Rust Ending Explained: Is Harland Rust Dead?

Joel Souza’s Western period film, ‘Rust’, begins with an accidental murder. The culprit in question is a 13-year-old boy named Lucas Hollinger, who lives on a farm with his younger brother. Their parents have died within the span of a year, and now, the brothers only have each other. Lucas tries to protect his sibling from the bullies and whatnot, but he, too, is a child and can only do so much. One morning, he notices a wolf that has been circling their house for a while. He chases after the animal with his father’s gun, but when he shoots, the bullet ends up hitting the man who had a grudge with him.

It is the 1880s, so a boy found guilty of shooting a man to death is sent to the gallows to be hanged. Because there is no one to fight on his behalf, young Lucas resigns to his fate, but then, a man walks into the station, kills an officer, and takes Lucas with him. This man, Harland Rust, turns out to be Lucas’ maternal grandfather, who is also an infamous outlaw. Now that both of them are running from the law, a bond develops between them. Meanwhile, they are chased down by Sheriff Wood Helm, who is a great shot as well as a man of honor.

The same, however, cannot be said about Fenton “Preacher” Lang, a bounty hunter who has his eyes set on the sinners, catching whom is about more than just money to him. The paths of all the parties converge, each trying to serve their purpose. For Rust, it is about saving his grandson, while the sheriff and the bounty hunter seem to have their own agenda. One thing that becomes clear in the end is that not everyone is going to come out of this conflict alive. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Does Rust Die Before He is Hanged?

Harland Rust stayed away from his family all these years, but when he heard that his young grandson was going to be killed by the law, he decided to intervene. He wasn’t particularly attached to Lucas, but he did feel that he owed it to his dead daughter to take care of his son, or at least, to keep him alive. By the end of the journey, Rust had taken quite a few hits, and by now, he had also grown to love and care for his grandson more than he had expected. So, when the bounty hunter and the sheriff stand in their path, he knows exactly what he must do. Having already suffered a bullet wound, Rust knows that he just needs to buy enough time for Lucas to get to New Mexico, where everything has been arranged for him to begin his new life away from all the violence and crime that he has been forced to witness so far.

However, he knows the bounty hunter will not give his grandson that chance. So, when the opportunity presents itself, he kills Fenton Lang. Then, he turns towards the sheriff and discovers that it is Wood Helm, who has a reputation as a good and honourable man. So, he makes a deal: he will go willingly with the sheriff, only if his grandson is allowed to run away and not be chased. Because the sheriff has a son of his own who was on his deathbed when he left the house, he can understand Rust’s desire to save Lucas at the cost of his own life. He also knows that Lucas shouldn’t have received a death sentence for a clear mistake, and all things considered, he is not really a bad kid. So, it makes sense that he should get a second chance to start his life anew. He allows the boy to run away while he takes the wounded grandfather back to town.

Rust is patched up for execution, but the man has taken enough hits by now and has already bled to the point that there is little life left in him. By the time he is brought to the point of hanging, his life has slipped out of him. The executioner notices that he has passed away, which means that there is no point in hanging him now. Still, the man in charge of the execution believes that they must give the crowd what they want. Rust is a well-known outlaw who committed many crimes and was never held accountable for them. The crowd standing in front of them is waiting for that punishment to finally be inflicted on him, and if they don’t give the audience that, it could turn into a riot. So, even after the man has died, they still go forward with the hanging, just to show the public that they have brought the outlaw to justice.

Why Does Lucas Call Himself Rust? What Happens to Him and His Brother?

When both his parents died, Lucas Hollinger believed that he had no one in the world except his brother. Because he was the elder one, he had to protect his brother, but there was no one who could do the same for him. That is, until Harland Rust comes along. At first, Lucas doesn’t like or trust him, but over time, he realises that there is a heart full of love and compassion beneath his hard exterior, which he keeps for the world as a means of survival. Through Rust, he learns more about his mother, his grandmother, and where he comes from. Despite everything, he finds solidarity with Rust. In the end, when Rust gives himself up to save Lucas, the boy sees the sacrifice the old man is making to ensure that he remains free and is reunited with his brother. So, he does as he is asked.

The plan had been to get Lucas to New Mexico, where one of Rust’s associates would take him to the border. There, Rust’s sister and Lucas’ grandaunt has already arranged for him and his brother to be taken somewhere safe, where they wouldn’t be chased by the law or any other bad people. At first, Lucas doesn’t want to leave Rust alone, especially because he knows what fate awaits his grandfather due to his reputation as an outlaw and a criminal. However, he has no other choice, especially if he wants to see his younger brother again. Still, he cannot forget all Rust has done for him. Moreover, in the days spent with his grandfather, Lucas has changed drastically, as he has learned a lot and seen and done quite a few things himself. So, by the time he reaches New Mexico, he can see that the life he wanted to return to does not exist anymore. He himself is not the same boy he was before he killed a man by accident and went to prison for it.

This is why, when the time comes to introduce himself to his grandfather’s associate, he calls himself Lucas Rust and not Lucas Hollinger. The use of his maternal surname shows his reverence for his grandfather, whom he owes a debt for saving his life. At the same time, it also marks his love and connection with the old man who became a father figure to him over the past few weeks. As planned, he is taken to the border, where he meets his great-aunt, who reunites him with his brother. Meanwhile, the sheriff tells other officers that Lucas tried to run away and fell off a cliff, which means that he is dead in the eyes of the law and will not have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder and wondering if someone will come for him and disrupt his life again.

What Happens to the Sheriff’s Wife and Son?

Before Sheriff Wood Helm is called in to chase after Harland Rust and Lucas Hollinger, he is at his home dealing with the fact that his son is going to die soon. He is being consumed by a disease for which there is no cure, and the realisation that he will lose his son soon has already hit him so hard that he cannot even bear to look at the boy and his mother, who is constantly by his side, trying to nurse him back to health. By the time he leaves town to chase after the outlaw, his marriage has already fallen apart. His wife hates him for not being there for their son and drowning himself in work while their boy is dying right in front of their eyes. She wishes him to be the support she and their son need, but the sheriff doesn’t seem to be mentally or psychologically equipped for it.

In the end, when he catches up with Rust and Lucas, he sees that there is more to their relationship than it appeared initially. They aren’t just two outlaws who have banded together, but are grandfather and grandson. He is impressed by Rust’s sacrifice to save Lucas, which is why he lets the boy and then makes up a story about his death to spare him the trouble. He brings Rust back to town for execution, but seeing him and Lucas reminds him of his son and how he had been avoiding the heartbreak Rust so readily took upon himself. When he returns home, it is with the intent to do better by his family, but it turns out to have been too late.

When the sheriff goes back home, he finds it empty. His wife and son are gone, and so is some of their furniture, especially his son’s bed. This suggests that during the time he spent away from home, his son died, and his wife decided that she did not want to be with him anymore. So, she buried their child and left without waiting for him to come back and fix things. This is the price that he has to pay, courtesy of his own failings towards his loved ones. As he watches Rust being taken to the noose, he sits alone in his house and wonders about the things that are really important to him and how he has let the same slip away from his grasp so easily.