Sharper ending spoilers follow.
Julianne Moore and Sebastian Stan are con artists with a master plan in Apple TV+'s slick new psychological drama, Sharper.
With their eyes set firmly on hedge fund billionaire Richard Gibbs (John Lithgow), the couple set about working on their ultimate swindle.
But things aren't quite as easy as they seem and when other people come into play, things soon spiral out of their control as the game for a $2.6 billion jackpot begins.
So who eventually wins out? Let's delve into the twisty shenanigans of Sharper to reveal all, but be warned, there are major spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the movie yet.
Sharper ending explained
Across the movie's two-hour runtime, we're introduced to four key players – Tom (Justice Smith), Sandra (Briana Middleton), Max (Sebastian Stan) and Madeline (Julianne Moore).
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Madeline and Max have had a scam going on for years, with Madeline schmoozing rich men into falling in love with her before her "drug-addicted, troubled son" Max turns up, ruins their party, and demands money to make him go away.
Except, they're not mother/son – they're lovers who have got their craft down to a fine art.
After winning big with a $60,000-a-month payout from Madeline's latest target, Richard Gibbs, Madeline dumps Max, declares she "doesn't want to be mother any more" and marries Richard, content to ride her long con forever as she sets her sights on his entire fortune when the businessman finally croaks.
This infuriates Max, who loves Madeline, and rather than take it lying down, he decides to get even – by landing a massive payout.
After spotting junkie Sandy in a bar, he recruits her to be his new partner-in-crime. Getting her clean and rebranding her as "Sandra", he fills her in on everything she needs to know to become a con artist.
Their big target? Richard's timid son, bookstore owner Tom.
The plan works beautifully, with Tom swept along by the enigmatic Sandra, who wanders into his bookstore as his perfect woman. They share the same love of books, they frolic around New York, and they spend his birthday together… after just a few weeks, he thinks he's found The One.
But then she drops the bomb that her brother is in trouble – something that only a $350,000 payout will solve. Until this point, he'd hidden his family's wealth from her but happily calls in the favour with his father because she needs it so badly.
She, naturally, flees with the money, leaving him heartbroken and having a mental breakdown (we'd already been told he'd suffered from depression and suicidal ideation).
Believing she was in a romantic relationship with Max, she's not too happy when he also takes the money and flees. Rather than wallow, she decides to get even.
When Tom hires a private investigator to track her down, she turns up at the family's posh apartment after "relapsing on heroin" and takes up residence there, hinting there was someone else involved.
By this point Richard has died, leaving his entire fortune to Madeline – all $2.6 billion of it. Unsure whether he could trust Tom with the inheritance due to his previous mental health break, Richard instead leaves him his foundation. Which has its own money, but not $2.6 billion. Even then, Madeline is a trustee of the foundation, so still has some control.
Madeline, knowing it was likely Max involved in the Sandra scam, tries to pay her off but she refuses, saying she only wants to see Max again and she'll leave them forever.
So Madeline arranges to meet up with Max in a remote location, taking Sandra with her.
When the gang is back together, Sandra lunges at Max, wanting an apology, something he refuses to give because he's not sorry that he did it. Neither is Madeline, who tells her to simply "get over it".
But then another set of cars pull up – revealing Tom and his private investigator, with the illicit meeting seeming to be proof that the other three were plotting together all along to get hold of the Gibbs family estate.
Demanding the money be returned to Tom, Madeline refuses, insisting that as she has the money, she could leave everyone with nothing as she has the legal team to make sure nothing stands up.
Furious, Tom pulls out the investigator's gun and aims it at Sandra, before changing his mind and switching it to Madeline. A struggle ensues and Sandra shoots Tom in the stomach.
As Tom bleeds out on the floor, Madeline panics and believes he's dead. Rather than go to jail, she agrees to hand over the money to the foundation Tom runs before heading to Los Angeles with Max and Sandra to lay low for a while.
After signing the papers, Madeline boards a plane with Max and Sandra and declares she's still won. With Tom dead, the foundation reverts back to her anyway as a trustee, so she's lost nothing.
A disgusted Sandra disappears to be sick in the toilet, and as Max and Madeline reconnect, she's distracted by a blood spot on her sleeve cuff.
It's then she realises that it's not blood.
First thinking it was Max who had orchestrated a big con to eventually run off with Sandra, it slowly dawns on the couple that Sandra hasn't returned to her seat. When Madeline goes to the bathroom she finds it empty. Sandra's left the plane.
Turns out Tom and Sandra were in on the final con together. Feeling guilty about what she did, she'd confessed to Tom and come up with an elaborate scheme to get Madeline away from the family money.
Staging his death with a fake gun and a fake private investigator, they scared Madeline into handing the money over to them. So now everything is theirs, and Sandra gets to strut out of the airport victorious.
Toasting a job well done with their helpers in the bookstore, the group split the cash and celebrate. Sandra (who's now gone back to being called Sandy) asks Tom out to dinner, and he accepts.
Sharper is out now in select cinemas and is available to watch on Apple TV+.
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Freelance writer, Digital Spy
Tilly is Gold-Standard NCTJ accredited journalist with eight years of experience in entertainment journalism.
She has been heard giving her insight on the latest TV stories on BBC Radio across the country and on BBC News.
Previously working with The Sun Online, Yahoo, Metro.co.uk and Independent IE amongst others, she joined the Digital Spy team from 2021-2023 as Deputy TV Editor (Maternity cover).
With a speciality in TV drama and true crime, Tilly has been praised for her exclusive content with A-list stars ranging from Sir David Attenborough to the lawyers behind Making A Murderer.
She’s happy to report her mum now takes her seriously as a journalist as she got to interview George Clooney once.
