The Adam Project ending explained and spoilers: How does the Netflix movie end?

The wait is finally over! The Adam Project is now streaming on Netflix and those last few moments of the original movie were intense, to say the least. So much happened in the science-fiction film, and we’re here to be your guide to break down all that occurred.

In the Netflix movie, Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds), a time-traveling pilot, accidentally travels back to the year 2022 and enlists the help of his younger self (Walker Scobell) to save the future. In order to successfully achieve the mission to save the world, Adam also teams up with his late father, Louis Reed (Mark Ruffalo).

There are so many action-packed scenes and funny moments in the film, but nothing compares to the jaw-dropping ending. Since it is a time-travel movie, you have to switch on your logic gear to fully understand what’s going on. But if you’re a sci-fi lover, you like movies that make you think. I will say that The Adam Project will stay with you and have you thinking long after its run time is over. It’s an all-around good family movie that you might find yourself watching for a second time (I’m guilty of this).

I could sing The Adam Project‘s praises all day, but it’s time to get into the fantastic ending and explanation of everything that happened. If you haven’t watched The Adam Project yet, now is your time to click off this article because we’re about to discuss spoilery content about the movie.

MAJOR spoilers ahead for The Adam Project!

The Adam Project ending

After finally setting their plan of destroying time travel in motion, both Adam and young Adam head to Sorian Tech. As they are walking up the steps to Sorian Tech, Adam tells his younger self that they’re going to blow up the electromagnetic accelerator, otherwise known as The Adam Project. They believe that they must destroy the electromagnetic accelerator to stop time travel from ever being invented. At this moment in the film, Louis Reed has chosen not to partake in the mission.

As both Adams get closer to the entrance of Sorian Tech, Adam warns his younger self that Sorian’s security will try to stop them from entering the building. He tells young Adam that he’ll finally get to use the gadgets and tools he’s been wanting to use since the beginning of the film to help fight security. Then, both Adams split up. As adult Adam reaches the entrance of Sorian Tech, he encounters security armed with guns ready to take him back to his fixed time (2050). Young Adam is far off operating a drone that will ultimately injure the security.

After young Adam shoots out some sort of missile from the drone that blows the security back, adult Adam begins fighting security with his Mag-Cyl, or what young Adam calls it, a lightsaber. Then, more security comes in two trucks, and young Adam manages to blow up one of the trucks. The other truck ends up being T-boned by an oncoming vehicle. The person who gets out of the car that T-boned the truck is none other than Louis Reed.

Louis decides to help both Adams with their mission and tells them that their plan of blowing up the accelerator is pointless because Sorian will just rebuild it. Instead, he tells them that what they need to be focused on is destroying the hard drive that is located near the accelerator. The hard drive contains ISPCA, which is the mathematical equation that makes time travel possible.

While adult Adam and Louis head up to the room where the accelerator and hard drive are, young Adam is playing with the drone outside the building. Sorian, in her time jet, appears behind young Adam. As soon as Louis ejects the hard drive, Sorian, her younger self, and security appear and ask for the hard drive back. Adult Adam refuses to hand over the hard drive, so Sorian brings in a captured young Adam and threatens to kill him. While they all argue about the hard drive, young Adam nudges the gun held to his head, and a bullet hits the electromagnetic seal of the accelerator.

The accelerator starts malfunctioning, and anything magnetic flies to the accelerator. Then, a fight breaks out between adult Adam and Christos while Sorian and her younger self try to escape, and Louis tries to stop the accelerator from breaking down. Christos ends up pinning adult Adam down on the floor and choking him. But then the magnetic exit button flies off the door, hits Christos, and sends him flying towards the accelerator. Christos breaks through the glass of the accelerator and dies. His strong impact on the accelerator’s core causes it to start a lockdown.

Then, adult Adam, young Adam, Louis, Sorian, and younger Sorian face-off for the hard drive. After Louis refuses to give the hard drive to Sorian, she pulls the trigger on her gun, and a bullet goes flying towards Louis before rerouting towards the accelerator since it contains a magnetic steel core. The bullet ends up striking younger Sorian since she was standing in the direction of where the bullet was headed and ultimately kills her. Since younger Sorian dies, older Sorian immediately becomes erased. Then, adult Adam, young Adam, and Louis leave Sorian Tech before the building explodes.

They then head to the house, where an intimate conversation happens. Louis apologizes to adult Adam for not being there for him and tells him how much he loves him. These are words that adult Adam needed to hear in order to move on. Then, they all play catch outside until adult Adam and young Adam go back to their fixed times. Before adult Adam and young Adam disappear, adult Adam asks his younger self for a favor. The favor is to give their mom a real hug.

Adult Adam and young Adam go back to their fixed times, and young Adam listens to what adult Adam says and gives their mom a warm embrace. Then, we cut to the future where adult Adam is sitting in a class at the Academy meeting his wife Laura for the first time. We already knew how adult Adam and Laura met because adult Adam mentioned the story to young Adam earlier in the film. However, this scene was to show viewers that adult Adam was still able to meet Laura in the program. It was to basically show that Adam and Laura ended up together after all.

Why did Laura travel back to 2018 in The Adam Project?

Laura was analyzing data when she found something strange in the jump logs. She saw a time jet returning from 2018. She thought it was odd because no one ever flew to 2018. So to get to the bottom of the strange occurrence, Laura time-traveled to 2018. She ends up finding out that Sorian was the person who traveled to 2018. As Laura was about to travel back to her fixed time, Sorian spotted Laura and planted an altitude bomb on her jet. Laura managed to eject but was stuck in 2018. She had to lay low and hope that Adam would eventually come looking for her.

Sorian tried to kill Laura because she didn’t want her to find out that she had altered the time stream.

Why did Maya Sorian travel back to 2018?

Sorian traveled back to 2018 because that’s when The Adam Project had just gone online. She went back to give her younger self future intel on stock tips and to get rid of whatever political obstacles that were keeping her from gaining control of the time program.

Who dies in The Adam Project?

Fortunately, only three people died in the film. We already knew Louis died, but we were hoping that he’d somehow get to live. His death isn’t shown on screen, but he died in a car accident. It’s understood that Christos dies after being thrown into the accelerator. Lastly, the main antagonist of the film, Maya Sorian, dies after her younger self gets shot in the year 2018, ultimately erasing her from the future.

There was a lot that went down in The Adam Project, and I enjoyed every single part. What did you think about the science fiction movie’s ending? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds is available to stream only on Netflix!