In Jennifer Lawrence’s R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings, a 32-year-old woman named Maddie Barker accepts a job that requires her to date a 19-year-old named Percy Becker. So, what happened in the ending of No Hard Feelings?
Percy’s parents hire Maddie because they want their son to get out of his shell before he goes to college. Maddie accepts the job because she needed a car so that she could Uber and pay her house’s property taxes.
So, how does No Hard Feelings end? This article explains the ending of No Hard Feelings.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for No Hard Feelings. Read at your own risk!
What Happened to Maddie and Percy in No Hard Feelings?
Maddie meets Percy at the animal shelter he volunteers at. She tries to make their meeting look natural since Percy’s parents specifically told her that their son should not find out that they hired her.
Maddie attempts to seduce Percy and offers him a ride home. However, Percy thinks that she was trying to kidnap him and maces her.
Maddie explains that she just thought Percy was hot, and so they agree to go on a date the next day. They keep going out on dates until Percy’s convinced that they’re actually in a relationship.
Maddie starts enjoying Percy's company but worries that he has become too attached to her. Percy tells Maddie about his plan to get a driver’s license so that they could still meet on the weekends when he's in college.
Maddie tells Percy that she doesn’t do long distance, but later on, Percy admits that he loves her.
One day, Percy tells his parents that he doesn’t want to go to Princeton anymore so that he could stay with Maddie in Montauk. His parents call Maddie, and Maddie tells them that she can’t do it anymore because Percy is too attached.
Percy’s parents tell Maddie that she no longer needs to keep dating their son and that she could get the car that was promised.
However, Percy hears this conversation and it breaks his heart. He invites Maddie to a meal with his parents to get them to confess that they already know each other.
Later on, Percy wrecks the car and says that he did so because Maddie broke his heart.
No Hard Feelings Ending Explained: Why Did Maddie Leave Montauk?
Maddie uses the smashed car to pay her house’s property taxes. She feels victorious but realizes later on that it’s time for her to leave Montauk. After living in Montauk her entire life, Maddie decides to sell her house, and her friends Jim and Sara end up buying the house.
Through Percy, Maddie was able to realize how stuck she was in the past. Maddie’s father was some rich man who had an affair with her mother.
Her father left them and gave the house to her mother so that she would not disclose their affair. Maddie tried to reach out to her father, but her letter was never opened and was returned to the address.
This resulted in Maddie not going to her prom. When Percy and Maddie talk after he finds out that his parents hired her, Percy tells Maddie that she never made it past New York because she’s still hoping her father would come back for her.
This serves as a wake-up call to Maddie, and she ultimately decides to leave Montauk, New York, and move to California. Selling her mother’s house was Maddie’s final step in moving on and starting a new life.
Will Maddie and Percy Remain Friends?
Before Maddie leaves, she goes to a Princeton mixer to talk to Percy. Percy drives and refuses to talk to her, but Maddie jumps over his car’s hood.
This results in Percy driving to the ocean, until the two of them sit down and talk. Maddie apologizes to him and they hug.
Later on, Percy leaves for college, but he doesn’t let his parents drive him or carry his luggage. This is something his parents are working on after Percy tells them that they need to let him fail or succeed on his own.
So, Maddie ends up driving Percy to Princeton. It’s also revealed that she adopted Milo, the dog in the animal shelter where Percy volunteered in.
No Hard Feelings’ ending shows that Maddie and Percy will always be friends. In the film, Maddie tells Percy that their friendship was real and that she told him things she never told anyone.
But while Maddie and Percy will remain friends, they might not be the type of friends that would communicate on a daily basis, especially because they would be far from each other.
Percy will be busy living his life in college, while Maddie will be adjusting to a new place. But even though Maddie and Percy may no longer keep in touch and lose communication at some point, it’s clear that they made an impact on each other’s lives. So, in that sense, their friendship will always remain.
The movie ends with Maddie and Percy on a road trip, with Maddie driving Percy to Princeton and then her heading to California. There's no post-credits scene in the movie, so there's no need to wait until the very end.
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