Stars At Noon Ending Explained- Who Cares About The Plot Get Pulled Along The Erotic Ride

Claire Denis’ film Stars At Noon, based on the book by Denis Johnson, is a steamy potboiler that mixes the sensual sensibilities of the Zalman King films from the 80s mixed with a net-tightening thriller. I’ve been a fan of Denis’ films, which are far more experience-driven than narratively structured. That’s part of the appeal for me. I am transformed wherever into whoever and live out their truth as if I’ve mind-melded with them. Like The Peripheral’s Haptic Drift, I lose myself in a sea of lust, languidity, and fringe dangers. The loosely plotted film is more a vibe than a story that can leave many lingering questions. Here’s everything you need to know about Stars At Noon.

Trish(Andie McDowell’s daughter Margaret Qualley) is a composed, indulgent enigma who invokes both indignant outrage and against-better-judgment concern. She is a self-proclaimed journalist, although she is best described as a sex worker who trades her body for booze money and occasional favors from low-level Nicaraguan police officers. One evening while trolling for her next John, she meets Daniel, an Englishmen also claiming to be one thing but really is another. The two spark up a love affair that is as fiery as it is disastrous for both of them.

Trish is the type of character you want to hate, but you are drawn to her just as Joe Alwyn’s Daniel is. She is both the moth and the flame. She is delicate and vulnerable and white hot and destructive. All of that subtext simmers just below the cool surface until it bursts forth in sweaty sex scenes as only Denis can shoot. Denis follows Trish through everything from her daily life on the grift, using her gifts and guile to steal, trick, and sample her way through a life that you can tell she thinks is beneath her. On the other hand, Daniel comes with a neon sign shouting he’s a liar and trouble.

They find themselves in trouble, like heaping mounds of trouble. Daniel has an undercover policeman and the Costa Rican government after them, while Trish has ruffled all the wrong feathers and is now facing the blunt end of a very Central American stick with no way out of the country. Needing to get out of the country in a hurry, they risk a trip across the border to Costa Rica and, hopefully, on to Panama. Unfortunately, they have limited funds as all hers is black market currency, and his are tied to whatever fake organization he works for. Making matters worse, Trish’s passport was taken.

When a man(Benny Safdie) approaches her asking for help securing Daniel, she initially refuses because these people have become reliant on each other. In love with the idea of this desperate affair more than each other, it isn’t real, and the man knows he can capitalize on that eventually. The man who claims to be a consultant but wreaks of CIA spookiness later catches up to them on the border and not so thinly hints at Daniel’s real connections. He offers her safe passage home, but Daniel’s hold on her is too strong.

Why was Trish in trouble?

She came into the country and wrote one article about some hangings and a government coverup. Since then, she has drunk and f@#ked her way through the days and nights, maintaining friendships with a few key people until she pushed a little too hard. Her indifference is palpable, and her disdain which she wears as carefully conceived armor, makes her a target. Her whiteness and country of origin can only protect her so much. She just tangled with the wrong people one too many times. When she met Daniel, this problem worsened as he was pinpointed from the beginning. She probably would have found her way out of the country at some point if she hadn’t met Daniel. Because everyone wanted him, her association with him made her a weak point to be exploited until she broke.

Who was Daniel?

It isn’t explicitly stated, but some clues give away his true purpose in Nicaragua. He works for a rival organization to the CIA, which aims to change the political climate and cause instability. The Costa Ricans and CIA are not as enthusiastic about his employer’s politics and thus need him and those he works for to go away, maybe permanently.

No simple oil man has a gun stashed in his carry-on bag alongside his travel-sized toothbrush and deodorant. It isn’t important exactly who he works for. He is likely a gun for hire tasked with seeing whichever candidate is most advantageous to his employer installed in office. All of the political double talk is window dressing. Whether it be the 1980s when the novel was set, or today, motivations are always the same. Gain power and control, particularly when there are resources at stake.

Why did Trish betray Daniel in Stars At Noon?

The clues were everywhere. They are both bored opportunists who believe they know better than everyone else. Trish sold herself down the river long before she did Daniel. She is simply doing what she must to survive. They had a passionate, intoxicating love affair, but it was just a fling. It was never destined or designed to last longer than it did. That’s why it was so hot. She gave him up partly because he went so willingly and because it was the only way to get back home.

The CIA, the Costa Ricans, and the Nicaraguan police force collaborated to some extent, so when she turned over Daniel, she was no longer as dangerous to them. Her acquaintance(I use that term loosely) gave it back. He was ordered to hand it over along with an apology because the CIA had that kind of power. All of the talk of shadow organizations and hegemony are proved in this single second.

As with most of Denis’ films, Stars At Noon is a feeling more than anything else. It’s what a lived experience is in the truest sense. Denis wants you to get lost in the moment with these two. Color choices, musical interludes, wry glances, and too-slick lies all inform how these characters think and feel. It’s the very definition of moody.

These people are spontaneous, wild alley cats with more gumption than sense and enough self-confidence to know they can push their luck. In the end, Stars At Noon isn’t something to think about it is something to indulge in. It’s a film that dares you to remember that vacation affair you shouldn’t have had. It reminds you of how you felt when you were young; everything was possible and life-changing. Forget the story. It is only the bones from which the gorgeous, feverish pretending to be blasé flesh is hung. Sit back, put on some jazz, pour some good whiskey, and grab a smoke. It’s that kind of movie. Don’t sweat the storyline. There are far better ways to get heated.