The Interstellar Ending Explained, 10 Years Later: What Happened to Earth After Murph Solved the Equation — and Where Did Cooper Go Next?

Warning: Interstellar spoilers ahead!

A decade before winning Best Director at the 2024 Oscars Oppenheimerannounced Christopher Nolan Interstellar.

The 2014 sci-fi drama features an ensemble cast starring Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, and Anne Hathaway, with additional performances from Matt Damon, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Caine, and Mackenzie Foy.

Following Joseph “Coop” Cooper (McConaughey), a farmer and former NASA test pilot, the film takes place on Earth in 2067. By that time, humans are facing extinction due to starvation, disease and increasingly unbreathable air.

After Coop and his daughter Murphy “Murph” Cooper (Foy) notice strange patterns in the particles swirling through the air, they discover a secret facility run by NASA scientist Dr. John Brand (Caine). There, Dr. Brand recruits Coop to pilot a spaceship in search of another habitable planet, which involves sending him and his daughter Amelia Brand (Hathaway) through a wormhole near Saturn.

In a decision that becomes pivotal to the film, Coop goes on a mission, hoping to save the future of the human race, especially the lives of his children. However, going on a trip means he has to leave them behind, and although he promises to return, Murph is devastated.

The rest of the film follows Coop and Amelia as they make their way through space. It also follows Murphy’s life as she grows into an influential scientist, surviving hard times on Earth. But will Cooper find the wormhole and save the human race? Is she going back to her children?

Here’s everything you need to know about Interstellar ending, from Murph’s ghost to the Cooper family legacy.

How is it Interstellar end?

Matthew McConaughey in the movie ‘Interstellar’.

Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros

After Coop and Amelia leave Earth, Murph becomes a scientist and helps Dr. Brando with his gravity manipulation equation; as an adult, she’s still dedicated to solving it so she can be reunited with her dad.

However, Dr. Brand ages considerably and before she dies, she admits to Murph that the equation was a farce designed to give people a sense of hope, and that she should never have acted or brought her father home. Not only is Murph devastated by this news, but she feels betrayed and wonders if Coop knew. (It didn’t.)

Despite her disappointment, Murph continues to work, determined to save the future of humanity and see her father again. Meanwhile, Coop almost dies in space when Dr. Mann (Damon) tries to kill him, but is saved by Amelia.

After visiting two uninhabitable planets, Coop, Amelia and their fellow robot, TARS, head to the third and final planet to try again.

While traveling around the third planet, Coop falls into a black hole, which allows him to send the coordinates of the NASA location to his past self and, subsequently, to Murph on Earth. With the new information, Murph solves the gravity manipulation problem that has plagued the team, allowing the human species to resist extinction and survive.

Who was Murph’s ghost?

Jessica Chastain in the movie ‘Interstellar’.

Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

At the beginning of the film, Murph believes there is a ghost visiting her bedroom, rattling the bookshelves on her wall. In fact, Murph is the character who – throughout the film – maintains faith in the idea that there are life forces beyond what humans can explain.

Murph is not afraid of her ghost though. Instead, she’s sure it’s sending her messages.

Near the end of the film, Coop drives the spaceship toward the third planet and — along with the team’s robot, TARS — agrees to sacrifice himself, reducing the craft’s weight so that Amelia can reach the third planet.

In doing so, Cooper falls into a black hole that allows him to travel through time and space. In a four-dimensional hole, he realizes that he can use the falling dust grains to send the NASA location coordinates to his past self, thus triggering the mission he is on.

With the help of TARS, Coop transmits information from space by manipulating the hands of Murph’s wristwatch that sits on her bookshelf. Now grown, Murph finds her watch and manages to solve the equation that allows the human race to avoid extinction.

It turns out that Murphy’s ghost was her father all along.

Where are Cooper and Murph?

Mackenzie Foy and Matthew McConaughey in the movie ‘Interstellar’.

Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

Despite Murphy’s early feelings of betrayal when her father left Earth—and later dealing with even more devastation when Dr. Brand discovered that her dad and his crew were never meant to return—she and Cooper reunite.

When Cooper finally returns to Earth, he quickly goes to the hospital to see Murph. She is an older woman at this point; The film’s sense of pressure comes from Coop ending up on planets where every hour equals seven Earth years, meaning Murph aged much faster than him.

The hospital is located on Cooper Station, a space station named after his daughter, because she saved humanity using information her father communicated to her.

Murph not only led a successful life in science, but also overcame the adversity of losing her father in space. In doing so, she used the knowledge he had gained from his travels to create her own legacy.

Because time on Earth passes much faster than on the planets Cooper has visited, Murph is now a wise elder while her dad is middle-aged. She urges him not to wait for her to die, but to go and find Amelia.

Now surrounded by his own family, Cooper says goodbye to his daughter once again, but this time she is in peace.

What happened to Amelia?

Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway in the movie ‘Interstellar’.

Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

After leaving Murph, Cooper goes on another TARS mission, with the goal of reuniting with Amelia.

While viewers don’t see the pair together again, Amelia takes off her helmet and breathes on a newly discovered, habitable planet.

Will it be Interstellar sequel?

Jessica Chastain in the movie ‘Interstellar’.

Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

Nolan fans have long speculated that there would be a sequel Interstellar. However, despite the demand, Nolan and Warner Brothers have officially announced a second film.

Still, the film certainly ends on an ambiguous note, leaving it ripe for a sequel.

When asked about “balancing Interstellaran intergalactic story with its more intimate, family story,” Nolan told NPR: “I think contrast is just as important to me as balance. I really wanted to look at this moment in time that might come one day, where humanity has to reckon with its place in the wider universe. I like the idea of ​​just looking over the shoulders of relatable characters.”

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Source: HIS Education