My thoughts on the ending of Let Go are more of a love letter to the film. Whether Gustav and Stella divorced in the end is entirely irrelevant. What happened before Stella revealed her terminal illness to her family is important.
I loved Let Go because it is brutally, realistically honest about the long-term effort of marriage. These days, especially in modern times, young adults believe (or are led to believe) that marriage is about love. Marriage is not about love.
Why? Well, you can love each other and not get married. The basis of marriage is not glued together because of love. You can spend your entire life apart from someone and still love them.
Marriage is hard work. To accept the vows “till death do us part,” you have to acknowledge that there will be moments when you dislike your partner, where you are deeply unhappy, and where you have to go through terrible hardship. That’s the only way you can make it until the end, which is why marriage isn’t about love. Many fall out of love and fall in love again within the same marriage.
How is this relevant to the Swedish drama Let Go? Well, at the start of the movie, Stella refuses to divorce Gustav. She asks him to give their family two weeks so they can enjoy a road trip for their daughter’s participation in a pole dancing competition. She asks him to show up as a father and a husband. To do the hard work is what is expected of a marriage.
What compelled Stella to refuse divorce initially with Gustav? Well, unbeknown to her family, she’s dying, and she doesn’t have much time left. Ironically, her time on earth has forced her hand to ensure she dies married with her husband by her side. Even if their intimacy, love, and joy are completely diminished.
Stella expected the hard work of marriage due to her predicament, which is her looming death. Would she have acted differently if she had been in good health and Gustav (who had a mistress) wanted a divorce? Maybe. Let Go provides a kind of irony that we only understand the importance of something when we are about to leave this world.
To further prove irony, by the end of the movie, Stella proves that working hard at marriage is more important than just love. Gustav has no choice but to show up as a father and a husband. Despite earnestly wanting to leave, by the end of Let Go, he’s reminded of how wonderful his little family is and how amazing and beautiful his wife, Stella, is.
By the end of the movie, Gustav does not want a divorce. He opens up to his wife about feeling invisible, how being a father gives him less attention in the family, and how he admits to letting her down. In return, Stella admits her shortcomings, how angry she has been at him, and how she has found no pride in nagging.
This is why I love Let Go: By the end, while it was too late, the husband and wife saved the family. They made sure it was kept secure by their marriage. Was the love still there? Absolutely, because they chose to work hard for it.
It’s heartbreaking, too. Gustav’s realization that he has to be a good father and a good husband while his wife inevitably dies makes it a hard watch. Let Go proves that love and purpose entwined are among the hardest things a human being can take on.
Stella died knowing her family was in good hands. She left them behind with a good father, and she knew her husband would keep the legacy of their marriage intact.
Let Go is heartbreaking, no doubt, but its ending contains so many positive messages that will make viewers think about their own responsibilities and relationships. I hope my perspective answers the many questions that the film raises.
