What’s up with the ending to Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore?

The film spends the whole time establishing her toxic and codependent relationship with men, how she keeps falling in with these terrible men as she feels she can’t live without them, and it seems like she’s finally breaking this dependency with David who’s shown his true colors by now. Then in the diner, he basically throws a temper tantrum as if he’s entitled to her now that he’s acting nice, as Alice herself highlights, “Just because you have good manners doesn’t mean I suddenly turn into Dale Evans.”

So great, this is our main character finally learning from her relationships and breaking the toxic cycle that’s followed her throughout the film…. except she then immediately relents with a kiss as soon as he says he’ll give up his ranch.

So what exactly was this ending going for here? Was it meant to be happy? Because I felt like I was watching this woman resign herself to a relationship just as unhappy as the one she was in at the start. Does the film want us to believe David? Seemingly so yet nothing about David’s behavior really suggests he’ll be different from the previous two men. I suppose we’re to believe he’s different because he made a nice gesture? That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a nice man though in my eyes, this could just as well mean that he’s willing to go to that extra length to possess her.

And if the ending was meant to be purposely dismaying, then it really did not get that across well. This was a film that I thoroughly enjoyed, but this ending honestly just left me perplexed. Anyone here who’s seen the film have any thoughts?