The Irishman

At the end of The Irishman, Frank Sheeran, now an old man, sits alone in a nursing home, reflecting on his life of violence, crime, and regret. Despite his long and loyal service to the Bufalino family and his secretive role in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, he has lived a life filled with remorse and loneliness. The film emphasizes that Sheeran’s claims of killing Hoffa may be true or may be part of his own distorted memory, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter—what matters is how this life led him to neglect his family and become isolated and haunted by his choices. As he recalls his past, the audience sees that he is burdened by his own guilt, which is symbolized by the fading, CGI-enhanced faces that track his aging.

The haunting realization is that Sheeran’s loyalty and obedience have left him with nothing tangible or meaningful in his later years—his relationships are fractured, especially with his daughter Peggy, who despises him for his silence and his role in Hoffa’s death. She refuses to forgive her father, rejecting him completely when she learns the truth about his involvement. The film’s final scenes underscore the futility of Sheeran’s life—an existence driven by violence, manipulation, and a desperate quest for belonging that ultimately leaves him completely alone. The door to his past remains open, but neither he nor the world looks back; it’s a bleak comment on how a life of crime and betrayal leads to emptiness and regret, and how the ghosts of the past continue to haunt long after the violence has ceased. The movie’s ending leaves viewers contemplating the cost of loyalty, the fleeting nature of power, and the inescapable passage of time that ultimately claims everyone, including the man who claimed to have painted houses for a living.

Last Updated: June 25, 2025 at 08:58