Strangers In The Park Movie Ending Explained: What's The Truth About Leon?

How to explain a movie that doesn’t have anything in it to explain? That’s the first thought I had after watching director Juan José Campanella’s “Strangers in the Park.” The Argentine film, out now on Netflix, is an adaptation of Campanella’s own play of the same name. And the director seems to have decided on treating the film as a play itself, confining the narrative to one single location—the park. Our two main characters meet there, and as the story progresses, other players keep popping up. My assignment is explaining the film, particularly its ending, to you, and despite what I’ve said already at the start of the article, I’m going to take a swing at it.

Spoilers Ahead

What happens in the film? 

If I have to be to-the-point here, then the answer would be nothing much. However, the story of this film hardly matters. Sure, it moves from point A to point B, but the highlight here is Antonio, one of the two old men we see, having a change of perspective about life, thanks to the other man, Leon. The film opens with a statement that says the story could take place at any point of time, which is a clear indication of the narrative itself not really mattering that much. We see Antonio and Leon sitting on the bench; the former is annoyed by the latter’s continued attempts to tell him fabricated stories about his identity. We are not quite sure if this is the first time these two are meeting, but that doesn’t matter. Both the men may be old, but other than age, they’re as different as chalk and cheese. Antonio is a timid man who doesn’t want to bother the world with his own demands, while Leon is someone who believes in questioning the dominant hierarchy. The entire film is basically these two having conversations, and Antonio gradually warming up to Leon’s radical perspective. In between, we see a few people appearing in the park and having interactions with these two. We’re going to discuss those interactions (and their impacts) for a bit before focusing on the ending and the real meaning of this movie. 

Does Antonio lose his home and job? 

Despite his age, Antonio does have a job: running the boiler at the building where he rents an apartment. But this guy, Menendez, who’s basically Antonio’s boss, is planning to throw him out of the job and also his home. All Menendez wants to offer is a few months’ severance, and that’s about it. While a devastated Antonio decides to accept his fate, Leon takes it upon himself to fight for his friend and get a better deal out of Menendez. He poses as a representative from a worker’s association, which puts Menendez under pressure, and he ultimately gives in to Leon’s demands. Despite the building opting for a new, automatic boiler, Antonio gets to stay on as a consultant, thanks to his experience. Thus, Leon, whose stories are filled with communist anecdotes, proves his point—if you don’t fight for yourself, the world is not going to change. 

Why does Leon lie to Clarita?

According to his daughter, Clarita, the man has (kind of) lost it. And considering the kind of things he says and the walker he needs to get around, we do have reasons to believe her. However, this is not a story about Clarita putting her father in a home. It is about the old man having the courage to live on his own terms. So we see Clarita visiting her father in the park. She is concerned about his deteriorating health and doesn’t believe he can take care of himself. Clarita wants her father to live with her so that she can keep an eye on him. The other option is to put Leon in a facility, where people will be able to take care of the old man. Leon vehemently rejects both the proposals, and Clarita makes one last attempt by putting forth a more reasonable one—he gets to live in his own house but also needs to see her on a mandatory basis. 

Seeing his daughter this desperate, Leon decides to reveal a big truth about his life. Apparently, he had an affair with a twenty-year-old when he was in his fifties. The result of that was an illegitimate child Clarita never knew about, and now, Leon has planned to spend his remaining days with that woman and his child, who live in Israel. Obviously, that’s a lie, and Antonio figures it out, but it does work on Clarita, as she leaves tearfully. That might look cruel on the surface, but if you think about it, that’s the only way Leon could avoid his own life being directed by other people. 

Are Leon and Antonio able to help Laura?

Laura is a young girl who reads and sketches in the park. Both the men are bewildered by her beauty, but not in a creepy manner. It’s more like appreciating the charm of youth. Laura also notices them and gives them a nod of approval when they sing a song for her. Things turn dark when Laura is visited by this thug, a drug dealer from whom she used to buy and whom she owes money. The thug threatens to kill her if she doesn’t pay what she owes within a day. This leaves the girl devastated, as she is actually trying to turn over a new leaf by not using anymore and even enrolling herself in an art school. Seeing her in such dismay, Leon decides to step up. He poses as this crime lord who runs at a level much higher than that of the drug dealer, in order to scare the guy. While Antonio is not too comfortable about the idea, Leon insists he stay on as one of his associates. But when the dealer arrives, he recognizes Leon as the man he saw before in the park. Strangely enough, Antonio takes out a knife and makes a stand against the guy. This obviously indicates that Antonio has finally decided to adapt Leon’s way.

Who really is Leon? What’s the point of this story? 

“Strangers in the Park,” like its beginning, has an ending that doesn’t have much going on, apart from one important thing. After what happened with the drug dealer, Antonio ends up in the hospital for a while. Upon his return, Leon visits him in the park, only to let him know that he has decided to accept his daughter’s suggestion of going into a care home. The reason Leon has made that choice is the realization that his recklessness put Antonio in danger. Just before leaving, Leon reveals his real identity – he is actually a retired waiter. The man was indeed an activist in his youth, but most of his life, he waited tables to get by. However, the fire for defending justice and doing right by people never died in him, which is why he keeps imagining stories about his bravado. 

Antonio is surprised, but given Leon’s nature, he says he doesn’t believe this either. While you realize Leon was actually telling the truth, Leon conjures up another story about working in the film industry and making a Cannes-bound documentary once upon a time. For a man like Leon, it’s only fitting that he would rather make an independent documentary than a big-budget tentpole, right? And while this is also a fake story, like most of what he said, there’s no harm believing in the goodness in him. That’s also the lesson you take away from the film, which should have been shorter and snappier to be more impactful.

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