Mile 22 ending explained: Noor had different plans

The 2018 Peter Berg film, Mile 22, didn't wholly win over the hearts of the audience, but the plot sure was a brain-teaser. The twisted ending of the movie left us awestruck, at how brilliantly things were planned. Mark Wahlberg stars as CIA Officer James Silva and Iko Uwais plays the rogue police officer, Li Noor, who is trying to get out of Indocarr, a fictional country.

They become rivals at the end of the film, when it is revealed that Noor was playing everyone and is not who he seems. However, by the time the film's characters realize this, it is already too late and Noor has fooled them. Now it is time for everybody to die. It turns out that one mistake that Silva's team made is responsible for the events we see at the film's end.

Noor was a triple agent in Mile 22

Iko Uwais [R] plays Li Noor in Mile 22. (Image via STXfilms)

The story focuses on one mission — to give Li Noor safe passage in exchange of sensitive information he possesses about a nuclear element, which can be weaponized and lead to nationwide, or perhaps, global peril.

As the story of Mile 22 advances, Noor admits that he is doing all this to expose the corrupt government of Indocarr, and that his family died as an outcome. However, this appears to be a cooked-up account, especially after watching the film's end. Following problems, he finally makes it to the plane with the help of Silva.

Noor's reality comes in light when he utters this dialogue,

"Say hello to your mother for me."

He then smiles and boards the plane. This leaves Silva scratching his head. The reference here is James Bishop (John Malkovich), who is the supervisor of Silva's team, and is addressed as "Mother."

Bishop, who is surveilling Noor's vitals, notices his heart rate rising. At first, he assumes that it might be because he doesn't like planes. However, it hits Bishop that Noor isn't a double agent but a triple agent working for the Russians.

They cannot do anything about the fact, as in the next few moments he and his team are killed by a team of soldiers who infiltrated the building while they were deducing all of this about Noor.

Mile 22's beginning features a death that leads to the film's bloody end

The film sets up a sequel but nothing has been announced (Image via STXfilms)

At the start of Mile 22, we see Silva's team infiltrating a house, where they suspect the nuclear material is stored. They easily overpower the enemies in the house, while Silva keeps an overwatch from the outside. The Mother is keeping an overwatch on all of them, by the way.

Presently, the house is clear and the enemies are down. Only one of them remains, and Silva stands before this injured guy. He speaks something in Russian and Silva kills him. It turns out that the guy was the son of a high-ranking government official in Russia.

All of this was a scheme devised by this official to exact revenge on the Mother, and Li Noor was the engine to set things in motion.