‘Sight’ Movie Ending Explained & Synopsis: Did Dr. Wang Bring Back Maria’s Sight?

Had I known about Angel Studios’ agenda-based filmmaking before, I probably would have tried to get out of this assignment. But since I’m already here, let us not get into that and talk about Sight, a very by-the-book, exhaustingly boring biopic directed by Andrew Hyatt. The only thing this film has going in its favor is its story—about renowned eye doctor Ming Wang. Dr. Wang has pretty much revolutionized the field of optometry, and the man certainly deserves a better biopic than this thing that I am finding difficult to call cinema. What’s even worse is how shamelessly the film asks you to fund the ticket for the next person, when it’s supposed to be about humans showing kindness. Anyway, Sight should work for you if you’re into straightforward comfort food kind of biographies (I’m clearly not).

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens in the Movie?

Sight opens in Calcutta in 2006. I know I promised to not talk about anything but the film itself, but being someone who has lived in the city for their entire life, I can’t help but take offense at the misrepresentation here. A simple shot of Howrah Bridge would have been okay, but I guess the director was too lazy to do even that bit of research. Anyway, in the basest slum of Calcutta, a six-year-old girl named Kajal gets horribly tortured by this woman, who puts some sort of liquid in her eyes in order to take the little girl’s sight away. This is, of course, a known practice in India where children are blinded deliberately in order to earn more where they’re begging on the basis of sympathy. 

The film then moves to Nashville, where Dr. Ming Wang performs surgery and cures a patient who hadn’t had any eyesight for thirteen years. Dr. Wang is clearly the best in the business. He’s a workaholic who’s tirelessly trying to make things better for everyone. He’s loved by everyone, from his parents to his brother to his colleagues—especially his best friend cum sidekick, Dr. Misha Bartnovsky (Greg Kinnear is always great). It’s quite evident that the stories of Kajal and Dr. Wang are to be intertwined, and the film doesn’t take much time getting there. Kajol has been rescued by nuns, and one of them, an old woman named Marie, has brought her to the miracle doctor. However, upon realizing Kajal’s condition is pretty much irreversible, Dr. Wang refuses to do any kind of surgery on the little girl.

Why Does Dr. Wang Decide To Do The Surgery On Kajal? 

I’m not sure if the real Dr. Wang ever imagined he’d see a little girl running around the hallway, but that’s what happens here. It’s obviously a metaphor about how Kajal is still inside his mind, despite his refusal to operate on her. However, the strange incident led Dr. Wang to perform the surgery on Kajal. Sadly, Kajal’s eyes were way too damaged for any sort of repair, and the doctor fails to reverse the situation this time around.

What Happened To Dr. Wang In The Past?

Sight keeps going back and forth with its narrative, as we get to see Dr. Wang’s life back when he was in China. Coming from a family of doctors, Ming always had the intention to get into the medical profession. He had all the enthusiasm in the world to study hard for it. But things became very difficult for Ming due to the political unrest in China. The militants made him burn his books when they attacked the school and took the teacher away (and killed him afterwards, in all likelihood). The situation became so troublesome that Ming’s parents had no choice but to move to the US with Ming and his brother. Ming got to resume his studies in America and eventually became who he is today. 

Who Was Lili, and What Was Ming’s Connection With Her? 

This has to be the saddest aspect of the entire story (other than that of Kajal). Lili was the girl Ming was in love with back in China. Growing up together, they were irreparable. Lili’s father got blinded by an accident, which actually made Ming decide to take up optometry. Sadly, he never had the chance to cure Lili’s father, as the poor man was beaten to death by the militants while he was trying to save Lili and Ming. But that was not it. Very soon, Lili was also taken away by the militants, and that was the last time Ming saw her. He carried the heartbreak and never let Lili go, although the present timeline of the movie chooses to not go hard on the grief part. In fact, there’s a scene where Ming’s father asks him to come to terms with the past and look into the future. Of course, this is the most generic advice you could give to anyone, not that there’s anything wrong with it. 

Does Dr. Wang succeed in bringing back Maria’s sight?

Maria is another blind little girl who’s introduced in Sight. Like Kajal, her eyes are also damaged and in need of a miracle. But the man with the golden touch backs down due to his experience with Kajal and even refers her to another eye doctor. But then he gets to know that despite not getting her eyesight back, Kajal is actually doing pretty well and she’s even helping out other blind kids to deal with life. This motivates Dr. Wang to take a chance on Maria. What further proves to be effective is a cutting-edge new technology he comes up with, with the help of Misha. Sight really wouldn’t have had a point if Maria was not cured by Dr. Wang. I’m sure the real story is genuinely inspiring, but the representation of it on the screen is bland as hell. 

Sight ends with everything being fine, with Dr. Wang and the others having gathered in an event of the Wang Foundation. Kajal is also there, proving the doctor never forgot about her and truly cares about the child. Dr. Wang has also found a date in bartender Anle (who he later marries, as per the credits). There’s nothing more to say from my end here, other than all’s well that ends well.