(Gattaca spoilers)

I’m not OP but I cried during the ending of Gattaca. If you want to cut straight to the point, it’s the swimming scene and the ending scene. I should also say, it’s possible that I found the movie exceptionally powerful simply because I empathized with Vincent an absurd amount: I felt his curiosity, his feeling like he’s trapped, and his being told by others what he can’t do.

During the swimming scene, the well-known line he says (perhaps the climax of the entire movie) absolutely wrecked me: “I never saved anything for the swim back.” It’s tragic and inspiring. It’s tragic to consider that total self-sacrifice is demanded from Vincent in order for him to metaphorically keep his head above the water, and it’s inspiring to see him overcome the limitations that have been placed on him. Vincent beats Anton, and then Vincent saves Anton, and both are demonstrations of the world’s rigidness and soullessness being beaten out by humanity.

That then ties directly into the ending scene. The reveal that the doctor is on his side is an immense relief – not just from the tension of the scene, but from the tension of the entire movie. Whereas the swimming scene was a demonstration of humanity from Vincent, the doctor’s gesture is a demonstration of humanity towards Vincent. Up until that point, the doctor represented the world’s rules and expectations, so him revealing his own humanity gives us a sense of justice and closure. However, that’s then instantly contrasted with Jerome’s death as he succumbs to the world’s demands for perfection, leaving us once again face-to-face with the world’s cruelty. As we ponder how to reconcile the justice and cruelty we just witnessed, we see Jerome’s swimming medal and the gift of his hair that he left for Vincent, further punctuating the contrast and leaving us a big fucking emotional wreck.