The Sense of an Ending is a 2017 mystery drama film directed by Ritesh Batra and written by Nick Payne, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Julian Barnes.

The film stars Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Billy Howle, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Dockery.

Elements of the plot are used to compare the perhaps impossible problem of obtaining a definitive objective view of history with the similar difficulties involved in personal memory.

Tony's friend, the highly intelligent Adrian Finn, told their history teacher that in the absence of documentary evidence nobody will ever know the true reason for his suicide.

At first he decided to respond positively, but then wrote an angry reply, writing of her being damaged and how even her mother had warned him about her, and wishing they would have a child which would pay for its parents' sins.

On 8 February 2015, it was announced that Ritesh Batra would next direct a drama for Origin Pictures and BBC Films, based on the Julian Barnes' novel The Sense of an Ending, and scripted by Nick Payne.

[5] On 6 August 2015, an ensemble cast was announced including Charlotte Rampling, Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Dockery, Billy Howle, Freya Mavor, and Joe Alwyn.

The site's critical consensus states, "Anchored by a strong starring performance by Jim Broadbent, The Sense of an Ending proves consistently gripping even as it skims the narrative surface of its literary source material.