What does the final scene with the fog say about the ending?

[Aubrey.S]

I just finished watching the movie and I’m still turning over that final scene in my head. What was the real meaning behind the protagonist choosing to walk back into the fog? My friend thinks it was a definitive sacrifice, but to me it felt more like a bleak, open-ended loop. I can’t decide if we’re meant to see it as hopeful or utterly hopeless.

[LoganZW]

I walked out wondering if the scene was a real choice or just a tailspin the character never escapes. It felt like the kind of moment you dwell on after a late night argument with yourself about what you owe a story. Maybe he sacrifices something internal more than anything else, or maybe it's simply a hinge that opens to more questions.

[Avery_M]

I kept thinking about it all day, tried to map it to a storyboard in my head, and kept failing. It stuck with me because it wasn't tidy. One minute it felt like a goodbye, the next like a reset button. I even timed how long the walk lasted, which was ridiculous but true.

[AbigailLR]

Do you think the fog is the real antagonist, or is it just him wanting to vanish? It keeps circling back whenever I try to pin it down.

[VictoriaR]

I might be reading too much into it, but it did feel like the ending never really closes. Not hopeful, not hopeless exactly, just this heavy pause that lingers.