Look Away ending explained: Look Away ending explained: Maria is gone forever

The 2018 Assaf Bernstein psychological horror film Look Away is a twisted story that silently slips in elements from the 1999 cult classic Fight Club. Sadly, the 2018 film wasn't as successful as the 1999 film. As of this writing, the film sits with just a 15% score on Rotten Tomatoes, so you have one reason to look away from it.

It is about a girl named Maria (India Eisley), who isn't really having a great life, and she is bullied by this boy named Mark. Interestingly, she finds a companion in a mirror in her bathroom. Initially, this terrifies her, but slowly, she becomes friends with this reflection dubbed Airam.

However, things go bad as both of them switch places, and Airam is now in the real world while Maria is stuck behind the mirror. Airam is basically everything Maria wants to be: bold and confident. Airam has now become a problem for Maria, so the only way to teach this alternate entity a lesson is to leave her alone; that's what Maria does, as she is nowhere to be found in the mirror when Airam looks in the mirror.

What happens to Airam in Look Away?

Airam and Maria switch places in Look Away. (Image via Zero Media)

First of all, all you need to know is that Airam is just the opposite of what Maria is. The name itself hints at that, as Airam is just Maria spelled backwards. Like in Fight Club, Airam is just everything Maria wants to be. To make this more clear, there's a dialogue by Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden that goes like this:

"All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look ... I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not."

Essentially, Airam has taken over Maria's life after they switched, and now that Maria has had enough of Airam, she leaves somewhere in the mirror world and is nowhere to be found.

Now Airam is stuck in the real world, and her fate is left unknown.

How did Airam bring Maria's wishes to life in Look Away?

Airam is just Maria spelled backwards in Look Away. (Image via Zero Media)

As soon as they switch places, Airam starts executing her way of life and takes over as Maria. In school, Airam is the exact opposite of Maria and is more confident and assertive. She even teaches this bully called Mark a lesson and embarrasses him in front of everyone by asserting that he has a crush on her (she is Maria for others), and that's why he behaves like this.

Not just that, Maria has a secret crush on her best friend's boyfriend, Sean (Harrison Gilbertson), and begins a relationship with him after seducing him. Additionally, she also takes what should be called revenge on her best friend, Lily, during a skating lesson where Lily has her skull fatally crushed.

Is Airam even real?

It is really hard to tell if Airam is a real personality or just in Maria's head. It is possible that it was always Maria, just that she has developed this new personality called Airam. Something that's at the core of Fight Club too.