‘Synchronic’ Movie Ending, Explained

Synchronic is the latest mind-bending movie on Netflix that has everyone talking. This movie has everything: Anthony Mackie making quips, Jamie Dornan doing an American accent, an adorable dog, and, to top it all off, time travel.

This 2020 science fiction horror film—which was written by Justin Benson, who also co-directed the movie with Aaron Moorhead—was quietly released in theaters in October 2020, went to digital this January, and then came to Netflix on April 16. Since its debut on the streaming service, Synchronic has shot to the top of Netflix’s own trending titles lists. As of Tuesday, it was No. 1 on Netflix’s “Top 10 in the U.S.” list.

But, as is common when it comes to movies about time travel, the Synchronic ending has caused some confusion. If you found yourself lost, don’t worry—Decider is here to help. The final moments of Synchronic are ambiguous but, read on for a breakdown of the Synchronic ending, explained.

What is the Synchronic plot?

Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) are two best friends who work together as paramedics. Steve is a lonely bachelor who can’t commit to a relationship, while Dennis married young and has two children, 18 years apart. Lately, Steve and Dennis have been responding to a lot of 911 calls involving a new designer drug on the scene called “Synchronic.”

Meanwhile, Steve is diagnosed with a brain tumor on his pineal gland. His doctor casually mentions that Steve’s pineal gland is more like a teenager than an adult’s, which might mean that Steve is enlightened with a third eye. What a fun, cool thing for a doctor to say to a cancer patient!

Steve and Dennis respond to yet another call where a “Synchronic” drug package was found, this time a group of teens who took too many drugs. Among those teens were Dennis’s 18-year-old daughter Brianna, who has gone missing.

Steve, in a fit of rage, goes to the local head shop and buys them out of Synchronic, presumably to keep other people safe. He is followed out of the store by a man who begs to buy it off of him, but Steve says no. Later that night, that same man shows up in Steve’s house and tells him he created Synchronic as a DMT-like drug, using a red flower that grows in the California desert. He explains that Synchronic “messes with the pineal gland, so you experience time as it actually is.” He says that events in time are like the tracks on a record—they are all always there, and you can drop the needle wherever you want. Synchronic, he says, is the needle. Because kids’ pineal glands are not yet fully developed, sometimes the drug will make them permanently time travel.

So, to sum up: Synchronic is a drug that makes kids sometimes travel through time. The chemist was trying to get rid of all of the drugs, and the ones that Steve bought are the last of the supply. Steve tells the chemist that he flushed the Synchronic, but we see he wasn’t telling the truth.

Steve eventually takes the Synchronic, which places him somewhere in the past. Don’t forget: Steve’s doctor told him he has a pineal gland similar to a teenager. Steve records a video explaining what happened to him, and his intentions to continue taking the pills to try to find Dennis’s daughter Brianna. His experiments teach him that: the exact place you take the drug determines the time you go back to, that you have exactly seven minutes in the past, that you can’t be late for your return, and that you have to be touching someone to take them with you.

Steve’s dog, Hawking, gets stuck in the past, but Steve does see a flicker of Hawking outside of his house because Hawking was so close to the spot where he needed to be to go back. (Fun fact: Real-life physicist Stephen Hawking was very interested in time travel, and conducted several experiments. We’re guessing that’s who Steve’s dog is named after.)

How does Synchronic end?

Steve only has two Synchronic pills left to find Brianna, but he does not the exact location of where she was when she disappeared. Steve shows Dennis the tapes he’s been making, and the two of them team up to try to find her.

Steve and Dennis realize that Brianna has left them a message in the past of where to look for her—a carving on a rock by the river that says “Allways,” a rock that Brianna had been sitting on earlier in the movie. “Always,” was the last thing Dennis said to Brianna, he says.

Steve sits on that rock and takes the pill. He ends up in a war zone, with fires raging and canons exploding, presumably during the American Civil War. He finds Brianna in a trench filled with dead bodies. She is confused as to how Steve found her—she doesn’t know about any message. Steve gives Brianna the last Synchronic pill to get back to the present. He could have gone back with her if they had been touching, but at the last minute, they are confronted by a confederate soldier. Steve diffuses the situation, but misses the time to go back, and gets stuck in the past.

However, as we saw happen with Hawking, Steve appears as a flicker, and is able to say goodbye to Dennis with a handshake.

What does the Synchronic ending mean? What is the Synchronic ending explained?

My interpretation of the Synchronic ending is that Steve is stuck in the past, just like his dog. We never saw any proof that Steve was able to get back to the future unless he was in the exact same spot where he was in the present. We also know that someone left the message on the rock, and it wasn’t Brianna. It’s possible the message was left by Steve.

However, directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead leave a kernel of hope that Steve might return to the present with that handshake. Previously, Steve had not been able to touch other people in the past—when he is attacked by an old man from the 1800s, the man passes right through him. The handshake we see Dennis give Steve is a firm one, which could suggest that Steve is headed back to the present-day, after all. Maybe some random person carved “Allways” into the rock, which might explain the misspelling. (Maybe “always” used to be spelled “allways” in the olden days? I’m not a linguist!)

The Synchronic ending is intentionally left open-ended, and half the fun is debating it with your friends. So call up a pal and rewatch the film. Why not?

Where to watch Synchronic