Skip to main content

Cocaine Bear’s ending explained

While it may be loosely based on a true story, Elizabeth Banks’ crime comedy Cocaine Bear is slightly less predictable than you might imagine. Although the film certainly delivers on both halves of its title, the cocaine and the bear, it does so in a way that’s likely to delight and surprise audiences who are eager to escape what’s being churned out by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

How does a bear wind up with cocaine anyway? And what happens to the hapless, helpless humans who cross its path? Digital Trends has the answers for you.

Related Videos

Warning: Spoilers below for the entirety of Cocaine Bear

What is Cocaine Bear about?

Two men hover over a passed out bear in Cocaine Bear.

While the movie delivers on a bear getting addicted to cocaine in its first few minutes, things are less straightforward than you might suspect. The cocaine in question comes from a plane that ditched it in the sky in 1985. The drugs belonged to a kingpin named Syd, who eventually sends Daveed, one of his enforcers, and his screw-up son, Eddie, to Georgia to recover it.

At the same time, a police detective named Bob and another cop named Reba begin their own search for the missing drugs, and a nurse named Sari loses her daughter Dee Dee in these very same woods. There are also some foreign vacationers, a pair of park rangers named Liz and Peter, a couple of EMTs, and a local bum named Stache thrown into the mix for good measure, creating a surprisingly large ensemble cast that the bear can begin to pick off one grisly (or grizzly) kill at a time.

The deaths come very early in the film, and a number of characters get maimed or dismembered before the movie’s climax. One of the foreign vacationers is killed early in the film, and both of the EMTs get maimed as well. Peter the park ranger also gets attacked, and Bob eventually gets killed as well, but not by the bear. Instead, he is shot by Syd after he winds up in a standoff over the drugs.

How does Cocaine Bear end?

Cocaine Bear | Official Trailer [HD]

The film’s climax begins following Bob’s death, as Eddie and Daveed stand up to Syd, who is threatening to kill Reba as well. Reba doesn’t show up in the woods until the third act, and that’s also when you learn that she has actually been working with Syd. Eddie, who is mourning the loss of his wife, decides to step off after he begins to understand that there are children in the woods who need his help.

Dee Dee has been taken by the bear and brought back to her den to be with her cubs and the cocaine. Syd eventually tries to recover the cocaine, unable to let it go, and is maimed by the bear as a result. Daveed is nearly killed in the ensuing brawl, but Sari is able to save his life, and they are able to save Dee Dee and exit the woods, leaving both the cocaine and the bear behind.

A woman hides from a bear in Cocaine Bear.

Eddie resolves to become a better father, as Syd has been looking after his young son. Sari and Dee Dee, meanwhile, grow closer to one another as mother and daughter.

There are two post-credits stingers. The first reveals that a dog has been nibbling at Daveed’s fingers, which were shot off by Syd earlier in the film. The second reveals that Stache found a duffel bag filled with cocaine, and decided to keep it for himself. Plenty of people survived the bear, but who knows when she might strike again?

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
You season 4, part 2’s ending explained
Rhys and Joe stand side by side outside in a scene from You season 4.

Joe Goldberg, aka Jonathan Moore, was in a pickle by the shocking midseason finale of season 4 of You, which premiered in early February. The killer was revealed to be Rhys, and Joe narrowly escaped with his life. He was finally cleared in the eyes of those who made it out of the mansion alive (all but Gemma). But he still didn’t reveal the identity of the Eat the Rich killer to the others.

Why? Initially, the assumption was that Joe presumably wanted Rhys all to himself, though the twists and turns that unraveled in the back half of the season proved otherwise. Nonetheless, in the beginning, the tables had turned and Rhys was in the driver’s seat, manipulating Joe like a puppet. He showed up at Joe’s house unannounced, pushed Joe to frame someone as the killer, and even threatened him by suggesting that Marienne didn’t make it on the train back to Paris after all, but rather, was in serious trouble. So how does part 2 of You season 4 end? Digital Trends has all the spoilers for you below.
Is Rhys really the evil mastermind in You season 4?

Read more
The Mandalorian season 3 episode 2’s legendary Star Wars beast, explained
the mandalorian season 3 episode 2 mythosaur explained a ray of light shines on an old helmet in

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Mandalorian season 3 episode 2, The Mines of Mandalore.

Coming off its lackluster season 3 premiere, The Mandalorian has returned with an episode that helps put the Disney+ series back on track. The episode, titled The Mines of Mandalore, sends Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu to the surface of its eponymous, destroyed planet. His journey to the planet’s living waters takes a dangerous turn, however, when he is captured by a malevolent alien lurking deep beneath Mandalore’s surface.

Read more
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s ending explained
Ant-Man and the Wasp prepare for battle in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania features the return of everyone's favorite small-sized hero. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprise the titular roles, joined by an all-star cast that includes the returning Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer, plus the long-awaited quasi-debuts of Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang and Jonathan Majors as Kang, the Conqueror.

The film features the Lang/Pym-Van Dyne clan on an unexpected and dangerous adventure to the Quantum Realm. While far from Marvel's best effort, Quantumania benefits greatly from top-notch performances by Pfeiffer and Majors and Rudd's seemingly inexhaustible charm. Its somewhat uneven plot offers plenty of visual thrills and silly humor, leading to the traditional MCU finale, an all-out war between the good guys and Kang. As per Marvel tradition, multiple battles are happening, but we have all the crucial details ready.
Rebellion!

Read more