‘Nowhere’ Ending Explained: How Mia and Noa Reaches Ireland

The latest survivor thriller on Netflix, Nowhere, ends on an ambiguous note. A boat finds Mia and Noa near Ireland and rescues them. But how they reached Ireland, how they survived, and what happened to Nico are some of the questions we need to explore further.

Directed by Albert Pinto, the Spanish thriller film features Tamar Novas as Nico and Anna Castillo as Mia. The film follows the story of Nico and Mia as they try to escape an authoritarian regime in Spain.

When the fascist government begins murdering women and children, Nico and his pregnant wife, Mia sneak into a storage container to escape the country. But when the containers are loaded on the ship, Nico and Mia are separated. The container holding Mia falls into the ocean, leaving her to fend for herself and her newborn, Noa.

1. What happens to Nico in ‘Nowhere’?

At the end of Nowhere, we see Mia and Noa being rescued by an Irish family. However, the film never explicitly confirms the fate of Nico, Mia’s husband, after he separated from his wife during the storm.

Nico is not seen in the film after the first ten minutes. Mia tries to contact him over the phone, and we hear his voice occasionally. The last time we hear Nico, he says he managed to move into another ship but was caught and shot. He also mentions that he is losing too much blood.

The film never confirms what happens to Nico or whether he dies or survives. But Nico’s last conversation with Mia indicates that he is dead, especially since we do not hear from him after that. Even if we consider he somehow survived the gunshot, it is almost impossible for him to find Mia.

Nico is also surrounded by people who want to kill him, so he won’t be able to escape them for long. In other words, it is safe to assume that he is dead.

2. How did the Irish boat find Mia and Noa?

Mia is not completely detached from civilization at any point in the film, considering she uses various phones to make calls in the film. She found cell phone reception in many places, which is not possible if she’s far away from people.

Once she opens the roof of her container, she even spots a low-flying airplane, indicating she is still in reach of people. She tries to send a signal by reflecting sunlight via a mirror, but it doesn’t reach the plane.

Later, she discovers that the seagulls were attracted to the fish remains that she left after eating them. After the container sinks and Mia and Noa shift to a small raft she made, she attracts seagulls by using the fish remains. This is what makes the Irish boat notice them.

3. Why Nico and Mia Wanted to Escape Spain

Nowhere is set in a world where a totalitarian regime rules Spain. In reality, Spain has had a history of an authoritarian government led by Franco. But Nowhere portrays a much more extreme form of fascism.

The regime in Spain faces a major shortage of food and resources and resorts to shooting pregnant women and children in order to decrease demand. Since Mia is pregnant, Nico and she decide to flee the country to save their lives.

Moreover, Mia and Nico’s first daughter, Uma, was taken by the regime while she was playing outside. Though whether Uma is dead or not is not confirmed, it is indicated that the regime killed her.

The regime is shown killing women and children by locking them up in a cage and shooting those trying to escape via storage containers. So, there is no reason why they would make an exception for Uma. Uma’s capture traumatizes Nico and Mia, further urging them to flee the country.

4. How does Mia reach Ireland?

Mia reaches Ireland purely by coincidence. Earlier in the movie, a broadcast mentions countries like Ireland, Iceland, and Norway are safe while governments worldwide are toppling. Nico further mentions that Ireland has stood against the authoritarian regime in Spain. So, Ireland is their safest route to escape.

But once they are in the storage container, there is no way they can control their route. Mia manages to reach Ireland by chance, which ends the film with an array of hope.

5. About Nowhere

Nowhere is a 2023 survival thriller film directed by Albert Pintó  from a screenplay by Ernest Riera, Miguel Ruz, Indiana Lista, Seanne Winslow, and Teresa Rosendoy which stars Anna Castillo alongside Tamar Novas. It follows the story of Mia (Castillo) who gets separated from her significant other (Novas) after a totalitarian government takes over their home country.

The film was made available to stream on Netflix beginning 29 September 2023, and received mixed reviews from critics.