This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film Love & Gelato, which will contain spoilers.
Ready Steady Cut film critic, M.N. Miller, says, “There’s something just off a bit with Love & Gelato. It’s bad for you, even if it goes down smoothly and a bit too easily.”
Love & Gelato is an adaptation of the New York Times young-adult bestseller of the same name by Jenna Evans Welch. Here, we have a young woman named Lina (Halt & Catch Fire’s Susanna Skaggs), who is embarking on an exciting time in her life. She has been accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but life isn’t all rose petals. She is shy and very anxious, possibly because she has dealt with a lot of tragedy. Her mother has been sick for a while and passed away. Lina’s mother’s last wish is for her to spend the summer in Rome, Italy, before going to college.
Her mother wants her to experience life as she did around her age. You know, live life instead of reading about it. She meets her mother’s old friend, Howie, and cousin, Francesca, who hands Lina her mother’s diary, which is part of the last wish. But the trip isn’t about the journal. It’s to meet people. Lina develops two love interests—the dreamy-eyed person from a wealthy family, Alessandro (Saul Nanni). The other is sweet chef Lorenzo (Tobia De Angelis), who dreams of becoming a professional chef.
That’s not the only drama, though. While reading her mother’s journal, she discovers she became pregnant with Lina on that trip to Italy! While reading her mother’s words, she refuses to name the father, but she calls him “X,” and her heart is broken. Now, while we are watching this, the apparent thought would be Howie is the father based on the look he gave Lina when they meet and how she is the spitting image of her mother. However, when she confronts him about it, he talks to her about what happened.
He was in love with Lina’s mother, but it was too late to tell her. He stepped up to be the father, but she felt it wasn’t right. Howie also tells her that her mother was right not to tell him who her father is- she is better off not knowing him. He acts as a father figure by flying her best friend over when she feels down and wants to go home.
Lina does kiss Alessandro at the bottom of a waterfall, bachelorette style. However, he manipulated her by saying he wanted to be exclusive but dated a girl the next day. When Lina finds her father’s name, she takes a trip to see her birth father, a famous photographer. She sees Lorenzo on the train. He is off to take his test to get into a prestigious Italian culinary school. He shares his grandmother’s famous gelato with her because it improves everything. They spend the afternoon together, both being encouraging. When they depart, Lina attempts to meet her father and sees a picture of her mother on the wall at the gallery. He refuses to see her, and she takes the picture with her. When she sees Lorenzo later, he fails his test because it is “unremarkable.” In a moment of sharing joint pain, they kiss.
Netflix film Love & Gelato ending explained
When they arrive back home, Lina tells Lorenzo that what happened was a mistake (because, as we forgot to mention, he has a girlfriend, but we don’t like her). When she meets Alessandro for a date, she learns Lorenzo broke up with his girlfriend and is going to France to apply for culinary school there. She tracks him down at the airport and tells him that it wasn’t a mistake, but she is not trying to stop him from going. She is just choosing herself at this time.
Later, while watching the sunset, Howie comes to sit next to her. They talk about her mother and why she wanted them to meet. They conclude Lina’s mother wanted her to have a father figure in her life. Howie asks Lina if he could be her adopted father. Finally, later in life, Lina and Lorenzo run into each other at that secret bakery. When they say their goodbyes, she trips, and he goes to her side. They laugh, and she drives him on her Vespa to grab dinner.
What did you think of the Netflix film Love & Gelato and the ending? Comment below.
You can watch this film with a subscription to Netflix.
