The Rip Ending Explained: Who Killed Jackie?

Netflix’s ‘The Rip’ is a high-stakes action thriller set over the course of a day, in which the murder of a Miami police captain sparks a series of events that unravel an entire tactical unit. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck play Dane Dumars and JD Byrne, two officers, who are pitted against each other when their unit raids a stash that turns out to be more money than they’d expected. As everyone suspects everyone, a tense air develops, pushing the team to their limits and posing the question of right and wrong. In the end, the only question is whether they are ready to bend the rules to get what they want. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Rip Plot Synopsis

‘The Rip’ begins with a cop named Jackie talking to someone on the phone. She tries to assure them that everything will be alright, while also pointing out that she is the only person that the caller should trust. Before we can find out more about the call, Jackie is ambushed by masked men and is shot dead. The scene switches to Dane Dumars talking to his boss about how the investigation into the murder of Jackie has not turned out well so far. He also wonders whether the investigators believe that one of his team members killed her. Meanwhile, the rest of the team- JD, Mike Ro, Numa Baptiste, and Lolo Salazar- are interviewed by the feds.

One of the interviewers turns out to be JD’s brother, Del Byrne. When he insinuates that Jackie may have been a dirty cop, JD has an outburst. Later, he and Dane talk in the restroom, where they share their concerns and frustrations about the investigation. Later, Dane looks at a message where he has been tipped off about a stash that is believed to be of $300k. He decides to look into it and assembles his team, even though they are supposed to call it a day. This is overtime, even though they will not be paid for it. As everyone gets in their car to drive to the location, they separately ask Dane about the stash amount, and interestingly, he tells everyone a different number.

Who Killed Jackie Velez? Who is the Corrupt Cop?

As the events unfold, it becomes evident that the rip is connected to Jackie’s death. It turns out that the whole reason Dane took the team on this mission was to figure out the identity of the killer. Two things had become clear from the official investigation. The first was the existence of a dirty cop in the unit. Dane knew Jackie wasn’t dirty, so whoever killed her had to be a corrupt cop. The second thing he knew was that the current team on the case wouldn’t be able to solve it because the killer seemed to have hidden their tracks well. In a conversation with JD, he realises that the only way to find the culprit is to lure them out, and the only way to do that is to dangle a bait in front of them. This is where the rip comes into the picture.

According to the tip-off, the rip was supposed to be somewhere around $300k. However, when the team members ask him about the amount, he tells them different numbers. When Ro asks, he mentions $150k. When they actually raid the place and find the stash, it turns out to be much more than they’d imagined, which is when Dane realizes that they are in bigger trouble. The stakes have never been higher because with over $20 million in cash in front of them, the dirty cops will surely make their play. And that’s exactly what happens. Even though he takes everyone’s phones, he knows that one of them must have a burner. It isn’t until they get a mysterious call and the caller mentions $150k that Dane realizes that Ro is the corrupt cop.

However, because the call comes while Ro is with them, it proves that he has been working with someone, and it is important to flush them out. Because Dane is highly secretive about his actions, JD starts to get worried about him. He calls DEA agent Matty Nix to discuss the situation, but when Matty starts talking about how Dane is probably the dirty cop who killed Jackie, he is forced to reconsider the situation. He knows Dane too well to know that he is not corrupt, let alone a murderer. So, when the duo finally gets some time alone, they discuss the situation and come up with a plan to test whether Matty is one of the bad ones. They act as if they have fallen out, and JD calls Matty to arrive with the cavalry to transport the money. Matty soon shows up, but without his unit, who should have accompanied him, confirming that his intentions had never been good.

Who was the Informant? Who Sent the Tip?

While Dane and JD figure out the identity of the dirty cops and find a way to bring them to justice, the question of the informant’s identity also lingers. In the opening scene of the film, we see Jackie talking to someone on the phone and telling the caller that she is the only one they can trust. Before she is killed by two masked men, who eventually turn out to be Ro and Matty, she sends a text and throws away her phone. This text is sent from a burner phone to Dane. The informant had told her about the stash, and she knew that it would be the perfect bait to get the dirty cops out in the open. However, before she could do it, she was killed. She knew that the only other person whom she could trust not only to get the money but also to follow through on her plan was Dane.

When Dane received the text and later found out about Jackie’s death, he decided to keep it to himself. It wasn’t until his conversation with JD that he realised what he needed to do, which is what kickstarts the events of the film, leading him to Desi’s door. At first, it seems that she is just a patsy put up in the house by the cartel to guard the money. But then, he and JD look into her record, and it turns out that she previously snitched on her boyfriend, who was a drug dealer. They also note that she knows the loopholes in the law that would prevent her from going to prison even after the money was found. This means that she has thought out the whole thing, which means that she also knows about the 20% cut a person receives on such kinds of tip-offs.

