Basic Instinct ending explained in detail: Here's what we have to say upon rewatching the classic after decades

Basic Instinct is a film in the erotic thriller genre, and it was released back in 1992. This Paul Verhoeven-directed film was written by Joe Eszterhas, while Mario Kassar and Alan Marshall are the producers. Here's the official synopsis:

Catherine, a novelist with an insatiable s*xual appetite, becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered – a crime she had described in her latest story.

The film stars Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas, and George Dzundza, among others. So, let's take a look at its ending and what happens to the main characters.

What is the plot of Basic Instinct?

Basic Instinct revolves around Catherine Tramell (played by Sharon Stone), who is a successful writer in San Francisco. She becomes the main suspect after the murder of her boyfriend. Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) takes charge as an investigator of the case and gets into a relationship with Catherine.

How does Basic Instinct end?

Towards the end of Basic Instinct, we see Nick and Catherine parting ways. But she shows up at his house and tells him that anyone she loved ended up dying. They end up making love, and surprisingly, Nick does not die. Subsequently, the two talk about kids, and Catherine is vocal about her disinterest in kids. She moves her hand towards the end to look for something. The audience anticipates something sinister when suddenly she holds Nick, and the two share a kiss. But the viewers are reminded that an icepick was put under the bed. This reveals that Catherine actually loves Nick otherwise, he would be stabbed to death.

But the visual of an icepick works as a strong reminder that danger will continue to lurk around him and that anything can happen in the future. The two met unexpectedly during an investigation and slowly fell for one another. While Nick might seem like a victim, his actions don't label him as such. He ends up r*ping Beth Garner, his psychiatrist. Nick had also killed two people and got away with it. Catherine, on the other hand, is manipulative and a killer. But we also see her showing her vulnerable side on several occasions.

Basic Instinct ends without answering the question: Did Catherine kill Nick? There is a strong possibility that she does because Catherine declines to change the ending of her book about a detective falling in love with someone. She insists that someone needs to die in her stories. The sequel also doesn't feature or mention the character, so we can assume that the character does not survive.

If you watch the film several years after its original release, you might have mixed feelings about certain things. The portrayal of Catherine is one of the strong points of the overall narrative. But the film is mostly remembered for its iconic leg cross scene, which has a not-so-fun backstory of the director coercing Stone to perform it.

While the film ends on an open note, there are certain fan theories on the internet that label Beth Gardner as the actual killer.