Barbie’s moving ending explained: The women in the final montage are more relevant than you might think

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film has proved the highest grossing film debut of 2023 – and for good reason, providing one hour and 54 minutes of viewing delight, from stellar performances from Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and many more of Hollywood’s biggest names, to stunning visual effects and a custom-produced soundtrack that reads like a who’s who of the hottest names in music.

One of the greatest challenges faced by director Greta Gerwig (of Ladybird fame) when approaching this film was to put together an entire plot, situated the world’s most famous doll within a film narrative. And she pulls this off brilliantly, placing Margot Robbie’s character, referred to in the film world as “Stereotypical Barbie”, at an existential moment in her life where she is forced to leave Barbie Land in search of a greater meaning.

Who are the women in the final scene of Barbie?

After an escape from Barbie Land to the “real world”, and subsequent return, followed by a Battle of the Sexes style showdown between the Kens (led by Ryan Gosling’s Ken) and the Barbies, the film is nearing to a harmonious resolution when Ruth Handler – the late real-life creator of Barbie, played by Rhea Perlman – emerges to give Stereotypical Barbie a choice: to stay as a Barbie, or become human and join the ‘real world’ for good.

Joining the real world, Ruth explains, would entail having human experiences – for better and for worse. There’s then a moving film footage of girls and women going about their daily lives, ranging from infancy into old age.

But one detail you may not have realised about this montage? The women pictured are actually friends and family of the cast and crew. This was due to Greta’s request to the team to send in their own personal footage for this sequence, adding a sentimental, real-life touch to the film.

What happens in the final scene of Barbie?

The final scene of the Barbie film sees Stereotypical Barbie travelling in a car together with her new friend Gloria (America Ferrera), together with Gloria’s daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and her husband (played by Ferrera’s real-life husband, Ryan Pier Williams). Gloria is dropping Barbie off somewhere – which we, the viewer, are led to believe is a job interview.

However, the ostensibly familiar scene leads to the film’s unexpected final joke.

“I’m here to see my gynaecologist,” announces Barbie to the receptionist at the front desk. It’s a line that goes beyond its comic surprise – indicating that Barbie really has been turned into a human, as she now has a vagina (Barbie dolls famously have simply a smooth plastic area where genitals would be, something that’s joked about earlier on in the film). The transition from Barbie to full on human is complete – and so, for now, is the film. Roll on Barbie 2 (our fingers are firmly crossed)!