Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Ending Explained - Has Joe’s Sacrifice Finally Broken the Time Loop, or Is Sid Still Trapped in the Cycle? (2024)

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“Things Will Be Different,” (2024) the debut feature of writer-director Michael Felker, is an appetizer of many flavors. A neo-Western heist drama, along the lines of “Hell or High Water,” evading the Sci-Fi structural conformity of the time-travel genre while addressing the eternal challenge of defying fate. It is not an easy blend. The tightrope Felker walks on often has him flailing for balance. However, with a fine turn by the two lead actors, “Things Will Be Different” just about manages to avoid the fall.The film conjures more threads than the amount it could have used to weave neatly, opening up questions that go unanswered. Here we will try to address them.

Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Synopsis & Plot Summary:

A Time-Bending Thriller with a Dark Twist

A quick phone call voiceover sets the premise of “Things Will Be Different.” The brother-sister duo of Joseph (Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (Riley Dandy) are on the lam and have a bag full of money. All they need is a place to lie low. What better place to provide them with the perfect hideaway than a place in a different timeline? Yes, it appears Joseph, or Joe, might have a trick or two in evasion tactics as he takes his sister to the place that acts as the portal for time travel. A reluctant Sidney, often called Sid, follows Joe’s plan but not without warning him to bring her back safely in two weeks to meet her daughter, Stephanie.

The plan seems simple. Joe has the instructions written in a notebook, which includes an incantation. Once inside the house, they find the door that takes them to the room for time travel. With the chant chanted, the duo gets transported to the past — a time in the 1950s. The hitherto dilapidated house suddenly becomes a welcome home. With a refrigerator restocking itself as if it is from Hogwarts, it appears that Joe’s plan is about to go even smoother than what he imagined it to do.

Can Joe and Sid Escape the Time Trap by Eliminating the Mysterious Intruder?

Safe from the police of their timeline, the siblings take these two weeks to repair their fragile relationships. The two weeks pass eventually and it is time to bid adieu to their refuge. But calamity strikes, as Joe and Sid find that the door to access the portal is blocked. A board is nailed on the door that asks them to go to the mill near the house. Reaching the mill, they find an iron chest containing a tape recorder and instructions to ‘set the cycle’. The setting of the cycle refers to establishing the connection between two timelines.

Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Ending Explained - Has Joe’s Sacrifice Finally Broken the Time Loop, or Is Sid Still Trapped in the Cycle? (1)

Once the cycle is set, Joe is instructed to use the tape recorder as a walkie-talkie to communicate with ‘them.” This time-police-like authorities reproach Joe and Sid for using the time portal. They offer the brother and sister a deal. They will let the siblings leave if they can kill another intruder. The authorities inform them that there has been a masked intruder who has been using this portal to ‘dump bodies.’ They would like Joe and Sid to kill this intruder, and they are free to go. The catch, however, is that nobody knows when the intruder will appear next as they always jump around the timeline.

Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Ending Explained:

Who Is the Intruder?

As Sid and Joe feared, they had to wait a whole year in that godforsaken time and place. The time took its toll on both of them, with Joe becoming more fearful and hopeless, while Sid became determined with theories of who the intruder and the authorities could be. Just when Joe has his breakdown where he claims they will be here their entire life as no intruder is coming, the intruder shows up. The masked assailant almost kills Sid. With the existence of the intruder confirmed, Joe finds his energy and the brother and sister try to outsmart the assailant.

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However, the intruder proves too good for them as they capture Joe and take him hostage in the mill. A frustrated, and shot, Sid tries to break the portal’s door. But a second iron chest appears, and the authorities try to dissuade Sid. Sid, who seems convinced that the intruder is her and Joe’s mother from another timeline, is strongly told otherwise by the authorities. While Sid converses through this second iron chest, the intruder takes control of the iron chest in the mill. The intruder asks Joe to converse with the authority there. At gunpoint, Joe lies that he has killed the intruder.

Also Read: Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Review: A Sharply Written Mystery Thriller about the Inevitable

The authority’s voice however recognizes the lie. Sid, in her concurrent call with the authorities, is informed that both Joe and the intruder are in the mill. Sid readies herself for the battle. A gunfight ensues, and Sid manages to unmask the intruder. She is shocked to find that it is an older version of her daughter, Stephanie.

How Did Stephanie Become the Intruder?

“Things Will Be Different” is aware of the tropes of time travel. Director Felker, through Sid’s theories, explored the many possibilities of the intruder’s identity. Sid thought it could be her mother. She also thought it could be another version of herself. Always a likely possibility. It appears that Felker wanted the intruder’s identity to be a twist, however improbable it appears. Stephanie has only been mentioned in passing. Thus, the intruder becoming her is a clever twist indeed.

However, it opens a can of worms, in the form of questions. And the answers we will have to assume. Stephanie, as the intruder, mentioned that she wanted to kill ‘the man who destroyed her family.’ Now, this we have to assume refers to someone in the authorities. Stephanie has shown no sign of recognizing her mother or uncle. She has been brutal in her attacks. We can assume that when Sid did not return, Stephanie probably made it her life’s goal to find her. Her quest probably led her to find the time-travel portal.

Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Ending Explained - Has Joe’s Sacrifice Finally Broken the Time Loop, or Is Sid Still Trapped in the Cycle? (2)

In the ‘present’ story of Sid and Joe, a shocked Sid stops fighting Stephanie. And when Joe comes with a gun to kill the intruder, Sid stops that by sacrificing herself. Joe’s bullet hits Sid and she dies. Stephanie, on the other hand, blasts the locked door and leaves via the portal.

Did Joe Save Sid?

A distraught Joe, who still does not know the intruder is his niece, is shocked to see Sid die like this. The authorities, now knowing that the intruder has escaped, inform Joe that he will be wiped. Joe pleads for another chance. He wants to save Sid and kill the intruder. He claims a small change here and there would mean success for them. The authorities seem to take pity on Joe and grant his wish. They tell Joe that he will be sent back on the morning of their first day post-heist.

So, Joe goes back to that morning. First, he has to kill his version from that timeline. “Removing the redundancy,” as the authorities call. Then, he waited for Sid to show up at the bar. But, Sid seems to not recognize him. This is where Felker pulls another trick. We see Joe wrinkled, old, and ragged. This implies Joe has been trying to change their fate with the authorities for a long time. So much time has passed that Sid cannot recognize her brother in this final iteration.

Joe asks Sid to pull the trigger and kill him. Sid does not seem to be eager, even though she could not recognize him. But Joe has the trigger pulled anyway. With Joe dead, Sid scarpers. This probably means that Joe, although he could not change his fate, saves Sid, as without him she has no means to reach the time portal.

Read More: The 15 Best Horror Movies of 2024, According to Rotten Tomatoes

Things Will Be Different (2024) Trailer:

Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Links:IMDb,Wikipedia,Rotten Tomatoes,Letterboxd
The Cast of Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie: Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy, Chloe Skoczen, Justin Benson, Sarah Bolger, Jori Lynn Felkner
Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie In Theaters on Fri Oct 4, Runtime: 1h 35m, Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi/Mystery & Thriller/Horror
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Things Will Be Different (2024) Movie Ending Explained - Has Joe’s Sacrifice Finally Broken the Time Loop, or Is Sid Still Trapped in the Cycle? (2024)
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