The Peanut Butter Falcon Ending Explained

The Peanut Butter Falcon tells a heartwarming story of friendship, but its ending is a little ambiguous. The 2019 movie follows Zak, a man with Down Syndrome (Zack Gottsagen) who escapes from his care facility hoping to become a professional wrestler. While heading to a North Carolina wrestling school run by his idol, the Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), Zak meets craber Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), who is also on the run after he burned the equipment of his industry rivals. Tyler and Zak develop an unlikely friendship as they help each other become better versions of themselves.

Throughout the story of The Peanut Butter Falcon, Zak is followed by Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), who works in the nursing home where the man lives. Eleanor eventually catches up with Tyler and Zak. Though she wants to return to the care facility immediately, Tyler convinces her to let Zak live out his dream of meeting the Salt Water Redneck. They eventually make it to North Carolina, and the wrestler comes out of retirement to teach Zak a few things and get him into an actual wrestling match. However, things don’t quite go to plan.

What Happened To Tyler At The End Of Peanut Butter Falcon?

Tyler Was Seriously Injured In The Peanut Butter Falcon

Zak’s wrestling match was supposed to be just enough to make him feel like a real wrestler, but his opponent, Sam, didn’t hold back. Still, Zak, dubbed the “Peanut Butter Falcon,” surprised everyone with a victory. Tyler, one of the few not to underestimate Zak, was ecstatic, but just as he celebrated the win, his rival crabbers, Duncan and Ratboy, came up from behind and hit him over the head with a tire iron. The camera cuts away just before Tyler’s head is struck, and the next scene showing Eleanor distressed in a hospital seems to imply that his injuries were severe.

The implication leading up to the end of Peanut Butter Falcon is that Tyler had been killed, and the scene in which Eleanor and Zak drive to Florida alone seems to confirm this. However, as they crossed the state line, Zak reached back to shake Tyler awake, and the camera revealed that he had been sleeping in the back seat. Tyler was certainly bruised and bloody, and the bandages across his face confirmed that his wounds had been severe. However, he was on the mend, and Tyler, Zak, and Eleanor headed off to Florida for a heartwarming movie ending.

Zak’s Wrestling Match & Victory Explained

Zak Surprised Everyone By Winning His Wrestling Match

Throughout Peanut Butter Falcon, Zak is consistently underestimated, even by Eleanor. She clearly loved him like family, but this led her to coddle and protect him. The fact that Zak lived in a nursing home further emphasized the way the world seemed to have no place for him. He was young and able-bodied, highly clever, and deeply kind and compassionate. However, he could not exercise any of these qualities since he was trapped among those who were years to days away from the ends of their lives.

Tyler was likely the first person that Zak had met who didn’t underestimate him, and the wrestling match near the end of Peanut Butter Falcon was a representation of this. The expectation had been that Zak would enter the ring and that Sam would let him get a few hits in to make him feel good. However, this wasn’t the case. As the audience sat by awkwardly and let Sam beat Zak, Tyler cheered him forward, reminding him of his strength. This led Zak to lift Sam straight over his head and launch him out of the ring—an impossible move for even real professional wrestlers.

Zak’s winning move in the wrestling match was pretty outrageous and undoubtedly impossible for anyone to pull off in that way. However, believability wasn’t the point of this Peanut Butter Falcon scene. Zak’s victory represented the efficacy of Tyler’s belief in him and the way that people of all abilities are only limited by the faith of their loved ones.

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Why Duncan & Ratboy Were After Tyler In Peanut Butter Falcon

Tyler Owed Duncan & Ratboy A Sort Of Debt In Peanut Butter Falcon

Tyler’s injury at the end of Peanut Butter Falcon was a long time coming since he had been running away from Duncan and Ratboy for the majority of the film. The beginning saw Tyler lose his job after bringing in illegally caught crab, and his anger at this led him to burn up the supplies of his two crabber rivals. There was no way for Duncan and Ratboy to get their stuff back, and the gang-like culture of their industry kept them from leaving the situation to the police. The two villains wanted payment for their supplies in blood, and they made it clear in the 2019 movie that they would go any legths to get it.

Since the camera cut away from Tyler just before the car iron struck him, it’s unclear how far Duncan and Ratboy took their revenge. They may have hit him a few times before fleeing, purposing leaving him alive to suffer. Or, the pair might have done their best to beat Tyler to death before being stopped. Duncan and Ratboy may have been arrested, or they might have fled the scene—Peanut Butter Falcon never says for sure. However, it’s implied that Tyler had paid the necessary blood payment for his crime, and it can be assumed he was free to live safely in Florida with his new family.

Peanut Butter Falcon’s Title Explained

“Peanut Butter Falcon” Meant More Than Just A Wrestling Name

The title of Peanut Butter Falcon comes from the wrestler name Zak chose for himself in the movie, and even this holds meaning regarding his relationship with Tyler. Wrestling names are often strange and perhaps even a little nonsensical, but Peanut Butter Falcon certainly takes this to a different level. Zak came up with it while he and Tyler were using peanut butter as war paint, and a falcon just seemed to have popped into his head. Despite being a fairly ridiculous name, Tyler did nothing to dissuade Zak from using it. The fact that he embraced the name and used it freely reflected his quality of never placing limits on his friend.

The Real Meaning Of Peanut Butter Falcon’s Ending

Tyler’s Ending In The Peanut Butter Falcon Was A Baptism By Fire

The ending of Peanut Butter Falcon is a bit abrupt. One moment, Zak is wrestling and effortlessly tossing a man several times his size out of the ring, and the next, he, an injured Tyler, and Eleanor are headed for Florida. Tyler’s injury also seemed highly dramatized since Eleanor’s apparent distress at the hospital was clearly supposed to make audiences think he had died. However, when looking at Tyler and Zak’s individual development, this ending makes a fair bit of sense.

Zak needed to prove his strength, and tossing Sam out of the ring was the perfect way. However, the movie’s ending had more to do with Tyler. At the blind man’s house, Zak was baptized, but Tyler mentioned that he was more of a “baptism by fire” type. He was in immense emotional pain from his brother’s death, which left him in a destructive cycle of violence. By paying for his crimes with blood in The Peanut Butter Falcon, Tyler got his baptism by fire and was, therefore, free to leave his pain behind and start over. Of course, this was only possible because of his new friendships.

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Director

Tyler Nilson , Michael Schwartz

Release Date

August 9, 2019

Writers

Michael Schwartz , Tyler Nilson

Cast

Bruce Dern , Yelawolf , Jon Bernthal , John Hawkes , Shia LaBeouf , Zack Gottsagen , Thomas Haden Church , mick foley , Dakota Johnson , Jake Roberts

Runtime

98 minutes

Main Genre

Adventure

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