'Mind Wave' Movie Ending Explained: Was Clint Able to Save His Wife?

A sprawling digital landscape in the present age has provided an added boost to freedom of expression—allowing the world to become more interconnected, for access to information to become more widespread than ever. But that freedom is a double-edged sword in disguise, as it exposes people to misinformation and manipulation, allows breaches of privacy, and can be used to exert various forms of authoritarian control. Director Leon Lee, whose works have time and again reflected a conscious approach to the question of human rights in a world that is aggressively marching towards becoming a surveillance state, has presented the contentious dichotomy of this freedom in his latest political thriller, Mind Wave. While the themes presented by the narrative are quite topical, and the discourse itself has strong resonance to present geopolitical conditions, the final resolution comes in a somewhat haphazard way, which somewhat undermines the gravity of the events presented in the movie. Nevertheless, Mind Wave fares well as a cautionary tale against the authoritarian forces, who could stoop to any low to violate the basic rights of the ones it seeks to serve in order to hold on to power.

Spoilers Ahead

Why Was Clint Being Hunted By The MSS?

As the movie showcases, the oppressive, autocratic control of the Chinese government over internet usage through the creation of a digital firewall, and sanctions over western sites and apps had taken away the citizens’ right to digital freedom. The horrid tragedies that bring light to the state’s abuse of human rights, like the Tiananmen Square incident, Falun Gong elimination propaganda, and the eviction of Tibetan residents from their own country after China’s occupation in Tibet, have been brushed under the rug. Even though the majority of people didn’t raise their voice in fear of repercussions, a few bravehearted cyber tech experts, like Clint Wu, called for public protests against the government. Clint had lost his father during the Tiananmen Square incident and was denied knowledge about his fate by the state’s policy of utter secrecy regarding its history of ostracizing citizens, which motivated him to pursue the truth and inspire others to rise up against the autocratic practices. Clint found his friend/neighbor, Charles, and his father, former army general Mr. Liu, to be supporters of his cause. After Clint’s initial attempt to breach the digital firewall failed, Charles and General Liu provided him shelter when operatives from MSS, China’s secret security service, came knocking at their door in his search. General Liu was able to exert his influence to protect Clint, and knowing it was no longer safe for him to stay in the country, he arranged for Clint to shift to Canada—a country where people’s right to freedom is still a thing.

After moving to Canada, Clint graduated in network security and joined Northstar Networks—the country’s key contractor in network infrastructure—where he became acquainted with his colleague, Sarah, who, much like Clint, was an expatriate citizen of China and had studied in network security and international relations. Sarah and Clint eventually fell for each other and got married. The access to millions of users’ data in Northstar’s cyber database allowed Clint to create UltraGate, which breached the digital firewall and allowed people all over the world easy and free access to information. Clint finally had the chance to make a difference by undermining MSS’s oppressive control and bringing the truth to light—and his wife, Sarah, supported his cause as well. 

What Was Zhang’s Motive?

In the meantime, Vidtalk, a Chinese app that had become immensely popular in Canada and in a number of parts across the world, was under suspicion of leaking user data to the Chinese government—prompting a section of the masses to call for a ban on the app. However, Han Zhang, the nation’s Parliamentary Secretary to Public Safety, refuted such claims, refusing to ban Vidtalk and was ardent to keep diplomatic relations with China strong. In reality, Han Zhang was working with MSS and had her political ambition to become a cabinet minister, thereby allowing MSS to control the democratic Canadian government as well. 

Why Did Sarah and Charles Betray Clint?

At present day, as the movie begins, an extensive cyber attack is reported from China, although it is not revealed whether such an attack actually happened or was just MSS propaganda. However, it didn’t matter, as Clint was linked with the attack and was promptly arrested by Mounties inspector Roberts. Zhang and Mounties Deputy Commissioner, both of whom were candidates for their political party to become cabinet ministers in the upcoming election, requested Roberts to close the investigation and extradite Clint to China as quickly as possible to avoid any trouble before the election. 

Roberts, a headstrong, straight-arrow police officer, had lost his wife a year ago, and the ensuing emotional crisis had left him in such a condition that he couldn’t bring himself to cope with the grief—much to the dismay of his daughter, Meg. As Clint shared his life story with Roberts, he took pity on him and decided to see through the end of the case instead of rushing it. However, the biggest impediment for Clint to clear his name appeared in the form of a heavily pregnant Sarah, who left their home the day Clint was arrested, quit her job at Northstars, and denied knowing anything regarding his mission to pursue truth with the help of UltraGate. Clint was dejected by his wife’s betrayal, but he probably could guess what had happened anyway. 

