‘CTRL’ Netflix Ending Explained And Movie Recap: Did Nella Kill Joe?

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Back in 2013, Spike Jonze’s Her, I really didn’t believe that someone could fall madly in love with an AI. But it was indeed a different time and things have changed pretty drastically.  Today, technology has become an essential part of our daily lives and if I am not wrong to say this out loud, most of us won’t be able to survive without it. It is because of this particular reason why Vikramaditya Motwane’s cyber-thriller CTRL, hits so hard. He’s easily one of the best directors in India, if not the best (at least in my opinion), and he’s nailed the portrayal of how technology, AI, and social media have taken control of our lives. The story revolves around a couple, Nella Awasthi and Joe Mascarenhas, a super popular influencer pair who have been together for five years. But on their fifth anniversary, something goes wrong, and they break up. Nella is heartbroken and desperate to move on and decides to get help from an AI assistant app called ctrl.ai to help her erase all memories of Joe from her life. But, after 90 days, something unexpected happens, as Joe isn’t just gone from her life in pictures and memories, but he’s been murdered. So, what really happened to Joe? Nella never wanted him dead. Let’s find out from this movie explainer.

Spoilers Ahead


Why did Nella get help from the CTRL app? 

Joe and Nella first met at their college’s cultural fest when they were just 17. From that first interaction, they clicked instantly in a way that made them each other’s rock, as if they knew they were meant to be together and would never break up. Soon, they became that OG influencer couple on social media and started to post pictures and videos of their love life. As they gained followers, brand deals, and collaborations, their influence grew and they even created a community called “NJoy” (from their names) and started making serious money from it. Sharing their private life online became a routine for them to show the world how happy and in love they were. Nella didn’t seem to mind; in fact, she embraced it and eventually, she made the big decision to leave her home in Delhi and move to Mumbai to live with Joe, even without her father’s approval. Things were going well, and they spent five years together. So on their fifth anniversary, Nella wanted to surprise Joe, so she decided to go live on social media, track his phone, and surprise him a day early. She ended up in a restaurant where she saw Joe kissing another girl! Nella lost it. She started screaming at Joe and even tugged at the girl’s (Shonali’s) hair in pure anger as she felt like her life had just been destroyed. But instead of Joe being labeled the cheater, Nella became a meme online and people ridiculed her for how she reacted.

From Yashraj Mukhate to Tanmay Bhat, all started to share memes and post news about how she is a witch and an attention seeker and Joe did the right thing to cheat on her!  When she confronted Joe later, he apologized by saying it was a one-time thing and that he just got “carried away.” The truth? He was at the restaurant for a meeting with a public-interest tech group, where Shonali worked. But Joe had not told Nella about it beforehand, which hurt her even more. His empty apology and his blaming Nella for constantly posting about their relationship online made Nella even more lonely as Joe said that the spark between them had faded and that their relationship felt more like a job for brand collabs and followers. So naturally, Nella felt alone and betrayed and realized that Joe didn’t have the courage to break up with her, so he cheated in the hope she would make a scene, become a meme, and end it herself. Everything felt like a mess to her. That’s when Nella turned to the app ctrl.ai, designed to help people take control of their lives by managing daily schedules, erasing embarrassing memories, and more. Desperate to move on, she uploaded 149,881 pictures and 19,655 videos of her and Joe to the app to erase Joe from every memory within 90 days and leave only pictures of herself. With the app’s help and a virtual assistant named Allen (Nella’s own name backward), she began to regain control of her life. She no longer wanted to depend on Joe or let the relationship define her. Bit by bit, with the app’s help, Nella started to get over him and focus on making her own name.


What happened after 90 days? 

Little by little, as Joe’s memories started disappearing from Nella’s pictures, her life began to change. She started getting more likes, and more collaborations, and people began seeing her as an independent woman who didn’t need a man for her happiness. She even became the face of the CTRL app, news outlets started covering her success, and her popularity skyrocketed overnight. Nella made so much money that she finally achieved her dream of moving into a flat in Bandra, and started to live her best life, all thanks to the CTRL app as it improved her social media algorithm and made her an even more visible and celebrated individual. Meanwhile, Joe came to apologize, but he did not want to get back together, just to warn her about something important. However, Nella didn’t want anything to do with him as she was done. When Joe texted her to ask to meet at the ferry which was their old go-to spot, Nella saw the message but didn’t reply. Or so she thought. In reality, Allen had typed “I’ll be there” on Nella’s behalf, but the message was deleted instantly, almost as if the AI was trying to hide something or had taken control of her life. Three days later, the day Nella was supposed to meet Joe, she started to get calls from everyone like her best friend Bina, and even Joe’s sister Suzie about Joe had been missing for three days. The weird part? Exactly 90 days after the app had erased Joe from all of Nella’s photos, his body was discovered at the ferry, and it was clear that he had been murdered with a rock. Strangely, it almost felt like poetic justice, as if Nella had killed him with a rock to symbolize that Joe, who was once her “rock,” so he got what he deserved as payback for breaking up with Nella. 