Desi’s record also reveals that her handler was Jackie, which clarifies the whole thing. It makes sense that she was the one who reached out to Jackie, and she was the one Jackie was talking to the night she was killed. Desi thought that the cops would arrive, find the money, give her the cut, and she would be free to leave Florida and go wherever she wanted. But she didn’t figure the possibility of corrupt cops who would be ready to go to any lengths to get the $20 million for themselves. To rattle her, he makes it sound like he is planning to keep the money to himself. His plan works, and with Ro being the only one that he hadn’t spoken with about the money, she falsely believes that he is the only one she can trust. She relays the information to Ro, which is exactly what Dane wanted.

What Happens to Ro and Matty? What Happens to the Money?

While finding the ones who killed Jackie was important, Dane knew it was equally important to make sure that the money was taken back safely. Because he had already broken too many protocols by not alerting the Major, there was no going back. Now that it was clear that Ro and Matty were the culprits, he needed to create a distraction. As soon as he finds out that Ro is the dirty cop, he sends him outside the house to keep watch. He tells Salazar and Baptiste to count the money, but this is where he makes a move. When everyone else is out of earshot, he apprises Salazar and Baptiste of the situation and tells them to put the money back in the containers, but when Ro arrives, they should make it look like they are keeping the money in black bags. So, when Matty arrives with the armored truck, they load the black bags on it, making it look like they are leaving with all the money.

In reality, the money is still with Salazar and Baptiste, but since no one knows about it, there is no danger of them getting attacked. So, they load all the containers in the back of the truck, which somehow survived the firing, and take the money to the HQ. There, all the money is counted, and all of it is there to the dollar: $20,650,480, confirming that Dane and his team didn’t steal a dollar from the stash. Meanwhile, Dane and JD confront Matty and Ro inside the truck, which they note is going in the wrong direction, with no backups and no radios. Previously, JD and Dane had faked a fight, through which JD managed to steal Ro’s burner phone. When Ro tries to deny it, they use his face to open the phone, confirming that it is his. When they point the finger at Matty, he tries to deflect, but Ro knows they have been caught.

So, he uses his burner to call him, confirming that Matty is the one he had been texting all night. He also confirms that when they attacked Jackie, Matty was the one who fired the killing shot. A shootout takes place inside the truck, with Matty being the one holding the gun in the end. However, JD and Dane had anticipated this, so they called JD’s brother for backup. Before leaving in the truck, JD shared his location with his brother, who showed up with the backup to save the day. Still, Matty and Ro try to run. Dane catches Ro, while JD catches Matty. Even then, Matty tries to get out of the situation by shooting JD, but the latter is quicker than him. He shoots Matty in the face, and as he does it, we see Jackie’s face imposed on his, indicating that, in a way, she was the one who pulled the trigger.

What Happens to Desi? Who is the Girl at the End?

With Ro arrested, Matty dead, and the money right where it belongs, the chaotic night comes to an end. Salazar has a bullet wound, but she will survive the day. Baptiste calls it a night, JD thanks his brother for being there when he needed him the most, and Dane is reminded of why he is a cop and why it is important to do the right thing. Meanwhile, Desi is told that she will receive her 20% cut for tipping off the money, which means she gets four million dollars. Even if you consider taxes, she will still have enough money to get the life she envisioned for herself, the one she put herself in danger for. Before she leaves, she meets Dane and asks him the real meaning of the tattoos on his hands.

Earlier, he’d told her that the tattoos are a reminder of his job: “Are we the good guys?” “We are and always will be.” In the end, however, he tells her that these are the words that he and his son exchanged before he passed away. These are the last words they said to each other, which is why they mean so much to him. With that, Desi bids him farewell. With everything wrapped up, JD and Dane head to the beach to sit in silence and share a beer. The entire night had been spent in a tense face-off with the bad guys, and now that they’ve won, they get to see the sunrise again. However, they are not alone at the beach. A young girl is playing there with her dog, ecstatic about the sunrise, which prompts JD to comment on how great it is that she is fired up about something as seemingly ordinary as a sunrise.

And then, a woman shouts, “Jackie!” This startles JD and Dane. Apparently, the young girl is named Jackie, and her mother is calling her to come back. However, the fact that her name is Jackie and that she happened to be there right at that moment tells them that their Jackie is there, in a way. Earlier, Dane had mentioned that Jackie believed in witches and spirit animals, and at the time, he’d found the idea ridiculous. But now it feels as if she is with them in spirit. As if to confirm this, before Baptiste left, she said that it feels like Jackie made it all happen from beyond the grave, and with that moment of witnessing the next sunrise, Dane and JD don’t have any doubt that she did.