As it is revealed through the course of the movie, Sarah was forced to work for MSS while completing academics in Beijing, and after arriving in Canada, while working for Northstar Networks, she continued to aid the security service of China. It has not been clarified whether it was Sarah who ratted out Clint to MSS, but there is a strong possibility of it being so. Sarah was helpless, as there was no escaping from MSS, and now with her and Clint’s child on its way, she couldn’t risk getting exposed, which could have resulted in her being extradited or being subjected to something worse. Before quitting Northstar, Sarah had managed to access all the subscriber data from their database—following the order of her MSS handler. This is where another surprising reveal takes place: Sarah’s handler was none other than Clint’s friend, Charles himself. As it turns out, after Charles left for Canada all those years ago, General Liu’s actions of aiding and abetting a ‘traitor’ were discovered by the MSS, and to protect his family, Charles had no other option except to join the security service. Like Sarah, Charles had no other option either and had to perform the dirty deeds for MSS through all these years. 

What Did MSS Aim to Do?

With the massive amount of user data at Sarah’s disposal, Charles had instructed her to initially use the Mind Wave protocol, which appears to be a way to directly manipulate the reach of news across networks irrespective of platforms or sites. As shown in the movie, Sarah manages to reduce the traction of a news channel that was critical towards Zhang and her support for Vidtalk, detecting any such flow of information that might hamper their propaganda by detecting them through keyword inputs, and bolster the reach of Zhang’s political campaign instead. Various Chinese shell companies actively started donating to Zhang’s election campaign, which was promptly covered up with the help of Mind Wave as well. Sarah was forced into a situation where she was forced to control the fate of a country, as MSS wanted to employ favorable policies or even completely hijack western parliaments using their loyalists and complete control over the cyber landscape. Holding soft power over countries has become a backdated concept; now manipulating elections through Big Data is the new normal. 

Was Clint Able to Save His Wife?

Clint was allowed to move freely until the completion of his trial, and he became desperate to connect with his wife. Ultimately, after the data breach at Northstar, Roberts allowed him to find a way to reach Sarah, and by injecting a trojan into the user data, Clint was able to locate Sarah’s IP address. However, before Robert and his men reached there, Sarah left the place—arranging a secret meeting with Clint to apologize to him for her actions and conveying that her hands were tied in this situation. After taking her leave from a dejected Clint, Sarah sought refuge with Mrs. Gao, Chinese Consul General in Canada, who was initially hesitant to allow her to stay in fear of her present state as a fugitive, but Charles had managed to exert the influence of MSS to convince her to do so. 

The situation took a new turn when Clint, now assisting Roberts in the investigation, managed to learn that Sarah has been funneling the user data of millions of Canadians through Vidtalk, and this became public news in no time—putting Charles under pressure from his MSS superiors. A desperate Charles, who was previously advised by his father to escape from the country to save himself, decided to cut the loose ends instead and ordered Gao to entrust Li, an employee at the consul, to eliminate Sarah. Becoming aware of their devious plan, Sarah was able to send a message to Clint about her fate, prompting Clint and Roberts to rush to the consul and confront Gao about the situation. Even though Gao threatened the duo about taking disciplinary actions and reminding them of Vienna Convention rules and stuff about consulates being outside the domain of Canadian authorities, she had realized that eliminating Sarah will only aggravate their dicey situation even further. 

Roberts brings Harley, the journalist who was most vocal against Zhang’s support of Vidtalk and the possibility of Chinese control in the elections, and with her help, Clint is able to expose the brutal, oppressive tactics of MSS, his life experiences, and share the plight of his wife in a live broadcast. Clint also exposes Zhang’s truth as well, which prompts her political party to eventually turn their back on her. MSS chief orders Gao to release Sarah, who gives birth to a daughter as she goes into labor while still being captive. Sarah finally reunites with her husband, and thanks to his public plea, she is no longer under the threat of being exploited or targeted by MSS. Clint’s public appeal had motivated Roberts to finally acknowledge the absence of his wife and cope with the grief, as he managed to reconcile with his daughter by sharing a memory of her mother with her. On the other hand, Gao and Charles become the scapegoats, as Gao gets summoned to Beijing, and Charles is escorted out of MSS—possibly to meet a tragic end. The deputy commissioner became a cabinet minister after winning the election and promised to take care of threats posed by intelligence and information extraction attempted by outside forces. 

Days later, Roberts and Meg pay a visit to Clint and Sarah’s home. They have become kind of family friends after the officer assisted Clint to clear his and his family’s name by providing a chance of thorough investigation. Roberts, who has been promoted as Deputy Commissioner, has pulled a few strings to bring a file that contains details about the final fate of Clint’s father. Clint is dejected to learn that his father was most likely shot to death while being imprisoned, much like a number of other captives of the Tiananmen Square incident, but he can have his peace of mind after learning the truth at long last. Roberts offers Clint a job in cybersecurity service, and with his expertise, Clint will surely prove to be a great asset. 

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