Christopher McQuarrie reveals Tom Cruise is the one to thank for ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’s’ satisfying ending

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

The 7th installment in the Mission Impossible spy film franchise, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now screening in theaters. And for those who have already watched it, Tom Cruise deserves all your appreciation for the satisfying ending.

Dead Reckoning Part One sees the return of Tom Cruise as the IMF agent Ethan Hunt as he embarks on a new mission to safely retrieve the Entity, an AI weapon that threatens all of humanity. Cruise is joined by Hayley Atwell as his new ally Grace, Ving Rhames as his best friend Luther Stickell, Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn, and Rebecca Ferguson as MI16 agent Ilsa Faust, as they try to take down Gabriel, a powerful terrorist plotting to use the Entity to rule the world.

The film does not end on a cliffhanger unlike most action-thrillers, which is surprising given that Dead Reckoning Part One already has a sequel planned. Commenting on why the team chose to end the film on a rather satisfying note, the director Christopher McQuarrie revealed,

“How we ended the movie was a big, big mystery for us. It kept Tom awake at night throughout production. He would come in all the time and say, ‘This can’t be a cliffhanger, it’s got to be satisfying.’ The audience has to feel a sense of completion.”

Following through Tom’s wish, Dead Reckoning does not kill off the villain but still makes sure to leave the audience on a calmer note. Though Gabriel manages to escape, we see that Ethan is successful in retrieving the key to the Entity from him and he drives off peacefully with Benji. Grace also informs Kittridge that she has chosen to join IMF, giving the audience more to look forward to in the next part. Talking about how much thought was put into this simple ending, McQuarrie continues,

“Tom kept looking at that scene and he had all this anxiety about whether or not it would be a satisfying conclusion or whether it would feel open-ended. We constantly revisited it, constantly refined it.”

Backing up the team’s decision, McQuarrie explained that they do not want the audience to feel like the team is expecting them to come back. They did not want to use a cliffhanger as a lure to bring the audience to the next film. He commented,

“If you leave it with a cliffhanger, it feels a little bit like we’re expecting you to come back, we didn’t want that feeling. The feeling we were reaching for – and we hope you feel – is we dare you not to come back. We want to leave you thinking, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to see what happens next.'”

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and its sequel were reportedly shot back-to-back and the sequel is set to be released on June 28, 2024. Part One is currently playing in theaters and has upheld the franchise’s reputation as the greatest action film franchise.