Summary

• Jake Gyllenhaal's Dalton in Road House faces new challenges and a different fate, departing the ending on a more ambiguous note.
• The Road House remake retains the original's themes of guilt and violence, with a twist in the villain dynamics for a fresh take.
• Road House's remake showcases a different ending that hints at a possible sequel.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Road House (2024).

The ending of the 2024 remake of Road House differs slightly from the original movie, as Dalton meets a new fate and there are a few surprising villain twists, but the underlying themes of guilt and the cycle of violence are still the same. Like the 1989 original, the Road House remake revolves around a notorious bouncer named Dalton who’s hired to break up fights and fend off corporate gentrification at a run-down roadhouse bar in a small town. The businessman brings in a ruthless henchman, who turns out to be a formidable opponent, to take down Dalton.

While the plot is the same, the details have been changed. Patrick Swayze’s Dalton took a job in Missouri, whereas Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton heads to the Florida Keys. Swayze’s Dalton is haunted by ripping out a man’s throat in self-defense, whereas Gyllenhaal’s Dalton is haunted by an illegal beating in his past UFC career. The Road House remake follows the same story beats as the original movie, give or take, but it has a totally different ending – a slightly less optimistic and happily-ever-after ending – that digs deeper into the themes that the original only touched on briefly.

Dalton's Fate In Road House Explained: Why He Leaves Town

At the end of the Road House remake, despite driving the bad guys out of town and winning the respect and iration of the locals, Dalton leaves Glass Key on the same Greyhound bus that brought him there in the first place. Dalton leaves town because peace has finally been restored in Glass Key, and with all the bitter enemies that Dalton has out in the world, he could jeopardize that tranquility by sticking around. Rather than settling down in Glass Key, Dalton will seek out a different town that needs his help and liberate them from their own enemies.

The Road House remake is streaming now on Prime Video.

Why Knox Killed Brandt In Road House's Ending

The climactic fight sequence in the controversial Road House remake comes with a shocking twist as the main villain kills the secondary villain. For most of the movie, the sadistic Knox and his wealthy employer Ben Brandt have been teaming up against Dalton. Brandt is paying Knox to kill Dalton and Knox spends most of the movie focused on fulfilling that obligation. But in the final showdown at the bar, Knox turns around and breaks Brandt’s neck, killing him, before turning his sights on Dalton.

Knox doesn’t kill Brandt for some complex, Machiavellian reason. He’s not trying to usurp Brandt’s fortune or take over his business. Knox isn’t smart or ambitious enough to pull off a scheme like that; he’s just a violent psychopath. In the end, he just gets sick of Brandt and snaps his neck so he won’t have to listen to him anymore.

Ben Brandt's Full Plan In Road House 2024 Explained

When Brandt first appears on his yacht and sends his henchmen after Dalton, it’s not 100% clear what he wants or what his plan is to get it. But midway through the movie, Frankie explains it all to Dalton. Brandt wants to tear down some small businesses in Glass Key so he can build a resort for the rich. The Road House is the last holdout, so Brandt is doing everything in his power to get the bar closed, like sending troublemakers to harass the new bouncer. Frankie hired Dalton in a last-ditch effort to defeat Brandt.

Who Got The Money In Road House & Why It's So Important

The main MacGuffin in the Road House remake is a bag of money that Dalton stole from Brandt. Brandt ramps up his campaign against Dalton and kidnaps his love interest, Ellie, in an attempt to get the money back, but Dalton never gives it to him. At the end of the movie, Dalton doesn’t keep the money for himself; he leaves the money for Charlie to help her restore her father’s bookstore, which was destroyed by the bad guys. This is important, because it highlights Dalton’s selflessness while he’s questioning whether or not he’s a hero.

Knox's Survival Twist In Road House's Mid-Credits Scene Explained

At the end of the Road House remake, after Dalton has stabbed Knox over and over again and he stops moving, Knox seems to have died. However, the film’s surprising mid-credits sequence reveals that Knox somehow survived his many stab wounds. He’s seen causing chaos at the hospital where he’s recovering before storming out of the front door. Knox isn’t the kind of guy to forgive and forget, so he’ll likely seek vengeance against Dalton, which could be explored in a sequel if this well-reviewed reimagining of Road House is lucky enough to get a sequel greenlit.

How Road House 2024's Ending Compares To The 1989 Original

The ending of the Road House remake is slightly different than the original 1989 movie. In both the original and the remake, Dalton manages to defeat the villains and drive the corporate interests away, leaving the town in the safe hands of the locals. Whereas the finale of the remake takes place at the roadhouse bar itself, the original film’s finale is set on the businessman’s estate. In the original, Dalton stops short of killing the businessman, who then aims at Dalton’s back and gets shot dead by locals. In the remake, the businessman is killed by his own henchman.

The biggest difference in the remake’s ending is that Dalton leaves town. At the end of the original movie, Swayze’s Dalton reconciles with his love interest and they’re seen swimming in a lake together while the refurbished Double Deuce is filled with non-violent customers. At the end of the remake, after saving the Road House and defeating the villain, Dalton hops on a bus and leaves town. This ending is a lot less cheesy than the original ending, and concludes the story on a more ambiguous note.

The Real Meaning Of Road House 2024's Ending

The true meaning of the Road House remake’s ending is that Dalton can’t escape from his past or his violent nature. As much as he’d love to settle down in Glass Key, that lifestyle isn’t for him. It’s similar to the end of the classic western Shane, with the horse swapped out for a Greyhound bus. In Shane, after vanquishing the villains, the titular gunslinger tells his young ward, “There’s no living with a killing,” before riding off into the wilderness to his next adventure. Dalton feels the same way at the end of Road House.