In the Heights Ending Explained [SPOILER!]

SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!

The creator of “Hamilton” and the director of “Crazy Rich Asians” invite you to the event of the summer, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big… “In the Heights.” Lights up on Washington Heights… The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life. “In the Heights” fuses Lin-Manuel Miranda’s kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu’s lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.

SPOILERS AHEAD

In the Heights Plot Summary and Synopsis

Usnavi de la Vega tells four children a story of Washington Heights. Years earlier, Usnavi is the owner of a bodega in the neighborhood. After chasing off “Graffiti Pete”, a street artist who was attempting to spray paint the bodega’s security shutters, he introduces: Abuela Claudia, the neighborhood matriarch and woman who raised him after the death of his parents; Kevin Rosario, who runs a taxi company; Kevin’s employee and Usnavi’s best friend Benny; the beauty salon ladies Daniela, Carla, and Cuca; his cousin Sonny, a teenager who works in the bodega; and Vanessa, on whom Usnavi has an unrequited crush (“In The Heights”).

Alejandro, an attorney and family friend, informs Usnavi his late father’s business in the Dominican Republic, which he dreams of reviving, is for sale. Meanwhile, Kevin’s daughter Nina returns from Stanford University. After seeing Benny (“Benny’s Dispatch”), she finds her father, telling him she cannot pay tuition, but he brushes her off, telling her not to worry (“Breathe”).

Daniela’s salon is moving to the Bronx due to rising rents in Manhattan. Nina arrives for a treatment and reconnects with the ladies, but eventually reveals she has dropped out of Stanford, and leaves (“No Me Diga”). Vanessa submits a rental application downtown, where she dreams of becoming a fashion designer, but her application is rejected (“It Won’t Be Long Now”). She heads to Usnavi’s bodega, where Sonny asks her out for him.

Sonny learns a lottery ticket the bodega sold won $96,000. At the public pool, everybody in the neighborhood fantasizes about what they would do with the money (“96,000”), while the neighborhood piragüero laments how he has lost business to a Mister Softee truck (“Piragua”).

That weekend, Benny and Nina reminisce about their childhoods. She expresses her doubts and fears, but he reassures her she is destined for greatness (“When You’re Home”). Meanwhile, Usnavi talks to Sonny’s father about letting Sonny come with him to the Dominican Republic, but Sonny’s father implies he and Sonny are undocumented immigrants and cannot leave.

That evening, Kevin reveals he sold his business to pay for Nina’s tuition. Outraged, she refuses the money and storms out. Usnavi and Vanessa head to the salsa club for their date. At the club, Usnavi is nervous and aloof, and he declines to dance with Vanessa.

A man steals her away for a dance, allowing multiple men to dance with her. In return, Usnavi tries to make Vanessa jealous by dancing with another woman (“The Club”). The power goes out, and Sonny and Graffiti Pete light up fireworks, illuminating the neighborhood. Vanessa and Usnavi argue, and she rejects him (“Blackout”).

Lying in bed, Abuela reminisces about her childhood in Cuba, and how she came to New York, enduring hardships to be where she is today (“Paciencia y Fe”). She dies peacefully, and the neighborhood comes together to mourn and sing her praises (“Alabanza”). At a protest for DACA, Sonny learns that he cannot go to college, as he is an undocumented immigrant. Learning this, Nina resolves to go back to Stanford to find a way for undocumented immigrant children to find a pathway in life.

Usnavi finds Vanessa’s rental application in the trash. He visits Daniela, asking her to co-sign on Vanessa’s application. Disappointed with the block’s negativity over the blackout and Abuela’s death, Daniela rouses the neighborhood into a celebration (“Carnaval del Barrio”), as the blackout ends. Vanessa and Usnavi reconcile.

A month later, Nina is about to return to Stanford. Benny promises to find a way to join her in Palo Alto, and they kiss (“When the Sun Goes Down”). As Usnavi prepares to leave for the Dominican Republic, he discovers that Abuela held the winning lottery ticket, and has left it to him.

Vanessa arrives with champagne, having found out that Usnavi got Daniela to co-sign on her lease. She suggests Usnavi stay, but he refuses. She kisses him, lamenting that she was too late in realizing her feelings before leaving (“Champagne”).

Usnavi gives Alejandro the lottery ticket, telling him to use it for Sonny’s DACA fees. The next morning, Vanessa takes Usnavi to the bodega and shows him a fashion line she created the previous night inspired by Graffiti Pete’s work. Seeing Pete’s murals celebrating Abuela, Usnavi decides to stay.

In the Heights Ending

The story returns to the present day, where it is revealed that Usnavi is telling his story in the remodeled bodega, and that one of the children is Usnavi and Vanessa’s daughter Iris. Everyone sings and dances in the street, while Usnavi expresses his elation at being in Washington Heights, where he has always belonged (“Finale”).

In the Heights Post-Credits Scene

The Mister Softee truck breaks down and the piragüero celebrates his victory by raising prices by a dollar (“Piragua (Reprise)”).

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).