The Instigators (2024) Ending Explained: Do Rory and Cobby get caught?

It’s been a while since we’ve seen anything as memorable as the chemistry between Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in 2016’s The Nice Guys. Doug Liman’s The Instigators (2024), co-written by Casey Affleck and Chuck Maclean, is right up there on the hilarious meter with its classic heist-gone-wrong formula. Starring Casey Affleck and Matt Damon as mismatched partners forced to flee after a robbery goes awry, this heist comedy delivers a riot of situational humor and razor-sharp banter that leaves you in splits, thanks to Damon and Affleck’s remarkable chemistry. The movie unfolds with an engaging narrative full of chaotic twists, making it a must-watch for anyone in search of a good comedy. It’s also worth noting that the film has exceptional rewatch value, making it one of those movies perfect for when you need a good laugh, much like The Nice Guys.

This article contains spoilers. Readers’ discretion is advised. 

The Instigators (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:

Why do Rory and Cobby go for the risky heist?

Rory (Matt Damon), a man of few words, is dealing with personal turmoil and suicidal tendencies, leading him to seek therapy from Dr. Donna Rivera (Hong Chau). While Rory wants to improve for the sake of his child and become more financially supportive, his inner conflicts, including constant pressure and guilt, often bring him to a crossroads. When we first meet him, he is in one of his sessions with Dr. Rivera, and he leaves, claiming that he has ‘almost’ tried everything to make his life work.

We also meet Cobby (Casey Affleck), an ex-con and a motor mouth who has been wasting his time and his life by drinking at his regular bar. Rory and Cobby find themselves in an unlikely partnership when Mr. Besegai (Michael Stuhlbarg), along with his associate Richie Dechico (Alfred Molina), ropes them into a plan that includes robbing the current Mayor Miccelli’s (Ron Perlman) election funds before he is supposedly re-elected. The money is going to be kept in a vault at the re-election party that Mayor Miccelli will be holding at The Wharf. Since all of the money is untraceable, Mr. Besegai wants Rory and Cobby to steal it without leaving any trace.

Now, Rory is an ex-marine, but a life of crime is not something he is accustomed to. So, when Scalvo (Jack Harlow), who will be accompanying the two on the job, explains the plan, we see Rory anxiously noting everything down like an amateur. He is also very particular about getting $32,480 out of the job because that’s the amount he would need to ensure a good education for his only son, from whom he is estranged.

How does the heist go awry?

On the day of the job, things go royally wrong when they reach the kitchen at The Wharf, and there are more employees than they had anticipated. They realize that Miccelli will not be re-elected as mayor and that the vault, which should be filled with money, is now almost empty. In a state of panic, Scalvo decides to improvise and loot the Mayor and his close associates (including bureaucrats and police officers) of their personal belongings. In the mishap, Scalvo gets shot dead as a bleeding Cobby runs out with Rory, stealing the pickup truck. They then hot-wire a car and escape through the streets of Boston.

Meanwhile, Mr. Besegai escapes the city to his quaint cabin somewhere in the woods, leaving the mess for Richie to fix. He hires Booch (Paul Walter Hauser) to track down Rory and Cobby. The Mayor, on the other hand, summons Frank Toomey (Ving Rhames) to find the robbers who have apparently taken a very important bracelet from him. When Rory, who still wants the money that Besegai promised him for the job, calls Richie and discloses his location, Richie sends Booch to neutralize the guys and retrieve the bracelet that Toomey is looking for.

While Rory and Cobby wait for help to arrive, they bond over why they have gotten themselves into this mess. We learn that Cobby was in jail because he covered for Scalvo on a job gone wrong and also lost his little brother later. Rory, who is not very open about his personal life, tells Cobby that he is doing the job for his son. When Booch arrives with a gun to get the bracelet, Cobby manages to help them escape by blowing up the house they were temporarily squatting in.

What do Cobby and Rory do to get the money?

