The Hitman’s Bodyguard Ending Explained: Does Bryce Live or Die?

Helmed by Patrick Hughes, ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ brings together two forces of nature who stand at opposite ends of the career spectrum. Michael Bryce, a once-renowned bodyguard, is tasked with protecting Darius Kincaid, a fearsome assassin, all the way from prison to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. This being his only shot at redemption, Bryce takes up the offer, unaware that there are some truly powerful forces on the hunt for Kincaid. Throughout the action–comedy movie, the duo routinely gets into arguments, some minor and others major, but by the end, they have to bury their differences in the face of a greater shared threat. As it turns out, two people at the height of their respective professions make for quite the lethal team. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard Plot Synopsis

‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ begins with Michael Bryce, a successful bodyguard and security specialist, doing a routine mission to protect his wealthy client, Takeshi Kurosawa. It all goes perfectly until the very end, when Kurosawa gets seated inside his private jet, only to be shot through the window. With this, Bryce’s career comes crashing down, and so does his relationship with Interpol Agent Amelia Roussel, that is, until a few years later. Vladislav Dukhovich, Belarus’s evil dictator, has been dethroned and put on trial for his crimes, but without any solid evidence to prove his crimes, the prosecution relies on their last hope, a testimony from Darius Kincaid, the infamous hitman who is presently behind bars.

While Kincaid agrees to testify against one of his former clients, his condition is the release of his lover, Sonia, from prison. However, therein lies another problem, as Kincaid is quite far from the International Court in The Hague, and is in dire need of expert security. When Dukhovich’s enforcers manage to ambush the police entourage and wipe out everyone except Kincaid and Amelia, the latter is left with no choice but to bring in Bryce. Eager to reignite his relationship with her, Bryce jumps on the offer to protect the hitman, not knowing that a world of chaos awaits him. After running, hiding, and taking quite the beating, Bryce and Kincaid are at last able to deal with the enemies and make it to the ferry to Amsterdam.

The next morning, however, Kincaid seems to have disappeared to meet Sonia, who is currently behind bars. The tensions only grow as Kincaid reveals to Bryce that it was he who shot Kurosawa, and a fight inevitably begins. However, the tempo changes once again when Dukhovich’s men catch up to them, forcing Bryce to get himself captured to let Kincaid escape. The latter, though, returns the favor soon enough by freeing him, and they reconcile their differences at last. With seconds to spare, Bryce and Kincaid make it to the court, where Dukhovich’s crimes come to light at last. However, in an all-or-nothing gamble, the dictator bombs the courthouse, bringing things to a climactic final fight.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard Ending: Does Bryce Live or Die? Will He Get His License Back?

‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ ends with Bryce taking a bullet for Kincaid, but ultimately surviving his injuries. The final showdown takes place in the International Criminal Court, where Bryce and Kincaid arrive with relatively few scratches, seemingly trumping over Dukhovich’s plans. However, the former dictator has one last ace up his sleeve, and it turns out to be an all-out attack on the court itself, one meant to kill not only Kincaid, but everyone who has the power to derail Dukhovich’s life. As he readies his gun to kill Kincaid right then and there, all hope seems lost, until Bryce swoops in to take the shot instead, to the confusion of just about everyone. He hasn’t had the friendliest of relationships with the assassin, and with the job technically over, he has no real reason to jump in, and yet he does.

Following the botched security mission all those years ago, Bryce’s life seems to have witnessed nothing but a slow decline. This is not just on a professional level but also personal, as in many ways, he drew his confidence from how good he was at his field. Without that, his primary means of interacting with the world is stripped down, that is, until he meets Kincaid. Though his polar opposite in more ways than one, Kincaid shows Bryce a way of life that isn’t bound by the profession, but rather, channels it. It isn’t unusual for Kincaid to find joy in the craft or find love while being on the run, and this is the reason why an invisible bond of trust is forged between him and his bodyguard, and it pays off in the end.

