The Rhythm Section: What did the ending of the movie mean?

The Rhythm Section left us with a rather ambiguous ending, what did it mean for Stephanie Patrick and Iain Boyd? Does it need a sequel?

The Rhythm Section, based on Mark Burnell’s book of the same name, is an action-packed thriller that stars Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown. Unfortunately, the movie severely underperformed at the box office and didn’t fare well with critics either. Still, it wasn’t all bad.

Reed Morano‘s directing style is definitely something to be admired, and the movie leaves you with a lot to think about as the credits roll.

Beware: The following article contains spoilers for the film.

At the end of the movie, Lively’s character, Stephanie Patrick, has completed her mission and killed everyone that had a hand in the tragic demise of her family. Stephanie’s parents and siblings were killed on an airplane crash that wound up being an assassination for an unrelated person.

After learning this, Stephanie receives training from Jude Law’s character, Iain Boyd, a.k.a. ‘B,’ to get revenge, and it seems like she succeeds, but did she?

At one point in the film, we learn that B was a former MI-6 agent. He killed a fellow agent named Petra because Petra murdered his wife. Petra’s mission was to stop the U-17,  which would have included its mastermind, Marc Sarra (Sterling K. Brown).

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So technically, B is part of the reason that Stephanie’s family died. He triggered a domino effect by murdering Petra.

At the end of the movie, Stephanie tells B that “Petra” is dead once again since she doesn’t need to be her anymore. He says that he hopes he never sees her again, and Stephanie responds, “do you?”

The moment is somewhat ambiguous, and it could mean a couple of different things. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know if it differs there, but Stephanie states multiple times throughout the movie that she wants to kill every person responsible for her families’ deaths.

Does that mean that both B and Stephanie know, on some level, that they will meet again as enemies?  Or is Stephanie truly planning to move on with her life? It seemed like, B knows Stephanie would come for him someday, as did Stephanie. But perhaps both of them somewhat relish the idea of the challenge.

The Rhythm Section is now playing in theaters.