The Rip Ending Explained: Who is The Real Traitor and What Happened to the Money?
The Rip Ending Explained: BEWARE, SPOILER ALERT. Inspired by real events, “The Rip” is a Netflix action thriller film that follows a group of Miami police officers who deal with a serious trust issue during a seizure. Everything is going normally until it is revealed that the money hidden in an abandoned shelter exceeds 20 million dollars. From that moment on, every decision is called into question, and more than one member of Lieutenant Dane Dumars’ (Matt Damon) team seems suspicious. Who is the real traitor? Can they steal the money? The crime thriller written and directed by Joe Carnahan (“Narc”, “Smokin’ Aces”) begins with the murder of Captain Jackie Velez (Lina Esco). She tries to escape, but is hit by two hooded men. Before he dies, he manages to send a text message. Who did you contact and what did you reveal? Shortly after, the FBI conducts an investigation and interrogates the team, including Detective Sergeant JD Byrne (Ben Affleck), who was in a romantic relationship with the deceased.
During the interrogation, JD loses control over questions from his brother, FBI agent Byrne (Scott Adkins). His friend and partner, Dumars, is responsible for calming him down. Later, Dane Dumars alerts his team to an anonymous complaint and asks them to complete the last mission of the day. The situation becomes suspicious in “The Rip”, since Dumars mentions different amounts to his colleagues. The story follows Dane and JD, members of an anti-drug unit who, after the murder of their partner Jackie, begin to suspect that corruption is not outside the system, but inside. What begins as an investigation to bring justice for the death of a friend turns into a dangerous covert operation, where loyalty, greed, and survival collide head-on.
The Rip Ending Explained: Who is The Real Traitor and What Happened to the Money?
After entering Desi’s property (Sasha Calle), they soon locate the money, and upon verifying that it is a large amount, Dumars becomes alarmed and takes extreme security measures. He asks his team members for their phones and refuses to contact the boss. What is your goal? As a rule, they must count a seizure at the scene, so Detective Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor) and Detective Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandino Moreno) take care of that. Meanwhile, Officer Mike Ro (Steven Yeun) guards the entrance to the house. While outside, Ro uses a disposable phone to communicate with someone. JD Byrne questions his friend’s decisions and becomes suspicious of the operation. To clear up his doubts, he contacts DEA agent Mateo ‘Matty’ Nix (Kyle Chandler), who confirms that there is no anonymous complaint registered. Before you can do anything, you should check a nearby suspicious house.
During JD Byrne’s absence, Dane Dumars proposes to her teammates to stay with “The Rip,” and they seem to accept. Desi overhears the conversation and warns Mike Ro of the situation. The officer immediately speaks to his outside contact and asks him to act before it is too late. A strange call warns the team that they have thirty minutes to leave the house or else they will die. After the deadline, a group of armed men attacks the protagonists of “The Rip”. Although Lolo is shot in the leg, the team manages to resist. The situation worsens when the drug trafficker, who owns the money, communicates to ensure that he is not behind the attack and that he did not murder Captain Velez either. So who?
Who is the Real Traitor?
At that point, there’s no doubt that one member of the team is a traitor and probably murdered Jackie. JD Byrne blames Dumars, and a fight breaks out between them. Their companions separate them and continue with the operation. Byrne calls Nix back to come with reinforcements.
Meanwhile, Mike Ro desperately searches for his phone and, failing to find it, causes a fire. When the fire spreads, the police take the money and leave the house. At that moment, Nix appears with a couple of companions and offers his help. JD Byrne pressures Dumars to bring the money to his bosses, and the leader has no choice but to get into the armored vehicle. Mike Ro and Nix also travel with them.
JD Byrne and Dumars are ready to attack, but they are not against it. In fact, they team up to point out Mike Ro as the real traitor. Of course, the culprit denies it, but the protagonists of “The Rip” reveal that everything was a trap. Dane was pretending to want to steal the money along with her companions to discover Captain Velez’s traitor and murderer.
Although JD Byrne was unaware of the beginning, he found out while at the neighboring house and helped his friend with his plan. Dumars told different figures to each officer and discovered Mike Ro. But he doesn’t work alone. Nix is his accomplice; he received the messages, made the threatening call, and coordinated the attack. Seeing themselves discovered, they try to escape, but the FBI, alerted by JD, surrounds them.
Despite their escape attempts, they manage to capture them. Furthermore, it is revealed that the money never left the house and that Numa and Lolo were in charge of taking it to the bosses. At the end of “The Rip”, the Tactical Narcotics Team completes the mission. The figure delivered coincides with that declared by each team member. Desi receives a portion of the money for her complaint. The Byrne brothers hug. Dumars remembers his deceased son. And JD and Dane remember their friend Jackie.
Why Jackie Was Murdered
Jackie died because she was too close to the truth. He had discovered the existence of a group of agents who used his badge to enrich themselves and planned to use Hialeah’s stash as bait to catch them. His murderers were not cartel hitmen, but colleagues who understood that Jackie posed a direct threat to their business.
Her last message to Dane, with the direction of the stash house, was her way of leaving a clue and trusting that someone would continue what she couldn’t finish. The difference between Jackie and Dane is key: Jackie still believed that her colleagues would not go so far as to kill her; Dane, on the other hand, had already assumed that anyone could be the traitor. That permanent distrust is what allows him to survive and close the trap.
The Fall of Corrupt Police Officers
The climax confronts two different forms of corruption. Matty represents the agent who has crossed all boundaries, willing to kill without hesitation to protect his loot. That’s why he dies without redemption, despondent, by JD when he refuses to give up. Mike, on the other hand, is a more ambiguous character: he participated out of greed, but he was never as ruthless as Matty. Dane perceives this nuance and decides to arrest him instead of executing him, making it clear that the film does not propose simplistic justice, but rather one based on assuming responsibilities.
The Meaning of the Final Dawn
The final scene on the beach, with Dane and JD watching the sunrise, functions as a symbolic closing. Listening to a girl named Jackie celebrate sunrise is no gratuitous coincidence: it’s a reminder of what was at stake from the beginning. Jackie, the murdered companion, will no longer be able to see another sunrise, but others will be able to do so thanks to someone deciding not to sell out. The message is clear: when those charged with protecting the law become thieves, more than just money is lost; the possibility of living without fear is lost. Dawn represents that small daily victory, the reason why Dane decides to remain a police officer despite everything. Not for power or salary, but so that there are more mornings to celebrate and fewer graves to visit. In short, The Rip closes its story with a bittersweet but hopeful tone: corruption does not completely disappear, but it can be confronted. And as long as someone is willing to remember why he started fighting, there is still something worth moving forward for.
