Night Always Comes ending explained: Does Lynette save her home or lose everything?

Lynette's ending on Night Always Comes features a sense of relief and personal peace that washes over her after spending a night full of chaos. She stole, she robbed, and she begged for money to save her family and the house that they lived in, but in the end, a conversation with her mother changed everything. 

The movie starts with a hopeful note, and also ends with one, just in a different way. The time between is full of chaos, trauma, and tragedy. The audience can hear on the news and even the radio that Lynette plays during her drive to work, where economists are worried about how the rent prices are skyrocketing, and thus, it is a good time to be a homeowner. It sets a preset on which the entire story is dependent: Lynette's house and her desperation for stability. 

'Emotional parentification' is the word that comes to mind when Lyn's mom, Doreen, is introduced, and how she is too reliant on her daughter for everything, even for taking care of her elder son, Kenny, who has Down Syndrome. Lyn asks her to be at the lawyer's office, sharp at 2:30 PM, but she never makes it.

The house that this family is living in is rented, and instead of renting it further, Lyn has decided to put down a payment to buy it. The cost is $25,000, which her mother has. However, she never shows up at the lawyer's office, and Lynette calls her. Doreen instead decides to spend her money on a brand new Mazda car.

Lynette is devastated by this because if they do not have a roof over their heads, CPS will take her elder brother, Kenny, away, and they will be homeless. But Doreen doesn't seem to care.

Now, Lynette takes it upon herself to find and get the cash in just one night, before 9 AM the next day, if she wants to get her house back. In the end, however, she is unable to save the house.

Night Always Comes - Scott and Gloria

First up, Lynette meets with Scott, a wealthy escort client who pays her. She sleeps with him and gets $1000 in cash. Earlier, she had asked him for a loan of $25,000, but he laughed it off and refused. Next, she steals his car and parks it somewhere else. 

Then, she knocks on her friend, Gloria's, door, who is also an escort to a wealthy politician and is living in his bachelor pad. She asks for help with the money, but Gloria just gives her a $500 bill from her client's locker and goes away. 

Night Always Comes - Cody 

Cody is a co-worker at the bar where Lynette works. He has done time in prison and thus, Lynette employs her on the agreement of $800 to take the locker and break it, to get the cash out. The duo takes it to one of Cody's shady friends and, upon breaking the locker, finds out that it not only has cash, but half a kilo of cocaine.

A fight erupts as these friends want everything for themselves, and Lynette and Cody barely escape in her car. Upon counting, she finds $19,000. Now, Lyn expresses a need for just $4000 more. Cody and her make a deal that if he gives her the remaining cash, he will give him Scott's stolen car, which is worth a lot more. They pick up Kenny on the way over from Doreen's friend Mona's house. 

As they reach the compound where the car is parked, Cody backtracks on the deal and decides to take the whole bag for himself. Lynette then hits him with her car as he was walking away and takes her bag from him. She leaves the stolen car keys as a token of thanks. 

Night Always Comes - Tommy and Blake

Tommy is Lynette's ex-boyfriend with whom she lived for five years, during which he acted as her pimp and got her into the adult industry. She knew he would give her something for the coke. He sends her off to one of his clients, named Blake, who lives in a posh neighborhood where Lyn had worked when she was just 16. Soon, Blake gives her the entire $4000 she needs, but is only willing to let her go after she spends a "wild" night with him. 

Lynette, who feels disrespected, hits his head with a lamp and tries to escape with his brother Kenny. 

Does Lynette save the house at the end of Night Always Comes? 

No, Lynette ends up losing the house even though she had arranged the entire $25,000 for the down payment. It was when the realtor called and let her know that they were going with the highest bidder for the house instead of them. 

Also, she sits down with her mother to have a chat about everything and finds out that Doreen never wanted to live in the house, which is why she bought the car to make sure the deal fell through. She has arranged for her and Kenny to live at Mona's starting next week. Lynette soon understands that her mother does not want to live with her either. 

The next day, she leaves the home when both of them are sleeping and seems to be at peace. Her voiceover says that she has only been looking out for her "family" in any way possible, but now, it is time she looks out for herself. To her mother, she says:

"But I guess you said what I needed to hear. So, thank you. And now, I need to fight for me. Take care of Kenny; he needs his mom. Maybe this is our chance to get it right."

Night Always Comes can be streamed online via Netflix.