Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Carlson Young, Prime Video’s ‘The Last Sunrise‘ charts the love story of Oriah “Ry” Pera and Julian García, which blossoms on the island of Mallorca, Spain. Having led a sheltered life for most of her childhood and teenage years, Ry wishes to break free of the cages and live on her own terms in Spain, but her battle with a rare, chronic condition threatens to stand in the way at every turn. However, with the arrival of Julian, the world seems to lighten up. By the end of this romance movie, however, their relationship is put to the test by fate itself. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Last Sunrise Plot Synopsis
‘The Last Sunrise’ begins with Ry, an accomplished swimmer, meeting with an accident while in the pool, much to the horror of her single mother, Isolde. A few days and many medical tests later, Ry is back home, but with a large list of medicines she has to take seriously for tuberous sclerosis complex, or TSC, a condition she has been diagnosed with recently. That’s not all, though, as Isolde also has to head to the Spanish island of Mallorca for work, which means that her daughter is coming with her. Free-spirited by nature, Ry wishes to spend her days in Mallorca partying and making new friends, but that comes into odds with her mother’s strict regimen, including hourly alarms for Ry’s medicine. Frustrated with how the pills make her feel weak and drowsy, Ry ditches them for once and heads to a local beach for a swim.
That beach turns out to be a nude beach, though, and it is there that Ry comes face to face with Julian, a charming, perfectly built local fisherman who takes offense to the fact that she is putting up at Marès & Mar Hotel. As a matter of fact, Isolde is here for the hotel’s expansion project, and as Julian interacts with Ry more, he reveals that the new hotel is being built on land that belongs to his family. Soon, though, these tensions give way to a deeper chemistry between the duo, and as they spend their days together, romantic feelings begin to develop. Ry also befriends a few local girls, especially Amara, who also becomes her guide to the city. However, all of this is happening while Ry refuses to take her medication, and slowly, it starts to take an effect on her health.
As Ry and Julian fall deeply in love, she learns that his family once took a huge loan from the local thugs, and that money is still due. While Julian has been putting up with their threats and random assaults thus far, eventually it becomes too much to bear. At the same time, there is the rising pressure from Isolde to Mateo, Julian’s father, to sell their land and fishing business for a hefty property. Though Julian rejects the deal outright, his father is ultimately forced to say yes. Before things can accelerate any further, though, Ry’s symptoms worsen to the point that she falls unconscious and has to be hospitalized. As it turns out, she lied to Julian about her condition, tuberous sclerosis complex, and how serious it is. The only way to save her life is with a complicated surgery, which can potentially even erase her memories.
The Last Sunrise Ending: Does Ry Remember Julian? Will They End Up Together?
‘The Last Sunrise’ ends with Ry surviving the surgery and losing her memories, only to get them back, one by one. Though we are never explicitly told whether she remembers Julian, the final scene is one of him reintroducing himself to her at the beach, just as they first met. The difference, though, is that this time it’s Julian who is enthusiastically breaking the ice, unlike the last time, when they began their dynamic with hostility. More importantly, Ry confirms that her memories are slowly returning to her, and a recreation of the beach introduction might just be the trigger she needs to remember Julian and their love story. Regardless, the story clearly has a happy ending, with everything implying that the duo gets back together.
Interestingly, the scene where Ry swims at the beach after surgery is also among the first shots of the film, and while we are initially led to believe that the sequences are chronological in order, this recontextualizes things. One way this framing can be interpreted is that the entire movie is essentially Ry remembering her journey to Mallorca and, along with it, her love for Julian. This also ties symbolically to the title of the movie, as Ry even recounts that this memory is her first and last sunrise, as everything draws back to that one fateful meeting. For Julian to reintroduce himself, then, might be a part of their routine or cute ritual, helping them keep connected to how the story started.
When Ry first wakes up from the surgery, her blank expression upon reuniting with Julian strongly suggests that she has no memory of him, but that might be a misdirection. The scene cuts away too quickly to confirm that she doesn’t express anything. Regardless of whether or not she remembers him, though, if there is one thing for certain, it’s that their love story is bound to see its climax. It’s this brief but memorable relationship that shows Ry how joyful life can be, and the fact that she hides her condition for the most part plays an important role in that. In doing so, Ry’s dynamic with Julian is no longer defined by her health condition, and with her recovering at last, they can go back to how perfect things used to be.
Will Ry’s Tumors Return? Will She Stay in Mallorca?
While the doctors confirm that the tumors in Ry’s brain have been surgically removed, it’s important to note that her condition, tuberous sclerosis complex, has no recognized cure. The only way to keep her symptoms in check is by medication, therapy, and constant care. Even then, due to the chronic nature of TSC, it is very likely that she might face even greater challenges down the line. The difference this time, however, is that she is surrounded by people who are prepared to fight alongside her and make sure that she never feels alone again. It’s not just Julian but also Isolde and Amara who begin to understand Ry better than ever before and promise to do things differently the next time around.
A big reason Ry’s condition worsened so quickly is that she simply stopped taking medication around the start of the movie. Desperate not to feel drowsy and weakened all the time, she ends up doing an overcorrection, and the result is her hospitalization at the end. Now, however, with everyone knowing about her diagnosis, Ry has no reason to hide under a social cover. Going forward, she will likely take her medication on time, if not by herself, then certainly at the urging of her mother, partner, and friends. TSC is not a fatal condition by default, and with the correct approach to treatment, Ry will get to live life to its fullest, that too with the people she cherishes the most.
Though Isolde was supposed to leave Mallorca and head back to the United States after the deal went through, the ending suggests that Ry is most likely settling here for good. In the final moments, her hair is noticeably different, which suggests that some time has passed since the scene before. Ry has already expressed her desire to stay on the island before, and it appears that her wish has come true. The deal wasn’t the only reason Isolde wanted to move out of the place, as it was also where she found her first love. By the end of the movie, however, that stops being a limiting factor in her life, making it entirely possible that she has decided to continue her business from Mallorca, such that Ry can continue her life with Julian.
Does Mateo Get His Business Back?
Ry and Julian are not the only ones who get their happy ending in ‘The Last Sunrise.’ Mateo, whose business has been struggling for quite some time, gets an investment from Isolde. This also means that the real estate deal collapses for good, and the land is protected. Julian and his family have spent quite some time fighting for their rights in the face of a capitalist expansion, and ultimately, it’s the power of love that earns him a victory. In the novel, it takes a full year for Isolde’s deal to fall through, and only then does Mateo’s family’s land and fishing business come back into play. In the film adaptation, however, the pace is accelerated because Isolde makes an early investment in the business.
While much of the story is centered around Ry and Julian’s love story, there also lies a thematic undercurrent about their class differences. The fact that Ry comes from a family of privilege marks for some early friction between her and Julian, but he eventually realizes that her identity is not determined by her mother. Instead, Ry is a person of her own, with her own conception of what is just and unjust. Accordingly, she is actually the first to confront her mother about the deal and how it encroaches on the land of the people of Mallorca.
In the middle of a heated argument, Isolde goes as far as to push the blame on Ry’s shoulders, telling her that it’s the cost of the medical treatments that forces Isolde to take on dirty deals. By the end of the movie, though, the mother-daughter duo comes to reconcile their differences, and the first step in that is ending the deal for the second hotel. By doing so, Isolde reconnects with her roots, ensuring that she is creating a legacy that her daughter won’t have to approach with guilt. With the family most likely choosing to stay in Mallorca, a brighter future awaits not just Ry and Julian, but also everyone connected to them.
Read More: Is The Last Sunrise Based on a True Story?
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