The Wages of Fear Ending Explained: What Happened to Fred, Alex and Their Family?
CAUTION, SPOILER ALERT. The story of a group of people who must transport nitroglycerin to put out a well that has caught fire takes shape again in The Wages of Fear, a remake of the 1953 thriller of the same name directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. However, the French Netflix film includes several changes: instead of Latin America, the action moves somewhere in the Middle East and stars the brothers Fred (Franck Gastambide) and Alex (Alban Lenoir). Next, I will tell you what happened in the film directed by Julien Leclercq from the script by Hamid Hlioua and Leclercq. The film, which has a duration of 104 minutes, begins with Fred, Clara (Ana Girardot), a doctor who works for an NGO, and two other collaborators facing desert pirates to move a shipment to a refugee camp, where they also live.
Fred’s sister-in-law and niece. While Alex is in prison, he is forced to participate in underground fights. When an oil well catches fire and threatens to destroy the entire town because there is an accumulation of gas underneath that feeds it. To avoid tragedy and above all losses for the company responsible, they need 100 kg. of nitroglycerin to explode only the first well. It is a suicide mission, so the only ones who can complete it are the protagonists of The Wages of Fear.
The Wages of Fear Ending Explained: The Story Plot
The plot revolves around a seemingly impossible mission: transport ammonium nitrate, an extremely volatile explosive, across an inhospitable desert fraught with danger. The objective is to reach a burning oil well and detonate it in a controlled manner to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. Two brothers, Fred (Franck Gastambide) and Alex (Alban Lenoir) are forced to undertake this risky journey for reasons that the film explores through flashbacks. Leclercq opts for a more contemporary approach that is far removed from the existentialism that permeated Clouzot’s classic. The story takes place in a war scenario with no specific geographical location, giving a generic air to the conflicts that arise. The sociopolitical nuances of the original are diluted to prioritize fast-paced action sequences, combining elements of road thrillers with touches of war cinema. One of the main novelties lies in the incorporation of female characters with a prominent role, such as Clara (Ana Girardot), Fred’s partner. Although this decision updates the narrative, it is sometimes forced, giving in to the clichés of the more conventional action genre. The scenes of intimacy between Clara and Fred, although brief, seem to respond more to a commercial requirement than to an organic narrative need.
The Wages of Fear Ending Explained: What Happened to Fred, Alex, and Their Family?
Initially, Fred refuses to accept the job, but Anne, the representative of the oil company, offers him a large amount of money, the freedom of his brother Alex, and the departure of the country for the four of them, so he has no choice but to access it. Clara, Djbri, another member of the NGO, and Gauthier (Sofiane Zermani), an old colleague of Fred, join the mission. The latter, together with his team, is in charge of the security of the group that must move to a solar plant located 800 km away. Without explanation, Alex is released and taken by helicopter to the meeting point. After beating up his brother for his time in prison, Alex accepts the mission and graphically explains how dangerous the substance they will transport is. They have 24 hours to complete the job and shortly after starting they face the first obstacle: the security registration.
Although they manage to pass the control thanks to the NGO’s documents, the desert holds other dangers for them. They lose the first man after carrying and securing the 200 kg. of nitroglycerin in two trucks. Shortly after, they encounter an armed group and Gauthier does not hesitate to open fire, resulting in Djbri’s death. Clara doesn’t have time to mourn her friend because they have to escape before reinforcements arrive. As they advance, they lose more people and, in the end, only the siblings who are the protagonists of “The Wages of Fear”, Clara and Gauthier, are left, so they decide to divide into two groups: Alex with the doctor from the NGO and Fred with his old friend Gauthier. Both face obstacles in their paths, but they manage to solve them with ingenuity. However, a betrayal occurs.
Why Did Alex End Up in Prison and Why Does He Hold a Grudge Against Fred?
Nine months before the start of the French Netflix movie, Fred was working as a security guard for a very powerful man. On his last day at work, his boss suffered an attack while he was talking to Anne, Gauthier’s boss. In the middle of the attack, several corrupt police officers are killed. When he returns home, he tells his brother that his boss has a safe with a lot of money, which can be useful when he leaves that country. Alex hesitates but agrees to help with the explosives, however, the military appears before he completes the robbery and captures him. Meanwhile, Fred remains in the shadows unable to do anything.
Why Did Gauthier Betray Fred?
When they are close to reaching the oil well, Gauthier shoots Fred to keep his share of the money and the other members of the team who died. However, shortly after leaving his friend, he loses control of the vehicle, which gets lost and when it falls, the nitroglycerin inside explodes. Alex and Clara hear the explosion and fear Fred’s death; however, some residents warn about an injured man, who turns out to be Fred. Desperate, they put him in the truck and took him to the well, where a helicopter was supposedly waiting for them. Before they arrive, the armed men reappear and attack them. Clara uses part of the cargo to get rid of the pursuers. Meanwhile, Anne’s bosses inform her that the drilling team won’t be able to arrive on time, so she has to make sure that a truck with nitroglycerin enters the well and makes it explode. To ensure that Alex follows her orders, Anne kidnaps her husband and her daughter.
Fred’s Sacrifice
Despite his injuries, Fred regains consciousness and realizes that Anne is holding his sister-in-law and niece hostage, so he grabs his gun and shoots them. Once he frees his brother’s family, he sees the fire in the well increasing, so he drives the truck full of nitroglycerin towards the oil well, despite Clara’s pleas. The Wages of Fear ends with Fred’s sacrifice, the town’s celebration of avoiding tragedy, and Alex’s reuniting with his family. Plus, a helicopter is approaching, which could mean Alex, his wife, and his daughter could leave the country.
