The titular fixer (Liev Schreiber) makes a return in ‘Ray Donovan: The Movie,’ which picks up where the acclaimed Showtime crime thriller series of the same name left off. The story goes into Ray’s turbulent history this time, focusing on a significant event between him and his father, Mickey. Back in the present, the family’s intergenerational predisposition for violence has put them in perilous positions.

The film brings numerous long-running arcs to a close and fills in some key gaps in Ray’s backstory. The dramatic denouement, on the other hand, demonstrates that the Donovans are not yet out of the woods. There is no triumph here, simply a somber reminder that some stains will never wash away. If you want to learn more about ‘Ray Donovan: The Movie’ and what the ending means for our brooding hero, you’ve come to the right place! WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Plot Synopsis for Ray Donovan: The Movie

The video begins with a montage of key scenes from the show, followed by the Donovan brothers — Ray, Terry, Bunchy, and Daryll — at home, reminiscing about their father. A sad Bridget interrupts their story-swapping, chastising Ray for forgetting deaths so readily by drowning his sorrows in drinks. Ray falls silent and, after some thought, departs the house late at night, going for Boston.

Meanwhile, Ray’s father, Mickey, has a briefcase full of priceless documents and is attempting to sell them for a profit. As he drives to a rendezvous, he is unaware that his son is following him. However, Mickey’s contacts get the upper hand on Ray, resulting in a brawl in which the attackers are slain. Ray, who is seriously hurt, points his gun towards Mickey, who is looking at his son with anxiety. The gun, however, is empty. Mickey moves away from Ray after receiving the message. Mickey then phones the Sullivans (to whom the documents belong) and offers to sell them back for 25% of his asking price, desperate to sell the documents in the briefcase for money.

We witness a young Ray Donovan in flashbacks getting his first few criminal adventures courtesy of his father. He meets Ezra Goldman, a wealthy Hollywood producer who is filming in the area. Mickey befriends Ezra and his film’s lead actor, Sean Walker, after realizing he can charge the producer for protection. The latter is immediately taken with Mickey’s true Boston demeanor, and the two go on a drinking binge. When Ezra detects trouble, he hires young Ray to keep an eye on them.

Is Ray Donovan Dead or Alive? Ray Donovan: The Movie Ending: Is Ray Donovan Dead or Alive? Who is the shooter?

As the flashback progresses, we witness little Ray watch with trepidation as Mickey, Sean, and Colleen get increasingly rowdy. Sean picks up his gun after Mickey passes out and inadvertently kills Colleen with it. Ray and Ezra then conspire to get Sean away from the crime site and blame it on Mickey, who awakens from a coma to find himself surrounded by cops.

Back in the present, Ray meets with Molly Sullivan to inquire about Mickey’s return of the briefcase. Molly begs Ray to tell her what he has done to her father (Jim Sullivan), but he refuses. Molly shoots Ray in the stomach as he prepares to leave. Our hero makes it back to his hotel room, where Mickey, who has followed him from the Sullivan residence, keeps a wary eye on his son. Bridget, who enters the room to find her father also severely injured, shoots Mickey dead as the two reminisce. The cops come, and the film concludes with parallel sequences of Ray being loaded into an ambulance (years earlier) and his father being arrested for Colleen’s murder.

As a result, the film concludes with Ray Donovan suffering from several injuries, including a bullet wound from Molly Sullivan. Bridget’s reply suggests that he may perish. However, Ray’s assurances to his daughter that he will live appear to be more accurate. Ray’s session with his therapist, Dr. Arthur Amiot (Alan Alda), which is shown intermittently throughout the film, concludes with the crippled hero giving the doctor his motel room number. When the doctor notices Ray is seriously hurt, he summons the authorities, who arrive with physicians and (it appears) save Ray’s life.

The fact that Ray is likely to recover is one of the reasons Bunchy abandons his brother in his damaged state. Of course, Bunchy needs to get Bridget out of there before the cops arrive, but he doesn’t seem like he’d abandon Ray if he knew his brother was dying. Thus, Molly Sullivan’s bullet in the belly does not appear to have killed Ray, and our brooding hero survives to fight another day.

The final scene, in which Ray emerges from a pool of water, could be misinterpreted as implying that he is dead. However, it is more likely that Ray and the rest of the family have been cleansed of one of their most prolific causes of conflict as a result of his father’s death. Ray also eventually confronts the sad fact that he betrayed his father and sentenced him to prison (for Colleen’s murder), revealing a long-buried secret. Though the Donavans’ gritty predilection for death and violence is unlikely to change, Ray rising from the pool appears to indicate that he has been cleansed of some of his prior demons.

Bridget shoots Mickey for what reason? Is Mickey Donovan still alive?

The film’s climax has a twist that is as predictable as it is unexpected. Mickey has been playing with fire for a long time, and Ray considers or attempts to kill him on several occasions (both in the show and in the film). As a result, it’s no surprise that the elderly Donovan is shot. Bridget is the last person we’d think to be the one pulling the trigger, but a closer look at her character reveals that she has plenty of reasons to murder her grandfather.

Bridget is seen throughout the film to be in grief over the death of her husband, Smitty, who is killed in part due to Mickey’s avarice. The final straw comes when Bridget discovers that her father, Ray, has traveled to Boston to confront (and potentially murder) Mickey. Ray’s daughter, who has recently lost her spouse, becomes concerned for her father’s safety and insists on joining Bunchy to Boston. Bridget finally shoots Mickey because “it has to end,” referring to the multi-generational cycle of violence that has taken so many of their family members.

Bridget is clearly at her wits’ end, and while it is unclear whether the Donovan family’s fortunes (or life expectancy) will improve, Ray’s daughter appears to take a big step in the right direction by shooting Mickey through the head. Of course, Ray taking the fall for the murder in order to save Bridget completes a decades-long arc that begins with a young Ray framing his father and sending him to prison. Ray, it appears, will go to prison for the murder of his father at the end of the film.