'First Cow' ending explained: Did King-Lu and Cookie survive at the end?

First Cow is A24's latest venture into showcasing western films with a humane twist. The film has been adapted by the novel The Half Life and encompasses the journey of two characters named Cookie and King-lu. Cookie is a cook from Maryland who travels to Oregon and finds a Chinese friend King-Lu played by Orion lee. Both of the strangers at that point in the film are hiding from dangerous men. Cookie offers shelter to King-Lu and their journey together begins.

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First Cow ending explained

Both King-Lu and Cookie end up sharing a shack in the woods and decide that they will milk the only cow in Oregon in the night and sell culinary comfort food known as 'oily cakes' to an unsuspecting market. The film also ventures out to the funny aspects of this theft done by the two pivotal characters of the film as the man they steal the cow's milk from eats the honey-glazed pastries made by the same milk and it reminds him of his hometown in London. 

One of the key aspects of this Kelly Reichardt directorial is that it consists of a simple plot that carries across the two-hour run in an even more simplistic manner. Finding the 'fist cow' in the town of Oregon does not trigger King-Lu and Cookie to set off stealing but the wish to prosper in life and attain wealth does it. The director treats her audience with long shots and sequences which allow them to feel the drama. 

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Image courtesy - Still from First Cow

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One of the divisive arguments surrounding the First Cow has been the fact that the ending is very indefinite. Viewers see the two characters from the film laying down in a dense forest, talking about their life as the screen turns to black and the film ends. With the drama which unfolds before that sequence, the film has an indecisive ending as the makers reportedly for the viewers to decide whether the duo survived or not. The viewers get to choose their ending and decide if the First Cow has a positive or negative ending. 

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