This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film They Cloned Tyrone and will contain spoilers.
They Cloned Tyrone starts by introducing local drug dealer Fontaine and his daily routine. He buys a scratch card, he takes care of his mother, and sometimes he needs to collect cash from his “contractors” when they go AWOL.
Within the first 10 minutes, our hero is shot and killed by a rival. The next day he wakes up and goes about his day as if nothing happened.
This isn’t Groundhog Day. So when a revived Fontaine visits Slick Charles, the pimp who owed him money, to recover the debt for a second time, he finds out about his demise the night before.
Unsurprisingly, Fontaine doesn’t believe the tale of his death, so Slick asks sex worker Yo-Yo to confirm whether she heard the shots. She did. And that’s how this lovable trio of misfits starts looking into the mysterious case of Fontaine’s return from the dead.
They Cloned Tyrone Ending Explained
Throughout the movie, the unlikely trio learned about the conspiracy happening right underneath the Glenn. All the residents are being experimented on by the government and similar programs are operated in several other predominantly black neighborhoods across the U.S.
How does the government control Glenn residents?
Common products like the hair relaxer at the salons, fried chicken, and even communion wine at church are drugged to keep the people in check. In the underground lab, Glenn’s residents are routinely kidnapped and experimented on.
Fontaine, Slick, the preacher at the church, the drunk homeless man outside the convenience store, and several other select people from the neighborhood are clones. As the villainous Nixon explains, the clones are there to help maintain the status quo and ensure the residents act like the government overlords want them to.
At first, Fontaine wants to get back to his day-to-day drug dealing and forget everything he uncovered. But Yo-Yo is not ready to let it go and her attempts at alerting the mainstream press are intercepted and she becomes a prisoner underground.
Slick and Fontaine come up with a scheme to infiltrate the underground lab, save Yo-Yo, and put an end to the government experiments once and for all.
How do Slick and Fontaine get into the underground facility?
They get Fontaine’s rival hustler Elliot on board to shoot our hero (again). Pretending to be dead, Fontaine makes it inside the laboratory and uses a lab tech to open the secret elevators from the inside, giving Slick and half the neighborhood access to tear the facility apart.
While freeing the clones, Yo-Yo and Slick run into Nixon, who expresses regret for not killing them earlier. The two manage to outsmart him and Slick puts a bullet in the villain’s head.
Fontaine, however, gets to meet the person who’s behind all this mess. To his shock, it’s himself. Well, an older version of himself, the original Fontaine, if you will.
Why is the original Fontaine working with the government?
As Old-Fontaine explains, the death of his little brother at the hands of a (presumably) white police officer was the catalyst for his choosing to work with the government. The chicken, the underground experiments, and the mind-control music are part of the project to keep the African American community under control.
But the real goal is what Old-Fontaine calls “integration.” Over several generations, he plans to turn the black population white.
Needless to say, Fontaine thinks this plan is as insane as the mad scientist himself. So our hero uses a command phrase to control Chester (another clone of himself) into shooting Old Fontaine, putting an end to his genetic modification program. For now.
Outside, all the newly-freed clones walking about naked, dazed, and confused, attracting the media attention.
Fontaine reunites with Yo-Yo and Slick, who tell him they’ve decided to turn a new leaf and “retire” from their night-time professions. The three friends decide to head to Memphis together.
Who is Tyrone?
In the film’s mid-credit scene, we meet yet another of Fontaine’s clones, but this one goes by Tyrone. He’s in a Los Angeles hood going through the same routine we saw the character repeat at the beginning of the movie.
When he turns the news on, he sees reports of the aftermath of what happened in the Glenn. His buddies immediately recognize him and yell out the film’s title, “They Cloned Tyrone!”
What did you think of the ending of They Cloned Tyrone? Comment below.
