A Short Film About Love - Ending Explained

The Turning Point: After Magda humiliates Tomek by sexually stimulating him and then mocking his prematurity ("That's all it is"), Tomek runs home and attempts suicide by slashing his wrists.

The Reversal: While Tomek is in the hospital, Magda becomes the voyeur. She waits by her window, obsessively watching his empty room. She realizes she destroyed the only person who truly loved her. She tries to visit him, but is blocked by the Godmother.

The Ending: When Tomek returns, he is broken and asleep. Magda visits his room and looks through his telescope. She sees her own apartment and hallucinates a past version of herself crying over spilled milk, but this time, an imagined Tomek enters the frame to comfort her. The film ends on this vision of impossible tenderness, suggesting Magda has finally learned the nature of love, even if it may be too late.

The Ending: Dream vs. Reality
The most debated aspect is the ending. In the final scene, Magda looks through the telescope and sees a vision of herself being comforted by Tomek. Some critics interpret this as a literal reconciliation, a "fairy tale" where they find each other. Others view it as a tragic hallucination or a visual metaphor for Magda's regret—she is seeing what she wish had happened, but in reality, the connection is lost forever. The fact that the "vision" Tomek is healthy and the real Tomek is injured supports the theory that this is Magda's fantasy of redemption.