‘The Life List’ ending, explained — and what star Sofia Carson has to say

In “The Life List,” a young woman rediscovers herself through loss with the unexpected help of her late mother.

At the start of the movie, it’s clear Alex Rose (Sofia Carson) is the black sheep of her family. But she’s always been able to count on the love and support of her mother, Elizabeth (Connie Britton). So when she dies of a cancer recurrence, Alex is absolutely devastated.

Even more, when it comes time for her family to divvy up her mother’s assets, it seems like Alex has been cast aside. Her mother left her successful cosmetics company to her daughter-in-law, rather than her actual daughter. 

Her mother even fires Alex from beyond the grave, writing in her will that the first change to her company following her death should be to appoint a new head of marketing, replacing Alex.

Her mom, it turns out, has other plans for her. Using a series of prerecorded DVDs, Elizabeth sends Alex on a journey through — well, life.

“I just felt like I had been Alex Rose, and more so that we’ve all been Alex Rose at one point in our lives,” Sofia Carson said on TODAY on March 24.

“Like, alive, but not living. And she awakened something in me. And I think that’s what we hope this film will do to you when you watch it. It kind of awakens us to life again in a really simple but powerful way.”

What is the ‘Life List’?

To receive any sort of trust, Alex must complete the bucket list she made as a child. According to her mother, completing this list will help her come back to her true self. In other words, if she doesn’t fix the list by New Year’s, Alex can kiss any inheritance goodbye. 

The items on the list range from mending her relationship with her father to playing basketball with a New York Knicks player. The item that proves to be the most difficult? Falling in love. 

At the start of the movie, her friend tells her that you know a guy a right for you if you can answer “yes” to all four of these questions:

• Is he kind?
• Can I tell him everything in my heart?
• Does he help me become the best version of myself?
• And can you imagine him as the father of your kids?    

Realizing her current boyfriend checks off none of these boxes, Alex breaks up with him and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Her mom is there through every milestone in the form of a pre-taped message.

Alex, in the course of completing the life list, uncovers secrets about her mother. Most notably, she learns that the man who raised her wasn’t actually her biological father. Alex is the product of her mom’s affair with a musician (Jordi Mollà).

This explains why Alex felt alienated from her two brothers (half-brothers, it turns out), and why her father iced her out growing up. Meanwhile, her brothers reveal that they had felt pushed aside, too, in their own way.

“Your bond. Your little secrets and your private jokes. Like a club the rest of us weren’t allowed into,” one of her brothers says in the movie. “Maybe for a moment think about what that was like for Dad. For Lucas and me.”

She goes on a road trip to Vermont with Brad (Kyle Allen), a lawyer executing her mom’s will, and Nina, his girlfriend, to meet her father. The meeting is ultimately a disappointment: After having dinner together, her dad doesn’t show up to meet her.

She does find a spark with a newly single Brad, however, and reconnects with the man who raised her.

Does Alex complete her ‘life list’ in time?

No, but it turns out her mom didn’t really expect her to.

Alex may have played a one-on-one match with Knicks legend Patrick Ewing and learned to drive, but she wasn’t able to check off the most difficult item on the list: falling in love. 

In her mother’s final DVD, she admits that putting a timer on Alex’s love life was never her intention. If she’s being honest, she was never able to figure out the love thing herself.

While Alex has a few love interests in the movie, it takes until the very end for her to seize on her connection with Brad.

Does Alex get her inheritance?

Even without checking off that final item, Alex finally receives her inheritance.

Her mom leaves her the family home in Brooklyn, which Alex was initially worried her brothers would sell, plus a trust left to Alex to help cover taxes and maintenance. 

She also receives one last DVD from her mother, where she hears her say, “Being your mom has been the joy of my life.” 

In the sweet video, Alex gives her mom a cup of tea unbeknownst to the fact that she’s recording a video for her in the future. Here, Alex is able to relive an embrace with her mom one last time as she watches herself curled up with her mom. At the end of the video, the two give their final goodbyes — her mom to the camera and Alex to her screen.

What happens in the end?

The film ends with a New Year’s Eve celebration at Alex’s home. The scene bookends the start of the movie, where Alex felt out of place and jduged in the same space.

Now, she’s a whole new person. From finding love with Brad, to her entire family happy together at the event, Alex’s role as host in the end signifies her newfound power.

Her mother was right. What she really needed was to get back to herself. She just needed a little push.