The Gulls Ending Explained: What Happened and Why?

What Happens at the End of The Gulls?

Elza lives in a small town in the Republic of Kalmykia on the Caspian Sea. Another year comes to an end, it’s cold and the steppe is covered in a thin layer of snow. When her husband, who makes a living from illegal fishing, asks her one night what she did during the day, she lies. She wasn’t at her mother’s, but at the bus stop. She thought of leaving – to find out what it might be to escape the infinite expanse of her dreary small world. But she didn’t dare; instead she stays and withdraws into herself, unconcerned by who might see. One day, her husband doesn’t return from a dangerous boat trip. It is said that a fisherman only returns if he has a woman waiting for him and that seagulls are the souls of the missing. At the start of a somewhat unplanned pregnancy, widowed and alone, Elza wanders ever further through the city, plotting a path between tradition and the contemporary until she’s no longer on familiar ground.

Ella Manzheeva's narrative builds toward a resolution centered on Evgeniya Mandzhieva's journey. Another year comes to an end, it’s cold and the steppe is covered in a thin layer of snow.

How Does Evgeniya Mandzhieva's Story End?

• Evgeniya Mandzhieva: Evgeniya Mandzhieva's storyline wraps up in the final act, though some viewers have found the resolution more ambiguous than expected.
• Sergey Adianov: Sergey Adianov's role in the climax proves pivotal to how the central conflict resolves.
• Lyubov Ubushieva: Lyubov Ubushieva's character undergoes a significant shift in the final act.

What Does the Ending of The Gulls Mean?

The Gulls's ending attempts to resolve the major plot threads, though some narrative elements involving Evgeniya Mandzhieva may feel rushed. Ella Manzheeva's final act has been both praised for its ambition and criticized for its execution.