The ending is obvious...

-- spoilers --

To me (at least) the ending is kind of obvious. The ONLY difference between the two mirrors is that in one of the mirrors Rhoda didn't hear the theory about the mirrored worlds diverging. Families dead in both worlds so Rhoda still writes the same essay. John doesn't go on the mission in one mirror because Rhoda never heard about the theory of divergence.

I don't think Earth 2 is a mirror image of Earth 1. The two planets are identical. There's no change in the handedness. Their left is our left. Their right is our right. Until we discover each other, the sky would look the same on both planets. Once we came within visual range, then it changes. Earth 1 is not orientated the same way relative to Earth 2 as Earth 2 to Earth 1. People on Earth 2 would not find Earth 1 in the night sky at the same place where Earth 2 appear to people on Earth 1. That's what breaks the synchronicity. As the guy on TV said, we looked one way and they looked another and everything changes. I think the movie does sort of imply that Rhoda on Earth 2 was either staring at Earth 1 out a different window of her car on that fateful night or wasn't even in position to see Earth 1 at all.

ending=both she and her mirror earth self have won the contest under different circumstances.

By seeing her mirror-self, it suggests they she MAY or MAY NOT have had the accident.
However it raises the question that; She only won the competition because of her unique story. Which could not have been written, had she NOT had the accident.
We do know that Rhoda was fascinated with space since she was a young girl and probably would have entered the competition regardless.
But the chances of her winning WITHOUT the tragic back-story would have been virtually zero.
So in my humble opinion... The accident DID happen on Earth 2 as well.

"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"

For me, the ending is not obvious. The reason I don't believe in the two Earth story is because of the ending.

If Rhoda 2 came from the other Earth, that would mean:

* She brought or bought new Earth clothes before visiting Rhoda on Earth 1.
* There was no news story about the rocket from the other Earth landing, or at least no news story about who the passengers were on that rocket.
* The other Rhoda came to Rhoda's house without any escort from the government, NASA, or the media? It's like, I want to surprise my other self, so please let me visit her on my own?
* The premise is somehow John was the other passenger, as if since she won the essay and the right to be the passenger on the rocket to the other Earth, she could simply say "I don't feel like going, so please give me spot to John."

Anyway, so to me, the story is about redemption... So the ending is supposed to represent something about redemption. Unfortunately, since it is open-ended, it's kind of hard to figure out what it is supposed to mean. It seems she has improved her mental well-being toward the end of the movie... She was smiling while walking home... so what is the sudden shock of meeting oneself supposed to mean?

Ah, I just had a thought. It seems she got better at tne end and that perhaps she has finally forgiven herself. Now, the presentation of her other self (which people have pointed out is a better groomed version of her recent self) is to represent that she's ready to move on to the next stage of her life.

I mean, since the movie was about redemption, rightfully or wrongfully, she lived with a lot of guilt. At some point, you have to say "Move on." Feeling guilty doesn't accomplish anything. It doesn't help bring back the dead. It doesn't help to undo what is already done. So you might has well try to do the best thing you can do from this point on.

I know the movie suggests they are alive because both world have different travellers in the end.
Yet we can assume after millions of years of evolution of life on both planets being synchronized to the smallest detail, it's most likely the accident would have happened exactly the same on Earth 2.
I do understand the underlying message of the movie though.
First you have to become "aware" of yourself to start "changing" yourself.
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Relax! - www.bryanel.com

Great movie, enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. I can't believe anyone would think the ending is obvious, it is quite open ended. The fact that the earths diverged before the accident makes it quite unlikely that Rhoda won the contest on both earths. I've only seen the movie once, so I don't know how long the journey from earth to earth took. However, my assumption of the ending was that John either took Rhoda2 back or she went back in his place so that he could be with family2. Art is subjective, so no one is really wrong.

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