By now, you've had 15 years to see The Notebook, so it's not really a spoiler to reveal that Noah and Allie both die in the end. At least, they do in the original version of the film—but a slightly altered version is now available on Netflix U.K. that cuts a crucial part of the ending, making the film that much less poignant, and leaving viewers outraged at the streaming service's audacity in rewriting (cinematic) history.
To recap: While The Notebook is often remembered as a sweet love story between Ryan Gosling's Noah and Rachel McAdams's Allie, those scenes are merely flashbacks, as a much older Noah (James Garner) retells their love story to Allie (Gena Rowlands), now suffering from dementia, every day in their nursing home. At the end of the movie, Allie has a moment of clarity and is able to remember Noah and their story. "Do you think our love could take us away together?" she asks Noah, who replies, "I think our love can do anything we want it to do." He climbs into bed with her, they exchange their final goodbyes, and the next morning, a nurse comes in to find that they've both passed away in their sleep.
In the revised version currently airing on Netflix U.K., however, the nurse's discovery has been cut, so the movie ends with Noah whispering, "Bye, I'll be seeing you," making it unclear whether he and Allie did die at the same time like they wanted to, or if they simply woke up the next morning, with Allie's memory gone and Noah tasked with rereading their love story to her out of the titular notebook yet again.
Fans of the pure, bittersweet ending were understandably outraged, with some even threatening to cancel their Netflix subscriptions over the unwanted tweak.
Emails @netflix to cancel my mofo’n subscription!You are NOT about to just ruin my favorite movie like that ☝?! After years of being a loyal Netflix customer I have been left no option but to fully commit to @PrimeVideo#netflixruinedthenotebook#TheNotebook#Netflix @NetflixFilm
— PlainJane_F (@DaOrigPlainJane) February 25, 2019
I'm not big into romantic movies but I have seen #thenotebook and @netflix what you did wasnt ok that ending was beautiful it's all I can ever hope for in my marriage so when I finally eat dirt I can go with the one I love dont you dare take that away! Put it back!
— Huggydaddy (@huggydaddy) February 25, 2019
Its shocking….! Give us back our gut wrenching tears!!!!!!! @NetflixUK #thenotebook
— Michelle Frost (@chelliey) February 25, 2019
Why has @NetflixUK changed the ending to The Notebook!? ? I was going to watch it but now I’m going to need to buy it instead ?
— Eliza ✨ (@elizadarlings) February 25, 2019
Just watched The Notebook on Netflix and they have cut the ending! What in the world, why would you cut a scene in which the nurse finds the two lovers have passed away in their sleep? What is going on, what have you done, what was wrong with that scene?!?! I’m outraged.
— MariaLattila (@marialattila) July 1, 2018
Fuming that Netflix have cut out the ending of the Notebook ? day ruined
— Aimee (@aimeecurry_) January 8, 2019
If you want to watch The Notebook on @NetflixUK, don’t. They cut the ending. #thenotebook #netflix #itsthereasonyouwatchthenotebook #ffs pic.twitter.com/PPZQQaOv7R
— Sophie Ashwood (@sophieashwood) January 13, 2019
Expect a renewal in this outrage to come on or around March 15, when The Notebook arrives on Netflix U.S. Though the streaming service hasn't shared which version Americans will be getting, some have speculated that it will indeed include the newer, much less definitive ending—that is, as long as there's not a choose-your-own-adventure, Bandersnatch-esque option in the works.
Related: The Notebook Is Being Rebooted as a Broadway Musical, Like Every Other Classic
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