Coherence Almost Had A Different And Much Nicer Ending
This post contains spoilers for "Coherence."
One night, during the passing of Miller's comet, reality ends up branching into little dimensions. This inexplicable phenomenon creates various versions of eight friends, whose interconnected lives are altered forever with the haphazard merging of these pocket-realities. Before long, chaos descends: car windows are smashed and ominous notes wind up near the front door, all while the confused group desperately attempts to hold on to their identities. While these events form the core of James Ward Byrkit's mind-bogglingly brilliant "Coherence," the film's ending makes it clear that this is a story about one specific person in the group: Emily (Emily Foxler). After Emily goes through the harrowing experience of wandering through every pocket-reality towards the end, she stumbles upon one where she can finally be happy. However, this chain of actions demands a heavy price.
The catalyst for the confusing events in "Coherence" is a power cut, which prompts the group to leave the primary house and wander, initiating the interchange of characters from various realities. After Emily (let's call her Emily Prime) finds a reality where the power cut never happened, she deduces that this is her ticket to normalcy — a life where she can be happy with her boyfriend Kevin (Maury Sterling). To ensure this, Emily Prime has to kill her double, and she almost succeeds, until Kevin receives a call from the double right in front of Emily Prime. Although the credits roll right at this point, it is clear that the current reality houses two Emilys, creating an irreversible temporal incoherence that will disrupt the lives of everyone involved.
Byrkit spoke to Yahoo! News about this bleak ending in 2014, explaining that he originally intended for Emily's story to have a more optimistic conclusion. However, he ultimately went with something more uncomfortably honest.
Actions have major consequences in Coherence
The fact that Emily is the focal point of "Coherence" becomes clear on a second viewing, where every event is meant to be filtered through the context of her arc. Byrkit explained that an initial version of the ending saw Emily Prime and Kevin (who is not Kevin Prime) end up together and get a chance at happiness. In the end, though, he felt that Emily's vicious actions towards her double didn't justify such an idealistic conclusion:
"We always knew it was Emily's story, and that we wanted to have an emerging hero story. [...] And so we always knew Emily had to go through something extraordinary, and make some big choices. And there was one version that we thought she and Kevin were going to end up with each other — she was going to end up with the wrong person, and they had to make a choice to be happy about it, and kind of look at each other go, 'That's...okay?' But then this other version just seemed much more honest. If you're going to behave that way and make those very violent choices, it's not going to wrap up nicely for you."
The Emily double who returns offscreen to re-stake her claim on her reality has every right to do so, and Emily Prime's violence towards her underlines her desperation to belong, no matter the cost. Although the double might have overlapping experiences with Emily Prime, they are distinctly different, both in their identity and their relationship with Kevin in the reality untouched by the comet. To willingly stifle a version of yourself and take their place in a reality you do not belong to is bound to have repercussions. The comet that seemed like a blessing becomes a curse for those unable to reconcile with their own demons.