This article discusses the ending of the French Netflix film Sentinelle, so it will contain major spoilers.
Returning home from duty does not treat Klara well in Sentinelle; not only is she suffering from heavy PTSD but she has to adjust back to a normal life. When her sister is brutally raped and ends up in a serious coma in the hospital, Klara’s only purpose and mission are to use her combat skills and get revenge on the person responsible.
The only problem is, the person who raped Klara’s sister is part of a wealthy family that have diplomatic passports, consulate villas, and a status that makes them untouchable. There is no sense that a judicial process is forthcoming. Klara believes that the only way of justice is violence, and the story is angled in such a way where the audience believes that. The police are not convincing, even suggesting that they need to wait for Klara’s sister to wake up.
Klara spends most of the film trying to find out who committed the heinous crime. Eventually, her investigation leads to entertaining action set-pieces as Klara fights her way out of a nightclub bathroom — there are no half-measures in this film.
With her military career on the line, Klara continues to hunt down the rapist, and by doing so, is nearly killed by the man responsible.
Netflix’s Sentinelle – the ending explained
Ignoring police warnings and a phone call from her mother, Klara heads to the villa one last time, fully suited up in her military gear. Her mission starts off stealthily, as she navigates through the villa, killing off associates and security one by one, however, her objective gets frantic as men in the establishment become aware of her presence.
With the police arriving, Klara finally comes face to face with the man responsible — Leonid Kadnikov. She holds a gun to his face, but hesitates — the emotion of the situation finally sinking in; her thirst for revenge rushing through her entire body. Rather than shoot him square in the head, Klara kicks Leonid over the banister and when he lands on the ground floor, it looks like he is dead on impact.
With the police breaching the villa, Klara has to hide. Unfortunately, Leonid is not dead.
What happens next?
The ending of Sentinelle fasts forwards months later in beautiful Dubai. Leonid orders a fruit basket for his hotel room. Klara is pretending to be one of the hostesses and she heads into his room and stabs him repeatedly with a fork — this time he’s 100% dead.
As the film ends, it shows Klara walking around the seaside in France with her hood up so no-one can recognize her. She watches her sister nearby before walking away.
Of course, many will be wondering how she managed to evade the authorities after she assaulted the villa, and then went to Dubai. It does feel unrealistic, but we can only assume she used her military skills to stay undercover for a while and patiently sought revenge at the right moment.
