First of all, a fantastic film, deliberate in its pacing, its performances, its visuals and even in its quite sparse sound design.
Other reviews speak in greater detail about the themes and the 'plot' than I will here. What I want to talk about is the ending.
So, SPOILERS:
No, he doesn't go forward with the suicide bombing, which would have been a wonderfully dark, and explosive, finale for the slow burn of the rest of the film preceding it. But, also, I don't think he 'makes out with his girlfriend' as another reviewer put it. He wraps himself in barbed wire, an update on Christ's crown of thorns, and a well done visual, both graphic and slightly understated at the same time. And he pours that drano and then we get the 'Last Temptaion of Christ' moment. He DOES drink that drano and then in that moment of sacrificing himself-which will indeed be enough of a spectacle to draw public attention to the cause-he imagines (or is rewarded with the vision of) her coming to him. He imagines a happy ending and then he film cuts to black mid-scene because the drano has done its job. He has died. People will ask questions. The church's association with polluters will come to light.
Other reviews speak in greater detail about the themes and the 'plot' than I will here. What I want to talk about is the ending.
So, SPOILERS:
No, he doesn't go forward with the suicide bombing, which would have been a wonderfully dark, and explosive, finale for the slow burn of the rest of the film preceding it. But, also, I don't think he 'makes out with his girlfriend' as another reviewer put it. He wraps himself in barbed wire, an update on Christ's crown of thorns, and a well done visual, both graphic and slightly understated at the same time. And he pours that drano and then we get the 'Last Temptaion of Christ' moment. He DOES drink that drano and then in that moment of sacrificing himself-which will indeed be enough of a spectacle to draw public attention to the cause-he imagines (or is rewarded with the vision of) her coming to him. He imagines a happy ending and then he film cuts to black mid-scene because the drano has done its job. He has died. People will ask questions. The church's association with polluters will come to light.