With Cobby bleeding out from the gunshot wound, Rory decides to take a detour back to the city and reaches his therapist’s office, asking her to help them out. Dr. Rivera is initially reluctant, but when Rory promises her that he will turn himself into the police after he has done his last bit, she agrees to patch Cobby up. With Rivera as a fake hostage, Cobby and Rory go to her house, where she removes the bullet and fixes him up. Meanwhile, things are getting tense at the Mayor’s place as there is a political uprising to kick him out, but he refuses to leave because all the money he made from his corrupt activities while in office is in a safe for which he has forgotten the password.

Back at Dr. Rivera’s place, after Cobby starts feeling a little better, a chase sequence is initiated when she calls the cops on them. Rory is not ready to get caught just yet and decides to take her car and run away again. However, Dr. Rivera, who knows about Rory’s tendencies and now carries the guilt of calling the cops on them, decides to accompany them and offer therapy while they are being chased. The chase sequence leads them to Quincy—more specifically, to Cobby’s regular bar. As they wait for the bar owner, Mr. Kelly (André De Shields), to show up and help them out, Toomey arrives looking for the bracelet. He intimidates them and takes the bracelet and Dr. Rivera out of the bar as more units of officers arrive. However, instead of turning themselves in, Cobby pulls off his blowing-up stunt again, leaving the place unscathed.

As they decide what to do next, Rory is still adamant about getting the money he needs. He is even ready to rob a bank, but Cobby suggests they take another U-turn and head back to where everything started. He proposes that they should rob the mayor because he thinks the engravings on the bracelet are actually the code for a safe where all the money is. Acting on that hunch, they get to the mayor’s office disguised as firefighters and somehow reach the safe after the building’s occupants are evacuated because of a fire that they started.

The Instigators (2024) Movie Ending Explained: 

Do Rory and Cobby get caught?

However, they soon realize that robbing the safe in this instance would mean definite jail time, with red-level security ensuring they get caught or even killed on sight. Cobby opens the safe while the Mayor’s associate, Alan (Toby Jones), tells them that the safe contains evidence against the mayor, tracing back to every hack job he has done in the past 20 years. Meanwhile, a commotion caused by a sniper shot targeted at Rory erupts into chaos, leading the state to send in a negotiator who could help get Alan (whom they assume is Cobby and Rory’s hostage) out of the situation.

Also, Read – Here’s Where to Watch The Instigators Online

The state sends in Dr. Rivera as the negotiator, who sits down with Rory once again and asks him if what he did makes him feel better. Rory takes his time, but when he speaks, he says that after being almost shot twice today, he no longer wants to die. He is also ready to turn himself in now that Dr. Rivera has promised to take the money to his son. However, she suggests that it would be a bad idea because they are now marked as terrorists, and the state will kill them instead of hearing their plea.

She urges them to run away, and the two of them create a distraction by throwing the vault full of money out of the window as they casually drive off in a fire truck. They are happy to have escaped the situation, but soon, they are chased again by Toomey in his military vehicle.

Soon after, they find themselves behind bars, discussing what they will do. But as luck would have it, the new mayor, upon learning that their party would receive a whopping sum of 10 million dollars if they let Rory and Cobby go, decides to set them free. The ending of The Instigators (2024) finds Cobby on Dr. Rivera’s doorstep, hinting at a possible romantic connection between the two in the future. Rory, on the other hand, finds the courage to meet his son face-to-face by attending one of his hockey games and sitting in the stands watching him play.

Does The Instigators (2024) have a credit scene?

Yes. In a mid-credit scene, we see Mr. Besegai and Richie frozen to death as the local cops find their bodies, providing finality to their character arcs, which were somewhat left unfinished midway through the film.

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The Instigators (2024) Movie Trailer:

The Instigators (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
Cast: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones
The Instigators (2024) Movie Release Date: 2nd August 2024 | Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime/Mystery & Thriller | Runtime: 1h 41m

Where to watch The Instigators