The most recent mind-bending film on Netflix, Synchronic, is the topic of conversation. This film has it everything: Anthony Mackie cracking jokes, Jamie Dornan putting on an American accent, a cute puppy, and time travel to top it all off.
This science fiction horror movie from 2020 was surreptitiously launched in cinemas in October, distributed digitally in January, and then arrived on Netflix on April 16. Justin Benson co-wrote the script with Aaron Moorhead. Synchronic has quickly risen to the top of Netflix’s own trending titles charts since making its debut on the streaming site. It was ranked first on Netflix’s “Top 10 in the U.S.” list as of Tuesday.
But the Synchronic finale has raised some questions, as is typical with time-travel movies. Don’t worry if you got lost; Decider is here to guide you. The closing minutes of Synchronic are unclear, but continue reading for an explanation of the Synchronic finale.
What is the Synchronic plot?
Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan’s characters, Steve and Dennis, are best friends who work as paramedics together. Dennis married young and has two children who are 18 years apart, while Steve is a lonely bachelor who finds it difficult to commit to a relationship. Steve and Dennis have recently been dispatched to many 911 calls involving the brand-new designer drug “Synchronic,” which has recently entered the market.
Steve is now known to have a brain tumour on his pineal gland. Steve’s doctor remarks in passing that his pineal gland is more like that of an adolescent than an adult, which could imply that Steve has attained enlightenment and developed a third eye. What a cute thing to say to a cancer patient, a doctor!
Another “Synchronic” drug package was discovered, this time by a group of youths who overdosed, prompting Steve and Dennis to attend to another call. Brianna, Dennis’s missing 18-year-old daughter, was one of those teenagers.
In a fit of wrath, Steve visits the neighbourhood head shop and purchases them from Synchronic, ostensibly to protect other people. A customer follows him out of the store and begs him to sell it to him, but Steve declines. Later that evening, the same man visits Steve at home and claims to have developed Synchronic, a narcotic similar to DMT, utilising a red flower found in the California desert. Synchronic “messes with the pineal gland, so you experience time as it actually is,” the author explains. According to him, historical events are like the tracks on a record; they are all present at all times, and the needle can be placed wherever. He claims that synchronicity is the needle. The medicine can occasionally induce children to time travel permanently because their pineal glands are still developing in this age group.
In conclusion, Synchronic is a medicine that occasionally causes children to travel across time. The medications Steve purchased are the last of the stock; the chemist was trying to get rid of all of them. Steve claims to have flushed the Synchronic, but it is clear that he was lying to the chemist.
When Steve finally uses the Synchronic, he is transported into the past. Recall that Steve’s physician informed him that his pineal gland is comparable to that of an adolescent. In a video, Steve explains what occurred to him and his plans to keep taking the drugs in an effort to track down Dennis’s daughter Brianna. According to what he has learned from his tests, the time you go back to depends on where exactly you take the medication, that you have exactly seven minutes in the past, that you cannot be late for your return, and that you must be touching someone in order to take them with you.
Due of Hawking’s proximity to the location where he needed to be in order to travel back in time, Steve does occasionally catch a glimpse of Hawking outside of his home. (Fun fact: Time travel fascinated real-life physicist Stephen Hawking, who carried out multiple tests. That’s probably the person Steve’s dog is named after.)
How does Synchronic end?
There are just two Synchronic pills remaining for Steve to use in his search for Brianna, but he does not know the precise location of where she was when she vanished. After Steve reveals Dennis the tapes he’s been recording, they collaborate to search for her.
The engraving that reads “Allways” appears on a rock by the river, a rock that Brianna had been sitting on earlier in the movie. Steve and Dennis realise that Brianna had previously left them a clue on where to look for her. According to him, Dennis’ final words to Brianna were “always.”
Steve swallows the pill while seated on the rock. He finds himself in a conflict area where there are fires raging and cannons firing, most likely during the American Civil War. Brianna is discovered by him in a trench with dead bodies. She is baffled as to how Steve discovered her because she is unaware of any communication. Brianna receives the final Synchronic pill from Steve to return to the present. If they had been touching, he could have returned with her, but a confederate soldier approaches them just in time. Steve calms the situation down, but he is unable to return in time and becomes mired in the past.
However, Steve appears as a flicker and is able to shake Dennis goodbye, much as we saw with Hawking.
What does the Synchronic ending mean? What is the Synchronic ending, explained?
According to my understanding of the Synchronic ending, Steve and his dog are both mired in the past. We never saw any evidence that Steve could travel to the past unless he was standing exactly where he had been in the present. We also know that Brianna did not leave the note on the rock. It’s possible that Steve left the message.
The filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead do give a glimmer of hope that Steve might use that handshake to travel back in time. When Steve was attacked by an elderly guy from the 1800s, the man simply goes through him, when in the previous Steve had not been able to touch other people. Dennis gives Steve a hard handshake, which might indicate that Steve is indeed returning to the current day. The misspelling of “Allways” could have been done by a random person, which would account for the engraving. (Perhaps “always” was spelled “allways” in the past? Since I’m not a linguist,
Debating the Synchronic ending with your pals is half the fun because it is purposefully left open-ended. So get a friend and watch the movie again. why not
