The Virtuoso Plot Synopsis
The Virtuoso’s plot revolves around a mysterious assassin, known simply as The Virtuoso. Haunted by “collateral damage” in an earlier mission, Virtuoso is given a new mission by his mentor; to hunt down and kill a rogue hitman. However, there’s a catch.
All our protagonist is given is a time and location; 5pm at a diner on the outskirts of a sleepy town. When he arrives, Virtuoso immediately finds himself with several different suspects and very little else to work with. From here, he begins methodically working out who everyone is.
Who is the real target?
The real target is actually The Virtuoso himself. The big twist revealed late on is that The Mentor orchestrated all of this from the beginning. He was concerned that Virtuoso would no longer be a “good soldier” (a throwback to his earlier speech in the movie) and thought the man was going soft.
The Mentor sent Virtuoso off on this dead-end investigation – one that’s to be his last. He hired Blanca Rios (aka. Dee) to go after him along with several other hitmen.
At the diner, the “suspects” were in fact hitmen too but Blanca (going by the alias of The Waitress at this point) called off the other hitmen. She wanted to pursue him personally.
What does White Rivers mean? Who is it referencing?
Throughout the movie, The Virtuoso asks numerous people what White Rivers means. Well, it actually means nothing – at least in the context of the movie. In Spanish, White Rivers translates to Blanca Rios*, which could well be the reason it was given as a code word for our Virtuoso. A fun little Easter egg of sorts.
(*Thanks Ron for the extra info in the comments!)
How does The Virtuoso end?
After making love to Dee, The Virtuoso seizes an opportunity to check the waitress’ passport. There, he discovers her true name.
Blanca pulls a gun on him while he’s in bed. She admits to killing the real waitress and the chef at the diner, stuffing them in the basement. She waited for the clock to turn 5pm, knowing that the Virtuoso would show up.
The Mentor wanted The Virtuoso to be happy and content before he dies; a symbol that the old man has some affection for him. This is why she made love to him and grew close to the man.
Facing the inevitable, Virtuoso asks her to check the trunk of his car. Blanca kills Virtuoso and heads out to the car. There, she finds dog food which she uses to feed the dog up at Virtuoso’s secluded cabin.
She thinks twice about killing the mutt and instead takes Virtuoso’s place as The Mentor’s golden employee. She narrates her journey and prepares to leave. As she does, her phone buzzes with another job.
Is Blanca on a path of redemption?
The film essentially ends where it began, with the cycle continuing anew with Blanca Rios taking The Virtuoso’s place. The merciful way Blanca refuses to kill The Virtuoso’s dog hints that there are glimmers of humanity still left with her. Will she end up being a target herself when The Mentor is done with her? We’re left to ponder this as the final credits roll.
To read our full thoughts on this movie, check out our spoiler-free review HERE!)
Thanks for reading our Ending Explained article! What did you think of The Virtuoso’s ending? Did you guess the ending? Let us know in the comments below!
The movie reminded me of Tarkovsky films. It is meant for mature film buffs.
We should concentrate more on the content than the form.
This film has a lot of symbolism. Through our journey in life, we learn, and there is a point when we should be wise enough not to commit certain mistakes. However, despite being well aware of those risks and having avoided them many times, we get sometimes relaxed and disregard the obvious, voluntarily walking into big trouble without realizing that we are inside the dragon den. Usually is a disguised temptation that lures us into doing something that many times we had successfully avoided.
After she dry fired and didn’t rack the gun to chamber another bullet, she fired the kill shot which made a loud noise- even though the gun had a SILENCER !!
I can’t believe I wasted two hours of my life on this movie! I agree with everyone who said: DON’T WASTE your TIME! I also agree with the person who said it was so slow that it was hard to stay interested. I only watched it bc it had some big names. I knew it was going to be her all along, and he had gone through her purse but didn’t see her passport? Whatev. One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. SMH.
Movie ending just sucks. Don’t waste your time
So glad to hear these explanations because the movie was so slow it was hard to stay interested however, being human we want to know the plot twist. My opinion is this was probably ( Next to ” The Crying Game”) the actual worst movie I have ever seen. Do NOT waste your time!!
Another movie error, virtuouso leaves in his sedan to do the hit (the one that leads to woman burning) and returns in his SUV.
Nice detail: he gave Blanca the same choice he gave the battered woman from the gas station and ultimately the same choice he faced – walk away and start somewhere else or stay in the painful predicament. The woman from the gas station said she had nowhere to go but Blanca said Italy, so she had a choice, which he points out when he shows Blanca the bullet and tells her it’s her choice. I think he remembered the story from Vietnam and the soldier who said he hears the cries forever and he knew he would see the burning woman forever so he chose to die.
Movie should had her open the trunk and boom!
3 Days of the Condor Mashup but not as good with the narrative throughout the film.
The coffee pot was left at the table next long shot from Blanca it was off the table. Minor movie mistake.
You all missed one thing. After the gun dry fired, she would have had to RACK IT BACK AGAIN to fire it! She didn’t. The gun should not have gone off.
I think that the dog is a test sent by the mentor to see if they’ve gone soft. Blanca is next since she let the dog live.
One thing in the plot that doesn’t make sense: what did the other hit men listen to Blanca and backed off?
Why did he treat women? The writer is really professional
@Shawn As you correctly noticed, Virtuoso knew all along that he is the target. He knew he HAD gone soft, so i bet he figured that his last job might be coming soon. Makes me think that he knew that already at the diner, dont know if he figured or not the waitress and maybe decided to give whole “relationship” thing a wild shot anyway? So yeah plot twist for audience, not protagonist itself. Movie imo mediocre but Abbies chest saved the day. Was close tho :D
Why does every ending synopsis, overlook the fact he figured her out and had the bullet that would have been chambered OUT of the gun she used holding the bullet himself ( imho taking them all out she would feel the weight difference), she dry fired because of this and HE gave HER the choice which he didn’t have to, NOT to kill him but get out the life and run to Italy?
He KNEW the gun would dry fire, he had the bullet, he also was shown purposely being well versed hand to hand…HE could have over powered her at any moment after extracting the info letting her speak….before she could dry fire and rack another round…
So the ending is HE really was tortured and HE wanted to die but gave her a chance at another life with him. She didn’t TAKE his spot HE GAVE it to her……she wasn’t the Virtuoso, he still was as she made that huge mistake he could have capilized on if he so chose, he chose to die or having a connection with her HE LET her have a choice…this is HUGE part of the ending…
After that as she contemplated how she actually failed and got let off the hook, her own doubt about the life she leads crept in as she could not kill his dog….most likely regretting her decision HE gave her…..then as we all do on Monday she simply answers the call for another job….she is destined to be next on the list….
Also the Mentor was scared as hell because he knew Anson is that good….he knew it was a huge risk..he was right he would have come back and killed him as well had The Virtuoso not decided he would rather be dead than continue the life…..
Hey Ron, that’s a great point. I’ll add that into the article, thanks for the heads up – and thanks for reading too!
-Greg W
very good … you could have mentioned that Blanca Rios is spanish for White River