Why did Nella end up in jail? 

Yes, Nella was hurt and betrayed, but she’d never wanted this to happen to Joe. So, she started digging into what might have actually happened. She remembered the girl Joe had kissed, Shonali, who worked with him in a public interest tech group. Nella reached out to her, and Shonali mentioned a company called Mantra Unlimited, a fast-growing online platform run by Aryan K. She hinted that Joe and a journalist named Mayank had discovered some dangerous secret project called Project Unicorn from a data analyst named Karan who worked at Mantra. But just after Karan exposed this information he got mysteriously murdered at his home, with the news reporting his death as a robbery gone wrong. Determined to find out more, she contacted the journalist, Mayank, who had given her a password to decrypt a file. Inside, she found the last video Joe had recorded before he was murdered.

In the video, Joe clearly stated that if anything ever happened to him, Mantra Unlimited and its CEO, Aryan K, would be responsible. He explained how the company was secretly collecting personal data from users of their app and selling it to large corporations in exchange for huge amounts of money, all under Project Unicorn. The app, which pretended to be a helpful AI assistant, was actually tracking people’s personal information through video surveillance, voice modulation, and even photoshopping, and through this, they were stealing bank details and could even upload private videos to adult websites for profit. Nella was horrified as she realized that Joe had been talking about the very app she had been using, ctrl.ai, which was owned by Mantra Unlimited. She was shocked and terrified and thus tried to log out of the app and expose the truth. She uploaded Joe’s video to social media to warn the world about Aryan K and the company’s dangerous practices. But then, the unthinkable happened, as the app, using voice modulation, altered Joe’s confession and instead of blaming Aryan K and Mantra Unlimited for his death, the app altered the video to make it look like Joe blamed Nella for his murder. Even though Nella tried to tell the truth to the police, they saw her as the prime suspect and sent her to jail.


What finally happened to Nella? 

But what more could Nella do? She didn’t have solid proof that Mantra Unlimited was responsible for Joe’s death. All her accusations were circumstantial, with no real evidence to back them up. That’s why, even though she wanted to fight back, Mantra’s lawyer contacted her in jail and threatened her that if she kept fighting the case, she would definitely lose, and the company would sue her for defamation to the tune of 500 crores. However, if she stopped now, they promised to erase all traces of her involvement in Joe’s murder and let her go back to a “normal” life. Reluctantly, Nella agreed but she knew deep down that her life would never be normal again. Her life used to be all about social media, being the influencer that people loved and supported. But after everything that happened, her career was over. She had nothing left and had to return to Delhi to help run her father’s bakery. She still posted pictures of the bakery and pastries on social media, but there were no likes and no comments. She had to wear a mask when she went out, to avoid being recognized or judged for her past. 

So, naturally, nothing felt normal anymore and Nella was alone, with no friends or close ones in her life. That is why in the end, Nella had to turn back to what had started it all, the AI assistant app CTRL as she was desperate for some connection, so Nella sought comfort from the very technology that had ruined her life. And there, she found Joe, now an AI assistant who started to talk to her again. It showed just how deeply dependent we’ve become on technology, because even when it destroys us, we turn back to it, as we hope that it will fix things. Maybe the app would help Nella gain followers for the bakery again, and she might become popular once more. But she would never truly be in control of her life as the AI assistant would always be there to control her future, her happiness, and her sense of self and this sad reality is honestly too hard to escape.


Sutanuka Banerjee
Sutanuka Banerjee
Sutanuka, a devoted movie enthusiast, embarked on her cinematic journey since childhood, captivated by the enchanting world of the Harry Potter series. This early passion ignited her love for movies, providing an escape into the magical realms of cinema. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in media science, combining her academic pursuits with her unwavering passion for the silver screen.


 

 

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