The ending of Lolo and the Kid would not work without context. The older man is not the biological grandfather of the kid. It’s explained in the final act of the movie that the older man was homeless, contemplating suicide, until he found a newborn baby placed on top of a trash heap near him.
What transpires here is a beautiful relationship. The kid saves the older man’s life, and that’s the happy ending of Lolo and the Kid.
But the sad ending of Lolo and the Kid is not that the older man died, but his predicament. Living in the streets, homeless and conning couples who aspire to be parents had an expiration date. As the film reaches the third act, it’s apparent to the older man and the audience that this kid who has provided him companionship and a life worth living requires a more suitable life for a child.
Seeing the older man give up the child, who is essentially his grandson (just without the biology involved), is heartbreaking, even if it is in the hands of great adoptive parents. My theory is that he knew he was being selfish, allowing his life to be propped up by a child who could be provided for by a healthier family. He knew he was giving the child the short straw by not allowing him to have the chance of an everyday life.
But the ending of Lolo and the Kid is layered in a sense because, at the same time, if the older man had not picked up this child as a newborn baby and nurtured him, then he may not have survived in the first place. It’s important to remember that the origin story of this companionship confirmed that they needed each other.
The grandad dies in the final scenes of ‘Lolo and the Kid’ (Credit – Netflix)
Of course, it’s sad when, later in life, the kid manages to see his grandad for the last time while at death’s door. They enjoy one last day together, selling and stealing in the local pawn shop and singing the same song at karaoke. It’s here that the grandad dies while singing his favorite song.
The kid then realizes that the older man had a box of photos: his grandad may have given him up for a better life, but he secretly spied on him, taking pictures of the key milestones in his life. This man wanted to see what life he had given this kid. The kid he loved like a grandson.
