The ending of The Tearsmith is just as slow-paced and predictable as the rest of the Netflix movie. Based on Erin Doom’s bestselling 2021 novel of the same name, the story follows two teen orphans, Nica (Caterina Ferioli), and Rigel (Simone Baldasseroni), who are adopted by a loving couple. The two have trauma and demons they face together while realizing their love for one another.
Early on, a voiceover tells the viewer of the sad story of the tearsmith, a man who fashioned crystal tears for the people who could not cry. Nica then compares herself to the tearsmith at the orphanage she’s taken to after losing her family in a car crash.
Years later, a much older Nica is finally getting adopted, along with a fellow frenemy orphan. We watch them start a new school, make friends, and make enemies, and the two young newbies find solace with one another and slowly fall in love.
We see how their time at the orphanage traumatized the two teens, and the film is about the pair overcoming their demons together.
The Dance
Toward the end, we have a classic high school dance on our hands. Rigel isn’t going because he’s moody and even though he loves Nica, he declines her admission of wanting to be with him and sulks at home.
Nica is at the dance and dances with a certain boy (who has previously hit Rigel and Nica hated him for this) and is having a seemingly good time. Rigel is running away from home, but changes his mind and makes his way to the dance.
Nica is feeling fuzzy, so goes somewhere private with Lionel, who then kisses her, and when she asks him to stop, he doesn’t and keeps kissing her.
Rigel comes to the dance, fighting Lionel off Nica. Nica then compares Rigel to a wolf and reminds him that all wolves aren’t bad. They embrace, kissing and undressing as the camera pans around them.
Lionel’s Revenge
Lionel isn’t going to let this go, and as Nica and Rigel are walking home, he confronts them in probably the best bit of acting in the movie. Lionel starts his car and runs them off the bridge as the pair jump into the water below to escape him. Rigel can’t swim and slowly sinks.
The film cuts to Nica in the hospital, where Nica remembers that it was Rigel who was holding her hand when she was younger, not her best friend. Rigel is in a coma, and due to his past medical conditions, things are not looking good for him.
Nica decides to set everyone free by taking Margaret (the owner of the orphanage) to court. The final sequences are of Nica standing up for herself in court, talking about love and courage. After her dramatic speech, which gains applause, Nica then dramatically runs in a messy slow-motion sequence to the hospital, to her lover Rigel who is still in a coma. She tells him that they won the case. And with tears rolling down her face, she calls him her tearsmith — the one person who can make her cry — and lays her head on him. Like a fairy tale, her tears heal him and he wakes from his coma.
The last shots are a montage of their life together, from being children to now, and the friendships and family Nica has made.
It’s a wholesome, happy ending. Just as slow-paced and predictable as the rest of the film, but it will leave you feeling fulfilled.
Do Nica and Rigel end up together?
The strange relationship develops slowly, through long — sometimes creepy — glances, and up-close-and-personal interactions. While they seem to dislike one another, it turns out this hate has always been love and attraction. Meeting as children, we learn that Rigel has always had Nica’s back, holding her hand when she was in pain, and even kept her necklace that was dragged from her neck. Rigel accepted to be adopted to be with Nica, not because he wanted a family.
Through the film, the two are overcoming their demons and past trauma from the orphanage, and whilst trying to make friends and a new life, they find love and a life in one another.
In the end, after many ups and downs, the two confess their love for one another and it’s implied they will be together. Rigel decides against being adopted by the Milligans, so Nica can have the family unit she has always dreamed of and it’s not creepy if they end up together.
How did Nica end up at the orphanage?
In the beginning, we see Nica and her family driving, when Nica spots a wolf. As her father, who is driving, tries to see the wolf, he drives into oncoming traffic. Here we see that both her parents had died, and Nica was sent to the orphanage. Here she stayed for years, enduring torture and suffering, until she was adopted by the Milligans. The Milligans had recently lost a son and chose to adopt two children to love and share their family with.
Nica had always wanted a family, so she is able to build a new life with these two as her parents and Rigel by her side.
For my full thoughts on the film overall, check out our review of The Tearsmith. Since it’s unlikely there will be a sequel, Netflix could choose to adapt another Erin Doom novel. If you enjoyed the movie you can also check out where The Tearsmith was filmed and 10 movies like it.
