scenes shift from a survival story to an existential dread exploration, leaving Monte and Willow's fate in the unknown.

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High Life ending explained: The sinister doctor

Dibs is key to the spaceship's disturbing events. Dibs, convicted of murdering her husband and children, decides to lead an experiment. Her main objective is to inseminate the female crew members with sperm from the male prisoners, including Monte, to create life in space.

Dibs's perverse scientific curiosity and desire to control life and death make her a symbol of authority and moral decay.

Dibs’s experiments: The breeding program

Dibs acts out of a distorted belief that she can produce a new generation of humans able to withstand black hole radiation. Her approaches, though, are immoral and degrading. She artificially inseminates another crew member, Boyse, using drugs to r*pe Monte, resulting in the birth of Willow.

Dibs's obsession with her studies finally brings the crew down, as her disrespect for their humanity and autonomy fuels hopelessness and revolt.

The significance of the dog ship

The dog ship discovery is a turning point in High Life. It represents mission participants' complete dehumanization. Domesticated dogs have become feral, like Dibs's crew, who have lost their humanity.

The ship's carcass has a number 9, indicating it left Earth after Monte's mission, suggesting the experiment continued with other subjects with even less regard for life. This discovery confirms Monte's belief that they are disposable tools in a cruel experiment.

Monte’s dilemma: Humanity vs. survival

Monte faces a moral dilemma as he and Willow approach the black hole. He must choose to keep his humanity by following social norms or abandon them to survive. Black holes are the unknown and Monte's ultimate challenge.

The film's final moments suggest that Monte faces the unknown rather than compromise his humanity, even if it kills him and Willow.

The ending: A leap into the unknown

The ending of High Life is ambiguous. Monte and Willow drift into the black hole, wondering if they are committing suicide to avoid the inevitable or embracing the unknown to find something more. They enter the black hole, which symbolizes the unknown aspects of human nature, as the ultimate test of their humanity.

The legacy of Dibs

Dibs left behind a legacy of hopelessness and ruin. Her experiments dehumanize the crew and turn them into mere subjects in a twisted scientific project, stripping their humanity.

Ending of High Life (Image via A24)

Ultimately, Monte's choice to enter the black hole with Willow and his refusal to carry on her work can be interpreted as a rejection of Dibs's legacy and a lasting claim of their humanity.

Monte and Willow's fate in the black hole is left unresolved in High Life. The film questions human nature, scientific experimentation ethics and morality. Dibs's role as the doctor drives the story and forces the characters to face their darkest sides.

High Life contemplates what it means to be human in the face of inconceivable suffering. The movie is available to stream on Max.