Jane Fonda’s New Movie Sabotaged Its Ending With 1 Major Death (2024)

Warning: spoilers ahead for Moving On.

Jane Fonda's Moving On would have been a stronger movie had one character not died in the plot's ending. The comedy starring Fonda and her longtime friend and costar Lily Tomlin follows Claire (Fonda) and Evelyn (Tomlin) as they reunite for their mutual friend's funeral. Claire has a burning hatred for her friend's husband, Howard, and she's dead set on killing him. Her motive isn't made clear until the end of the film, but Evelyn is on board with helping her, with few questions asked.

Eventually, Claire reveals the reason she hates Howard so much is that when they were younger, he sexually assaulted her. Howard belittles her accusation and claims that it wasn't sexual assault because she wanted to have sex with him. Claire knows this is not the case, but Howard will not admit to his crime, and the Moving On protagonist finds it impossible to let the incident go until Howard is held accountable. Claire gets what she wants when Howard dies at the end of the film, but his death wasn't necessary for her healing.

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Moving On's Ending Message Is Ruined By Howard's Death

Howard dies at the end of Moving On after Claire tries to hit him with her car and Evelyn stops her. Howard then walks out of the way and is unintentionally hit by another driver, who kills him. Claire is ecstatic that Howard is finally gone, and she didn't even have to be the one to murder him. However, Moving On's Claire didn't need Howard to die in order to come to terms with her trauma. After she tries to suffocate him in the hospital, Evelyn talks her out of it and teaches her she has to heal, or she will be forever constrained by what Howard did to her.

Howard's death may have been the cherry on top for Claire, but it suggests that something bad has to happen to an abuser in order for the victim to move forward. This is a complicated message, as unfortunately, not every abuse victim will see their abuser face justice. If Howard had lived and Claire had moved forward anyway, it could have served as a poignant message, instead of having fate conveniently kill Howard off anyhow.

Moving On Still Makes You Hate Howard (But The Movie Is Better Without His Death)

Moving On established that Howard was an awful man, and while his death was satisfying, the movie could have been better without his death. The film could have held Howard accountable by having other women come forward with stories about being abused by him, and they could have come together to support Claire. However, even if Howard never faced accountability, Claire still had to move forward - and a version of the movie without his death could have provided the message that letting go doesn't mean that what happened was okay, but that those who face abuse deserve to heal no matter what happens to the people who hurt them.