Reminiscent of a Black Mirror episode, Hulu’s The Mill takes the idea of meaningless corporate “quotas” to a new level. The movie follows Joe, an employee of a giant multinational corporation named Mallard, who finds himself working inside a concrete prison pushing a pointless mill. This is an intriguing thriller with a confusing ending. In this article, we break down what happens in the final act and try to explain what it means for the protagonist.
Joe spent a decade working up the corporate ladder and would do anything to escape his imprisonment to get home to his pregnant wife. His new job is simple: He must push the mill for 16 hours and meet the daily minimum rotations.
Of course, there’s a catch. The employee with the lowest number of rotations gets terminated, and terminations are permanent in Joe’s new nightmare.
The Mill Ending Explained
Despite Joe’s best efforts to get his fellow “employees” to stop working for a day, they eventually start pushing their mills out of fear for their lives. Forced to push the mill himself, Joe ends the workday with one rotation, which leads to his neighbor’s termination.
Who is Alex?
During their last conversation, the neighbor reveals his name is Alex. Joe recognizes the name as the Alex who supposedly escaped. But as Alex explained, his attempt at running was a failure, just like Joe’s.
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Poor Joe is then forced to listen as his only friend in the concrete prison meets his demise.
The next day, the disembodied voice shows Joe images of his wife and son as “motivation.” At this point, Joe has had enough, so he starts trashing his cell in a fit of rage. The voice coldly informs him of his termination.
Is Joe terminated?
Several HR representatives walk into the cell, along with the security guard who plans on giving Joe the lethal injection. But when the security guard makes one too many crude comments about Joe’s wife, our hero jumps on him and starts mindlessly punching the man in the face.
When the voice demands Joe “terminate” the security guard, he snaps out from his rage and screams the two magic words, “I quit!”
What happens when Joe quits?
Joe then wakes up. Yes, it was all a simulation. In reality, our protagonist is safe and sound at work, still wearing his pristine-looking suit.
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As the HR rep explains, Joe only spent about an hour during his lunch inside the virtual reality simulation. His wife is still pregnant, and his actions inside the virtual cell mean he passed the test and showed the AI that he has leadership skills. He even gets a promotion.
However, Joe doesn’t seem particularly pleased about the promotion. Still traumatized from the experience, he quietly follows the HR rep to his new windowless office, signs the NDA required, and calls his wife (something he’s never done before during office hours).
While on the phone, Joe tells his wife he’ll be home late from work but promises this time, “It’s different.” The movie frustratingly ends with Joe vowing to burn it all down.
The film fails to explain how our hero plans to bring down a giant multinational like Mallard. Does he intend to literally set the building on fire, or is he planning on engaging in corporate sabotage to take it down from within?
What did you think of the ending of The Mill? Comment below.
