Fingernails is set up as a love triangle between Anna, Amir, and Ryan, with the caveat of their romance being dictated by a machine that nobody ever seems to question the validity of. The film’s ending is an act of rebellion on Anna’s part since she pulls off her fingernails after finally determining her feelings for herself rather than having them projected in percentages, which is symbolic of the film’s entire thesis that you can’t simply automate the process of being in love.
Or can you?
Fingernails Ending Explained
Even though Anna has been in love with Ryan for three years there is something about Amir that she is genuinely attracted to. It was hard for her to process that because she did work at the test facility and wanted to test her relationships to find her soulmate. Amir is a co-founder of the institute and keeps to himself mostly. He is quiet, shy, and reserved as he has designed most of the tests in the facility. On the opposite end of things, Anna is an empath and is connected with the majority of her clients, so she finds it difficult to work at the facility sometimes. Amir and Anna, emotionally, could not be more opposite yet Anna finds herself attracted to and invested in Amir.
What is shocking about Anna’s ability to be in a relationship with Ryan while testing her romance with Amir is that neither of them knows about the other until it slips out. Anna tells Amir that she used to do exercises with Ryan from the facility to increase their intimacy and that leaves him wounded. He pulls back from her and then at the same time she tells Ryan that she has been working at the facility. Anna had been unhappy for a while but as she spent more time with Amir, Ryan saw that change in her. Ryan’s more shocked that she lied to him about something so simple as working at the love testing facility and still doesn’t know about Amir at that point.
Why does Anna pull out her fingernails?
Anna pulls out her fingernails because she is done with the tests and her relationship would now solely be based on what she is feeling because she knows it to be true.
What’s so interesting about this machine is that people truly believe that it can help you find your soulmate based on placing two fingernails in there for analysis. In a way, director Christos Nikou examines the obscurity of dating in the digital age by making something so outlandish to prove the point that romance can not be found digitally. Anna does tell Amir about the test and he doesn’t come into the office for a few days. And despite what the machine says, she still feels this yearning for Amir when he’s not near her.
This is where the story gets interesting because it goes back to the age-old statement “the heart wants what it wants” and a machine is not going to tell you that. People want things to work out on dating apps but sometimes it feels forced because one person wants it more than the other. Here, the machine removes all of that to create numbers and research to tell you how one person should feel towards the other. When Anna and Amir take the test, it remains one-sided because of the 50% mark. The reason why this happens is because Amir has never tested positive with anyone. And he wanted to meet his other half but it felt impossible.
What is Fingernails really about?
So what do we learn at the end of Fingernails? We learn that machines and check-marked boxes won’t help you find the love of your life because that unfortunately is based on raw human emotions and interactions. No machines or amount of fingernails being pulled will ever give you that feeling that you have in your gut when you’re in love with someone.
What did you think of the ending of Fingernails? Comment below.
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