The Fault in Our Stars depicts the sad story of two teenagers with terminal illnesses, but its ending shares a moving message about life, death, and finding happiness. Adapted from the bestselling young adult novel by John Green, the 2014 drama sees Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Gus Waters (Ansel Elgort) meet at a support group. Since Hazel suffers from thyroid cancer and Gus previously had bone cancer, the characters connect right away. The movie paints a realistic portrait of first love, showing how scary it can be to open up to someone, especially when it’s unclear how many months or years are left.
The Fault in Our Stars may be a tearjerker, but it has hopeful moments as well, as the characters learn from each other and even take a memorable trip to Amsterdam. The conclusion may be easy to guess, as any ill-fated romance movie story about two terminally sick characters falling in love tends to result in one of them tragically passing away at the end. However, while the movie’s tone is melancholy, its story could not end any other way, given how it changes the surviving main character. Ultimately, The Fault in Our Stars‘ ending has several layers, and there are a few questions that it answers beautifully.
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What Happens At The End Of The Fault In Our Stars
Hazel Finds A Shred Of Comfort From Gus
The end of The Fault In Our Stars reveals what seems to be clear from the beginning: one of the two main characters dies. While in Amsterdam, Gus lets Hazel know that his cancer has come back and that he will not make it. When the characters are home, Isaac (Nat Wolff) and Hazel speak at a kind of funeral for Gus, sharing what they love about him and the impact that he has had. While some teen book adaptations can be corny or sentimental, this scene feels natural and moving. At Gus’s funeral, author Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe) and Hazel have a somber but important conversation.
After Van Houten shares that he wrote one of his famous novels because he lost a child to cancer, Hazel spends time alone outside and reads a letter that Gus wrote for her. The last scene sees Hazel lying down and looking at the stars. She feels more connected to the world knowing that her favorite writer has experienced what she is dealing with, and while, of course, that does not change her fear of dying, his words do offer her some comfort at a time when she needs it. Hazel appreciates that Van Houten gave her this letter and that he has opened up about his family tragedy.
What Does The Letter From Gus Say?
His Parting Words Are An Affirmation Of Love
In contrast to Ansel Egort’s action-driven character in Baby Driver, Gus Waters is an open-hearted guy who digs deep into his feelings and makes sure that the people in his life know that he appreciates them. From the romantic moments in The Fault in Our Stars, including a first kiss between the two leads in picturesque Amsterdam and the characters bonding over Van Houten’s novel The Prince of Dawn, it becomes clear that the final scene of the movie will be moving. When he passes, Gus leaves Hazel a helpful gift, writing that he loves her and that he couldn’t change his death.
Gus’s letter speaks to The Fault in Our Stars‘ theme of fate. The movie’s title comes from a line in the William Shakespeare play Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Gus is wise, at peace, and perceptive, and he wants Hazel to feel loved, supported, and alright knowing she will die, too. While there were changes in the book-to-film adaptation process, Gus and Hazel’s belief that they can take control and enjoy themselves remains the same. It isn’t easy for anyone to process these thoughts, let alone teenagers who should have their entire lives in front of them.
How Does Gus’s Death Affect Hazel?
The Fault In Our Stars Explores The Complex Nature Of Grief
The Fault in Our Stars‘ ending explores how, even when people anticipate the death of a loved one, grief is always going to be difficult, surprising, and non-linear. While Hazel is scared when Gus shares in Amsterdam that he is terminal again, after she learns that he has passed away, she leans on her inner strength. While it’s beautiful to watch her lie down and see the stars, remembering her brief love story, it’s clear that she will never stop missing Gus or grieving him. The final scene brings the movie full circle, echoing Hazel’s opening quote that this is “the truth,” not a perfectly wrapped-up story.
While Laura Dern’s memorable character, Hazel’s mother Frannie, attempts to help by suggesting the support group, Gus is the person who helps Hazel have more fun and see the positive parts of life again. Gus’s death shows how Hazel needed to meet Gus so that she could have this experience. It also makes Hazel realize that she has everything that she needs to process her short life and be ready when her time comes. Before this important relationship, she was lonely and cynical, and she didn’t think that there was a reason to become close to someone. Now she knows that she was missing out.
What John Green Said About The Fault In Our Stars Ending
The Finale Moments Were Almost Very Different
While The Fault in Our Stars‘ ending is a strong example of a thoughtful movie adaptation of a YA novel, speaking to the joys and pain of being a teenager, author John Green shared with Chris Van Vliet that he had a different ending for the novel at first. He told the CBS-19 reporter, “I wrote a lot of terrible endings,” and explained that Van Houten and Hazel “want to honor Augustus by finding a way to die in a sacrificial way that reflects something about who he was,” which meant them planning to murder a drug lord. Green’s editor was uncertain if this was a serious draft.
