The “Interstellar” Ending Explained, 10 Years Later: What Happened to Earth After Murph Solved the Equation — and Where Did Cooper Go Next?

Christopher Nolan's sci-fi film, starring Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway, hit theaters 10 years ago

Warning: Interstellar spoilers ahead!

A decade before winning Best Director at the 2024 Academy Awards for Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan released Interstellar.

The 2014 sci-fi drama features a stacked cast starring Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway, with additional performances from Matt Damon, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Caine and Mackenzie Foy.

Following Joseph “Coop” Cooper (McConaughey), a farmer and former NASA test pilot, the film takes place on Earth in 2067. By this time, humans anticipate extinction due to famine, blight and increasingly unbreathable air.

After Coop and his daughter, Murphy “Murph” Cooper (Foy), notice strange patterns in the particles swirling through the air, they discover a secret facility run by NASA scientist Dr. John Brand (Caine). There, Dr. Brand recruits Coop to pilot a spaceship in pursuit of another habitable planet, which involves getting him and his daughter, Amelia Brand (Hathaway), to pass through a wormhole near Saturn.

In a decision that becomes central to the film, Coop goes on the mission, hoping to save the future of the human race, especially the lives of his children. However, going on the trip means he has to leave them behind, and while he promises to return, Murph is devastated.

The rest of the film follows Coop and Amelia as they make their way through space. It also traces Murph’s life as she grows into an influential scientist, navigating trying times on Earth. But does Cooper find the wormhole and save the human race? Does he make it back to his children?

Here’s everything to know about the Interstellar ending, from Murph’s ghost to the Cooper family’s legacy.

How did Interstellar end?

After Coop and Amelia leave Earth, Murph becomes a scientist and helps Dr. Brand with his gravity manipulation equation; as an adult, she's still devoted to solving it so that she can reunite with her dad.

However, Dr. Brand ages considerably, and before he dies, he confesses to Murph that the equation was a farce designed to give humans a sense of hope, and it was never meant to work or bring her father home. Not only is Murph devastated by this news, but she feels betrayed and wonders if Coop knew. (He didn’t.)

Despite the letdown, Murph continues the work, determined to save the future of humanity and to see her father again. Meanwhile, Coop nearly dies in outer space when Dr. Mann (Damon) tries to kill him but is saved by Amelia.

After visiting two uninhabitable planets, Coop, Amelia and their robot colleague, TARS, head for a third and final planet to try again.

Making their way around the third planet, Coop falls into a black hole, which allows him to send the NASA site coordinates to his past self and, subsequently, Murph on Earth. With the new information, Murph solves the gravity manipulation problem that has been plaguing the team, allowing the human species to resist extinction and survive.

Who was Murph’s ghost?

At the beginning of the film, Murph believes she has a ghost who visits her bedroom, rattling the bookshelves that line her wall. In fact, Murph is the character who — throughout the entire film — maintains faith in the idea that there are life forces beyond that which humans can explain.

Murph is not afraid of her ghost, though. Instead, she’s positive that it is sending her messages.

Nearing the end of the film, Coop propels the spaceship toward a third planet and — along with the team’s robot, TARS — agrees to sacrifice himself, reducing the weight of the spacecraft so Amelia can reach the third planet.

When doing so, Cooper falls into a black hole that allows him to travel through time and space. In the four-dimensional hole, he realizes that he can use falling dust grains to send the NASA site coordinates to his past self, kickstarting the mission he is on.

With the help of TARS, Coop transmits information from space by manipulating the hands of Murph's wristwatch, which sits on her bookshelf. A now-adult Murph finds her watch and is able to solve the equation that allows the human race to escape extinction.

As it turns out, Murph’s ghost was her father all along.

Where do Cooper and Murph stand?

Despite Murph’s early feelings of betrayal when her father left Earth — and later facing even more devastation when Dr. Brand revealed that her dad and his crew were never meant to return — she and Cooper reunite.

When Cooper finally returns to Earth, he quickly makes his way to the hospital to see Murph. She's an elderly woman at this point; the film’s sense of pressure stems from Coop ending up on planets where each hour is equal to seven years on Earth, meaning Murph has aged far more rapidly than him.

The hospital is located on Cooper Station, a space station named after his daughter, as she saved humanity by using data communicated to her from her father.

Murph has not only led a successful life in science but also overcame the adversity of losing her father to space. In the process, she used the knowledge he gained from his travels to create her own legacy.

Because time passes much more quickly on Earth than on the planets Cooper was visiting, Murph is now the wise elder while her dad remains in mid-life. She urges him not to wait for her to die but to leave and find Amelia.

Now surrounded by her own family, Cooper says goodbye to his daughter once again, but this time, she is at peace.

What happened to Amelia?

After leaving Murph, Cooper departs on another TARS mission, aiming to reconnect with Amelia.

While viewers don’t see the pair together again, Amelia removes her helmet and breathes on a newly discovered, habitable planet.

Will there be an Interstellar sequel?

Nolan fans have long speculated that there would be a sequel to Interstellar. However, despite demand, Nolan nor Warner Brothers have officially announced a second film.

That said, the movie certainly ends on an ambiguous note, leaving it ripe for a follow-up.

When asked about “balancing Interstellar's intergalactic story with its more intimate, family story,” Nolan told NPR: “I think for me it's as much about contrast as balance. I really wanted to look at this moment in time that may be coming one day, where mankind has to reckon with its place in the wider universe. I love the idea of just looking over the shoulder of relatable characters.”