WARNING - SPOILERS!

If you’ve seen the film, check out my interpretation of the ending after the break.

Righto - so the ending of Source Code was a bit bonkers. Admittedly, the premise itself isn’t exactly bread and butter stuff - but the concept of entirely new realities being created each time they use the Source Code technology? Bonkers.

A bit too much, n’all - which is why at this point my brain decided this final leap of faith was too much to deal with. In light of this, I’ve got another theory:

Throughout the latter half of the film, Stevens seems partially fixated by the idea that he can change the world within these dreams, and save the people around him. Before the film reaches it’s climax, it feels like he’s given up on this notion - but regardless - being a soldier who died without even knowing - wants a chance to go out a hero, regardless of how real that sensation might be.

Upon reaching the end of the Source code, the program freezes - but the dream doesn’t fade. Unplugged from the system and left to die, the dream continues; unwired from the restraints of the 8 minute system, he carries on - continuing the fantasy he wants to see. At earlier points in the film, he does mention the prospect of multiple realities - but is this cinematic foreshadowing, or a latent idea of Stevens’ that he desperately wants to be true?

If you consider the latter option, the ending makes just as much sense - for a man in love who doesn’t want to die, dreaming that you’ve escaped to be alive again in an entirely fresh universe seems pretty appealing. In a hugely loose scientific way, it makes a lot more sense too - the concept of slipping into a temporary state of dream before total brain death isn’t uncommon; and if you’ve been forcefully inserted into a reoccurring dream repeatedly in the direct run-up to this, a continuation of this would make sense. 

The reveal of the mirrored sculpture at the very end would appear to suggest a degree of fate to proceedings, but in much the same way he falls in love with the girl on the train - perhaps he isn’t stepping into Sean’s shoes as a blank slate; the drive to ask the girl there on a date having been left behind like a lingering blueprint.

Taking this theory into account, the final ending might not seem like such a happy one - this final scene most likely being a short-lived sequence before a final fade into total brain shutdown. It might be less cheery, but in my mind the story of man dying on his own terms in a self-authored happy ending is a hell of a lot more poignant. 

Thoughts?