Jeanne du Barry — Ending Explained

The third act shifts into tragedy when King Louis XV contracts smallpox. Bound by Catholic doctrine and the demands of the Church, Louis cannot receive the last rites or absolution unless he formally banishes his mistress from court to repent of his sins.

Jeanne remains by his side as long as possible. When the King finally orders her departure to save his soul, she leaves Versailles, but in a final burst of despair, runs back across the royal courtyard. Allowed a final moment by the Dauphin, Jeanne bids a tearful, backwards-stepping farewell to the dying king.

Following the King's death, Louis XVI ascends the throne, and Jeanne is exiled to the Abbey of Pont-aux-Dames. The film's final text epilogue details the tragic irony of her ultimate fate: years later during the French Terror, she is betrayed by her former page Zamor—who embraces Jacobin revolutionary ideals—and is condemned to death by the guillotine in 1793. This reveals that neither the court nor the Revolution could ever forgive her for crossing class boundaries.

The Feminist Reclamation: Interprets Jeanne as a forward-thinking trailblazer who navigated an oppressive class system through wit, artistic sensibility, and self-possession, humanizing a woman reduced by history to a royal consort.

The Self-Indulgent Parable: Reads the film as an autobiographical allegory for Maïwenn herself—an artistic outsider facing media scrutiny and elite industry gatekeepers, casting herself in a role framed by persecution and romanticized victimhood.

The Traditional Romantic Melodrama: Views the film strictly as a classic, old-school tragic romance about two lonely figures who find genuine affection across rigid social barriers before being separated by politics and death.