Netflix's White Noise ending explained
White Noise dropped on Netflix over Christmas and it's quietly become a fan favourite. Starring Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheadle among others, IMDb's official synopsis of the chaotic and quirky film reads: "Dramatizes a contemporary American family's attempts to deal with the mundane conflicts of everyday life while grappling with the universal mysteries of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world."
Of course, viewers will know it's not all as simple as that, and probably still have a few questions - especially about the ending. So, let's unpack everything we know to get a clearer view of what actually happened...
The film itself is split into different sections, but all have a running theme of mortality. The first segment fans are introduced to is the academic one, where we meet Professor Jack Gadney (Driver), his wife Babette (Gerwig) and their family.
Driver's character is a renowned academic who is focusing on teaching his 'Hitler studies' course at the College on the Hill. However, an upcoming conference is making him anxious because he doesn't speak German.
Professor Murray Siskind (Cheadle), Gadney's co-worker is also apprehensive about the new academic year. He needs to create support for his Elvis studies lecture so asks Gadney to drop in to build some buzz.
While the two academics partake in a chest-beating competition (random, we know), Gadney's eldest child is spying on her mother, Babette, who she believes is addicted to drugs and causing her to forget things.
Suburban life is then interrupted by an airborne toxic event, and so the Gadney's have to journey to a quarantine station. Once there, they meet a team of simulated evacuation responders (or SIMUVAC), which leads them to question whether the toxic accident was even real. Still keeping up?
However, before they can make the call, Jack realises he was exposed to the toxic air during the event and believes his health (and his life) is at risk. Cue his fear of mortality...
The next portion of the film sees the family eventually return home, but things are a little different. Babette confesses to taking part in a study for a drug hoping to cure the fear of death but becomes very distant in the process.
Despite the study being shut down, it's clear she's hooked on the drug, Dylar, and so begins offering sex to the curious Mr Gray in exchange for it. She then stops taking it because it was causing her to become confused and unable to tell the difference between word and their objects.
Professor Gadney soon finds an ad for the drug in the newspaper and hunts down Mr Gray to try and kill him. Jack realises that he's hooked on his own supply, as he finds him in the same state as Babette - not being able to distinguish words from their meanings.
Jack then shoots Mr Gray but frames the death to look like a suicide. However, he is still alive and ends up shooting Jack and Babette, who has entered the room.
This ordeal causes Jack to overcome his fear of death, so he and Babette take Mr Gray to a hospital. The final section shows the pair in the supermarket where they bump into Murray. Chatting happily about the last year, the last scene shows everyone dancing and walking towards the tills.
Yep, it's an eccentric one we know.
White Noise is now streaming on Netflix.
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