The Ending Of The Irishman Explained

In that final scene, the camera drifts away. Frank Sheeran asks the priest to leave the door open as he leaves, after a promise to come visit again after Christmas. There's no signs of the holiday in Sheeran's plain, undecorated room, but as the priest leaves, he does leave the door ajar. 

That's proved surprisingly divisive, with a number of theories being bounced around about just what that open door means. For some (via Collider), it hearkened back to earlier scenes where Jimmy Hoffa and Frank Sheeran shared a hotel room, and Hoffa left the door open just a bit. An escape route? To keep from feeling contained? A little of both? Perhaps, but Sheeran leaving his door open in the same way is a callback to his friend. 

It's also perhaps an invitation for someone to come in, to talk to him, to acknowledge the fact that he's still there, that he has stories to tell, and confessions to make.  If Hoffa left his door open so he didn't feel trapped, maybe Sheeran did, too. And Sheeran? He's trapped by his own past, his own memories, his own mistakes, and his own regret, knowing that it's not going to be long before it's his own death that walks through that door.

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