That would definitely have moved the story in a much darker direction — more action thriller than a teenage romantic drama. Van Houten has a proper character arc and changes as a result of knowing Gus and Hazel and becoming kinder and assisting Gus in penning a eulogy about his feelings for Hazel. Like Willem Dafoe’s best characters, Van Houten acts in surprising, unexpected ways, and his limited screen time feels just right. A final scene with the author and Hazel would feel too corny and ruin the emotional impact of the beautifully written letter, and it’s nice that Hazel has this moment alone with her memories and thoughts.
The Real Meaning Of The Fault In Our Stars’ Ending
The Movie Is A Message On The Importance Of Vulnerability
The Fault in Our Stars‘ ending shares the importance of being vulnerable and letting life be a surprise. At the beginning of the story, Hazel is miserable and unable to let anyone into her world. She thinks that facing her illness and impending death is the only road that she can walk down, and she doesn’t want to listen to her family’s suggestion that she should enjoy herself more. She is meant to meet Gus at this specific time in her life, and she ends up changing him, too. While he helps her feel supported and understood, Hazel helps Gus feel like his short life had a greater purpose.
While the movie of The Fault in Our Stars has light, humorous moments, particularly when Isaac jokes around with Gus, the conclusion is serious and meaningful. Gus and Hazel’s bond is shown to be the type of love story that everyone hopes for, and every time they say “okay,” which is their secret word, they share their love for one another. The message that everyone can find this type of connection if they don’t close themselves off from the world is a moving reminder of what is possible, especially when life feels especially frightening, confusing, and dark, as it does for Hazel and Gus.
How The Fault In Our Stars Ending Was Received
A Coherent Coming Together Of Multiple Complex Themes
The majority of the reviews in The Fault In Our Stars were positive and had no shortage of praise, with the final moments regularly being cited as a key strength of the movie. Viewers responded to the film just as warmly as critics, with The Fault In Our Stars currently sitting on an 85% Popcornmeter rating (audience score) on Rotten Tomatoes, complimented by an 81% Tomatometer rating (critical core).
With any movie focusing on terminal illness, the ending is always going to be one of the most important moments, with the finale of The Fault In Our Stars always being make-or-break for director Josh Boone’s 2014 drama. The fact that the response to the movie was so positive proves that the film handled its final moments well, neatly wrapping together its many nuanced and complex emotional themes. While praise wasn’t completely universal (there were some who felt the movie was too heavy handed), overall the ending of The Fault In Our Stars was seens as incredibly strong.
How The Book Ending Compares To The Movie
Many Felt The Story Was Handled Better In The Source Material
While many critics and viewers responded well to the ending of The Fault In Our Stars, there was one key flaw pointed out by the negative reviews – comparisons to the original novel by John Green. Specifically, many didn’t appreciate the overall change in tone during the final moments of the The Fault In Our Stars movie, with multiple critics (such as Christie Lemire of Roger Ebert) voicing that the film version lost much of the storie’s emotional impact:
“The Fault in Our Stars” descends into major hanky territory with an overpowering assist from a nearly omnipresent soundtrack of wistful alt-rock tunes that tell us what to feel, and when, and how much. (I will happily admit to having tears stream down my face during the third act of Green’s book but, alas, did not get choked up here.)
Lemire isn’t alone in her comparison, either. Reviewer The Chick Flick Chick also summed up the differences between the two mediums well, and was relatively damning in her appraisal of the ending of The Fault In Our Stars movie and its comparitive lack of emotional impact:
I had already read and enjoyed the book (the only one of John Green’s books to do so, but we’ll get to that), but I had finished reading the last few chapters on one of those trips on that hour long bus ride and I wanted to cry, I really did, but I had to hold it in. Somehow, I didn’t feel particularly comfortable with being open with my emotions during the middle of a bus ride.
I took a few breaths and held in the sadness I felt about the end of the book. I thought I would cry when I saw the ending unfold on screen. Nope. My dad rang me and I had to run out of the cinema to answer the call. What about since its release on DVD? Surely I would have redeemed myself with the empty box of Kleenex to prove it? Well actually, one of the last times I watched it, I laughed. I laughed a lot, and it was during the sad part.
Overall, there aren’t too many changes to major plot points of the ending of The Fault In Our Stars movie and book. It’s the general tone that changes significantly, and it’s clear that the alterations didn’t favor the film version.
The Fault in Our Stars
8/10
- Release Date
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June 5, 2014
- Runtime
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126minutes
- Director
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Josh Boone
- Writers
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Josh Boone
