Just like Heaven Ending Explained: Was Elizabeth really dead?

Just Like Heaven is a sweet and emotional romantic fantasy movie that blends love, loss, and a little bit of the supernatural. It stars Reese Witherspoon as Elizabeth and Mark Ruffalo as David. Their connection isn’t just unexpected, it’s otherworldly.

In Just Like Heaven, Elizabeth is a hardworking emergency room doctor in San Francisco. She’s so dedicated to her job that she doesn’t have time for romance or even herself. One rainy night, she drives to her sister’s house for a blind date. But while driving, she crashes her car and ends up in a coma.

David is a lonely landscape architect still mourning the loss of his wife in Just Like Heaven. Looking for a fresh start, he finds an apartment to rent. It just so happens to be Elizabeth’s apartment, now empty because she’s in a coma. He doesn’t know that yet.

After moving in, David starts to see a woman who insists that he has broken into her home. It’s Elizabeth’s spirit, but she doesn’t know she’s in a coma. David thinks she’s a ghost or maybe a figment of his imagination.

Elizabeth and David's relationship in Just Like Heaven

At first, in Just Like Heaven, both of them argue a lot. Elizabeth is angry about David making a mess in her space, while David is scared and confused by her sudden appearances. He even changes the locks, thinking she’s real. But slowly, they realize she can walk through walls, can’t hold things, and is invisible to others.

Elizabeth becomes worried when her hand passes through a phone. That’s when it starts to hit her: she’s not quite “alive” in the usual sense. David, unsure of what’s happening, seeks help from his friend Jack, a therapist, and Daryl, a bookstore employee who believes in spirits.

The two start working together to find out who Elizabeth really is. They visit neighbors and even a dry cleaner. No one recognizes her. But then she spots a restaurant she had always wanted to visit. When they go there, a man collapses, and Elizabeth walks David through saving him.

That moment proves something big; Elizabeth still remembers how to be a doctor. She may not remember her full past, but her instincts are intact. They go to a hospital where a doctor, Fran, recognizes Elizabeth’s photo. That’s when everything clicks: Elizabeth is alive but in a coma.

They visit her hospital room. David touches Elizabeth’s hand, and she feels it even while unconscious. This confirms she’s still connected to her body. Elizabeth learns about her accident and that she’s been in a coma ever since.

The DNR decision

Here’s the heartbreaking part: Elizabeth had signed a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. Her sister Abby is about to let the hospital take her off life support. David is shocked and tries to stop her, but she doesn’t believe he’s communicating with Elizabeth’s spirit.

David spends one last night with Elizabeth’s spirit in the apartment. They share meaningful moments. But the next morning, he decides to do something crazy; he’s going to steal her body from the hospital to save her.

With the help of Jack, they sneak Elizabeth’s body out and take her to a garden David had designed. It’s the same garden Elizabeth once saw in a dream while in her coma. David confesses his love as her breathing begins to fail.

Just as it seems she’s slipping away forever, her heartbeat returns. Elizabeth wakes up! She remembers her sister, the hospital, but sadly, not David.

Later, Elizabeth moves back into her apartment. She goes to the rooftop, where she finds a beautiful garden David created, just like in her dream. He’s waiting there. When she asks for her spare key back, their hands touch, and suddenly, she remembers everything. Overjoyed, they kiss. She’s alive, he’s found love again, and everything feels right.

Just Like Heaven is more than a love story. It’s about second chances, spiritual connections, and how love can break all rules, even those between life and death. Elizabeth and David weren’t just a couple; they were destined to meet.

In the end, Just Like Heaven tells us that some bonds are too powerful to be broken, not even by death or time. It’s a movie that blends heartfelt emotions with just enough fantasy to remind us that love really can be magic.