‘The Long Game’ Ending Explained

In an unprecedented turn of events, independent film The Long Game recently dislodged Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F from the top of Netflix charts in the U.S. while also managing to climb up to sixth on the global ranking.

The movie’s central theme is the discrimination towards Hispanic people in 1950s America, with director Julio Quintana using the sport of golf to highlight it. It tells the story of the San Felipe Mustangs, who overcame all odds to win the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship. The film has a happy but tense, emotional ending, which will be broken down in this article.

Towards the end of the film, when the Mustangs qualify for the State Championship on the back of Gene’s (Gregory Diaz IV) heroics, they face a nearly unsurmountable task: dealing with Joe’s (Julian Works) absence and the team missing out on participation as he gets impounded on the account of vandalism because of the events that occur at a racist diner earlier. However, they are bailed out by their coach JB Peña, (Jay Hernandez), who shoulders all the responsibility for Joe’s actions and is arrested instead of him, freeing the Mustangs to feature in the championship.

During the title game, the weather pulls off a 360 on the participants, and it rains heavily, putting a majority of players at a disadvantage. However, the Mustangs still thrive in those conditions as a result of their obscure and unnatural training methods due to a lack of resources. The team’s nemesis Tim Cox (Michael Southworth) tries antagonizing Joe again, knowing of his hot-headedness, but he manages to remain cool after spotting JB in the crowd, who sneaks in to watch his team courtesy of Pollo (Cheech Marin), the groundskeeper.

The Mustangs end up winning the tournament but are not given the trophy in the traditional award ceremony manner, as the organizers cite “bad weather” despite clear skies. The group brushes off the discrimination and is given a hero’s welcome by their own community for prevailing against the odds. Joe’s father (Jimmy Gonzalez), who is shown to be against his son playing golf, also comes around and is seen attending the victory parade at the end.