As Steven Spielberg’s latest Golden Globe-winning film, The Fabelmans ending explained how this coming-of-age story led to the career of one of Hollywood's greatest directors. Though not a direct biopic, The Fabelmans is largely inspired by Spielberg’s youth, his family, and his development as a young filmmaker. With a star-studded cast and newcomer Gabriel LaBelle in the lead role of Sammy Fabelman, The Fabelmans has received largely positive reviews and multiple awards and nominations.
Spielberg, considered one of the greatest directors of all time, has had a long and storied career. He has won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, and could win a third time with his 2023 Oscar nomination for The Fabelmans — which itself is up for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture. His most personal film comes almost 50 years after Spielberg’s first movie and features similar themes that can be seen in his most famous works, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial. The Fabelmans had been an idea in Spielberg’s head for over 20 years before it reached the big screen, leaving much to examine. Here's The Fabelmans ending explained.
Why The Camera Moves At The End
The final shot of The Fabelmans is one that feels instantly iconic. After a surprising conversation with legendary Westerns director John Ford, Sammy goes out onto the CBS studio backlot full of glee. Sammy had been invited to the studio to work on the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, which is not actually how Spielberg had started his career, suggesting that he had a bright future ahead of him. Ford, played by director David Lynch in a rare cameo, had grilled Sammy about certain shots and gave him some advice about framing regarding horizons and where they should be.
“When the horizon is at the top, it's interesting. When it's on the bottom, it's interesting. When it's in the middle, it's boring as shit! Got it?” Ford asked Sammy at the film’s end. As Sammy walks away, getting smaller and smaller as he disappears between the large studio buildings, the horizon is in the middle. At the last second, the camera shifts to place the horizon at the bottom of the screen, showing that Sammy had taken Ford’s advice and that Sammy from The Fabelmans would grow up to be Spielberg, who always knows how to make a shot interesting.
Does Mitzi End Up With Bennie?
Michelle Williams nailed her performance as Mitzi Fabelman, who was based on Spielberg’s actual mother, Leah Adler, who ed away in 2017 at the age of 97. A major part of Mitzi’s storyline revolved around her affair with Bennie, played by Seth Rogen. Bennie was the best friend and coworker of Sammy’s father Burt, portrayed by Paul Dano, and the children referred to him as “Uncle Bennie,” although Sammy began harboring great resentment for their family friend when he discovered the affair he was having with his mother. The affair ended when the family moved from Arizona to California, leaving Bennie behind, but that wasn’t the end of their story.
Mitzi became horribly depressed in California, partially because of the distance between her and Bennie. The Fabelmans is one of Seth Rogen’s best movies, and through his performance, it’s easy to understand why she is missing his presence in her life. The Fabelmans divorced, and Burt stayed in California with Sammy while Mitzi and his younger sisters returned to Arizona. Viewers don’t see them again but briefly see a picture of Bennie and Mitzi that was sent to Sammy, confirming that they are together. In real life, Bernie Adler became Spielberg’s stepfather a year after his parents’ divorce and remained married until his death in 1995.
Did Steven Spielberg Really Meet John Ford?
In real life, Spielberg did meet John Ford, just not how it’s depicted in The Fabelmans. When Sammy Fabelman meets Ford, he’s already graduated from high school, and it’s not a planned meeting. In reality, Spielberg met Ford when he was 15. Before starting a new movie, Spielberg watches Ford’s The Searchers, which highlights the influence Ford had on him as a young filmmaker and continues to have now that Spielberg has made a name and legacy for himself that rivals Ford’s. Having fellow American director David Lynch cameo as Ford was an added nod to the greats of American cinema.
The Fabelmans Is About Divorce
His parents’ divorce has provided Spielberg with plenty of inspiration that can be seen through films throughout his career, especially in The Fabelmans. Spielberg was 19 when his parents divorced, though, in the film, the Fabelmans announced their divorce to their children just before Sammy’s high school senior prom. It shatters Sammy’s world and has clearly done the same for Spielberg. Their marriage and the effects of their divorce are where The Fabelmans is most accurate to Spielberg’s childhood. Thus, it makes sense that it’s the most important part of the story Spielberg chose to tell about his youth.
Spielberg waited until both of his parents had ed away to tell his family’s story in The Fabelmans. In a Spielberg’s best sci-fi films, which was also inspired by their divorce.
One of the most telling scenes in The Fabelmans is when Mitzi and Burt reveal to the family that they are getting a divorce. At one moment, Sammy is sitting listening, and then he can see himself filming the event, capturing it for later viewings, reexaminations, and editing. It reveals that this is the moment The Fabelmans is all about, and this is the driving force behind all of Spielberg’s films: divorce. He is always working to capture and display it properly, and he is finally able to do it in The Fabelmans.
The Real Meaning Of The Fabelmans' Ending
Most viewers go into The Fabelmans with an understanding that this is the story of Steven Spielberg and displays his vision of what his childhood and start as a director were like. He is the director of the film as well as a co-writer with Tony Kushner, but the Fabelman family is grounded in realism to the point where Sammy begins to feel real. Many are also likely unfamiliar with this younger version of Spielberg, which makes it a bit easier to separate Sammy and Steven.
However, the final shot serves to drive home that, at the end of the day, this isn’t just a film about Spielberg, but it’s a film by Spielberg. It’s a very meta moment as viewers see Sammy directing throughout the film, but the camera tilt shows that it’s Spielberg who’s been behind the camera the whole time. The ending for Sammy is actually a beginning. Sammy will grow up to become a legendary filmmaker like Steven Spielberg, and everything that happened in The Fabelmans will allow him to one day put the story of his childhood into a feature film.
The Fabelmans' Oscar Nominations Make The Ending Even Better
Though Spielberg is not usually one to break the fourth wall in his movies, The Fabelmans ending explained why it was the perfect time to do it, and the movie's reception has only made it better. The last image of the young Sammy heading off into his future just as Spielberg reminds audiences where that future will take him is funny, clever, and surprisingly moving. The ending was perfect for the movie and its place in cinematic history - a legacy secured by its Academy Award nominations.
The fact that The Fabelmans has now been nominated for Best Picture as well as earning Spielberg his ninth nomination for Best Director is a perfect cap to this story. To think that Sammy walking out into that studio lot leads to him potentially walking onto the Oscar stage to accept an award for this story is a beautiful addition to The Fabelmans' ending — and whether it wins or not, nobody is doubting that its seven Oscar nominations are well and truly deserved.