Though Bryce gets seriously injured in the climactic battle, the final moments confirm that he is alive and well on his way towards recovery, as he is literally ushered into an ambulance. Far from being unconscious, Bryce is actually at his chirpiest, as if the close call with death has reignited his confidence about what life ought to be. The one thing that’s missing in all of this, though, is the issue of his license. On some level, everything Bryce has done since the botched mission is to regain his AAA status, and while rescuing Kincaid from the jaws of death is as impressive as it gets, it’s unlikely to get Bryce his prestige back. In return, though, he seems to have found something a lot more cherishable and everlasting: friendship.

Will Kincaid Go Back to Prison? How Does He Escape?

Though Kincaid returns to prison after defeating Dukhovich, as per the deal, the final scene of the movie paints an entirely different story. Months after going back into prison, Kincaid mysteriously breaks free, not for any nefarious purposes, but simply to reunite with Sonia. It’s not meant to be a permanent reunion either, as the duo reunites in La Cucaracha to celebrate the anniversary of when they fell in love. In the concluding moments, violence breaks out inside the bar for completely unrelated reasons, but it matters little to Kincaid and Sonia, who seal the day with a passionate kiss, tuning out everything that has happened or is about to happen. It is ironic that Kincaid, arguably the most violence-oriented man in this film, is so calm in the moment; therein lies the larger message.

As implied by Kincaid’s backstory, he has never had a hunger for bloodshed like many of his peers. Rather, violence became his sole means of rebelling against the world as a teen, and from that point on, there was no going back. With Sonia, however, time seems to come to a standstill, showing him a way out of this cycle. Ironically, though he is presently receiving punishment in an altogether different way, it doesn’t look like he has any plans to actually contest it. The fact that he breaks out so easily is proof that he always could, if he felt like it. For now, though, he just wants to savor his relationship with Sonia, following which he is likely to give up on violence for good, that is, if fate allows him.

Is Dukhovich Found Guilty? Is He Dead?

While Bryce and Kincaid get their happy endings, sort of, things don’t end quite so well for Dukhovich. After attempting to destroy the International Court and take Kincaid down in one fell swoop, he is left with his own failures and has no choice but to run for his life. Kincaid, however, is not ready to let him go just yet and chases him down all the way to the top of the building, bringing down the chopper that was meant to fly him away. There, sitting at the edge, Dukhovich realizes that he must admit defeat, but his own pride refuses to do so. Instead, he taunts Kincaid into killing him, to which the latter simply pushes him off the ceiling. While Kincaid is technically responsible for putting an end to the dictator, it is ultimately a people’s victory, which is seen in how the crowd on the ground gathers around the body, bringing out all of their rage in one go.

In many ways, Dukhovich represents an alternate path for Kincaid, one where his violence never found an end, and only took a more malicious turn. While clearly more evil in his deeds, what makes Dukhovich truly malicious is that he seems to take pride in his cruel acts, even down to his last breath. That Kincaid has worked with such monsters for years is in and of itself troublesome, and by the end, he is likely compelled to reflect and mend his ways. For the people whose lives were destroyed by the dictator, though, Kincaid emerges as no less than a hero, which opens up a new path for him, one not unlike Bryce’s.

Do Bryce and Amelia Get Back Together?

A friendship with Kincaid is not the only thing Bryce finds at the end of the movie, as it appears that there is still hope to save his relationship with Amelia. When the two broke up, Bryce was consumed by rage and a sense of hostility, but that is no longer the case. On the contrary, he seems to have found the ability to forge genuine connections once again, which gives him another chance to prove himself to Amelia. During a car chase earlier in the film, Bryce confesses his love for her in what appears to be a life-or-death situation, which hints at just how sincere those feelings are years after the breakup. As such, when he actually survives a near-death experience at the end, a surprise awaits.

Before Bryce is taken away in an ambulance, Amelia warmly kisses him on his forehead, indicating that there is still a sense of affection between them. That said, it wouldn’t be accurate to jump to the romantic angle either, as the movie makes a conscious decision not to end things with a liplock. While Amelia likely still has feelings for Bryce, whether that translates to an actual relationship largely depends on where things go from here. It is entirely possible for Bryce, and for that matter Kincaid, to undo their progress at the face of some hurdle in life, but whether they are able to learn from experience and evolve as human beings, rather than just a bodyguard or an assassin, is the real question this movie leaves us with.