Afterburn Ending Explained: Did Jake Find the Mona Lisa—or Lose Everything?

Dave Bautista leaves the dunes of Arrakis for something even harsher: a sun-blasted Earth where a single bad day turned the lights out for good. J. J. Perry's 2025 post-apocalyptic action ride 'Afterburn' is a scrappy, violent treasure hunt through a Europe run by warlords, with Bautista playing a quiet pro trying to retire while everyone else is trying to own the last pieces of the old world. And yes, there is a Mona Lisa. Sort of.

• What it is: a post-apocalyptic action thriller from director J. J. Perry
• Who is in it: Dave Bautista, Samuel L. Jackson, Kristofer Hivju, Daniel Bernhardt, Eden Epstein, George Somner, Phil Zimmerman
• Runtime: 1h 46m
• Early scores: Rotten Tomatoes 57%, IMDb 4.5/10
• Status: now playing in US theaters

First, the setup. A brutal solar flare opens the film and basically hits the factory reset on civilization: no phones, no cars, no governments, and no help. Cut to six years later, and Europe is a scavenger's playground ruled by whoever has the biggest guns and the least conscience.

Enter Jake (Bautista), a former soldier turned top-tier finder of lost pre-flare goodies. He works for a self-styled monarch named King August (Samuel L. Jackson), the guy who claims what's left of England as his. Jake does the dangerous work with a very good dog named Smoke watching his back, because priorities.

The job this time? Track down the Mona Lisa. Yep, that Mona Lisa. Across the channel, the competition is General Volkov (Kristofer Hivju), a sledgehammer of a warlord who holds most of France and does not do subtle. August wants the art to signal a path back to order. Volkov wants it because owning the most famous thing on Earth makes you the boss. Either way, it's power. Jake doesn't care about any of that. He wants to get paid and get out.

The fetch quest that is not what it seems

Jake links up with Drea (Eden Epstein), the rebel contact who rescues him mid-ambush in a flattened French town. From there it's a nasty tour through 'wraith territories' — cannibal country populated by escapees from maximum-security prisons — plus a breadcrumb trail of clues that push them toward an old government facility called Simserhof. The movie keeps a dry smile through the carnage, leaning into gallows humor as much as gunfire.

Inside Simserhof's locked vault, Jake finally finds the prize. Only it isn't a painting. The 'Mona Lisa' is a nuclear bomb with the famous face painted on its casing. That is not a metaphor; it's the twist. Drea lays out the history lesson: the United States built a third atomic bomb during World War II after 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man,' a backup intended for Moscow if things escalated. It never got used, and it ended up hidden here. Beauty on the outside, extinction on the inside. Cute.

Jake does the math and realizes what a ruler like August could do with a working nuke. Disgusted, he bails on the mission and on Drea. Then Volkov rolls in, slaughters the rebels, and steals the bomb — which, frankly, is exactly the kind of complication you expect when your MacGuffin doubles as a doomsday device.

Two kings, one bomb

August and Volkov want the same trophy for very different reasons. August frames it as rebuilding civilization. Volkov frames it as domination. Either way, the Mona Lisa-as-bomb turns their rivalry into a race to own the last word in leverage, with Jake jammed in the middle trying not to become collateral damage.

The bridge, the train, the fight

Jake snaps out of his 'not my problem' phase and returns to help. He and Drea hatch a blunt plan: blow the bridge before Volkov's train can move the nuke out of reach. Jake raids the vault for explosives and chases the train; Drea goes ahead to rig the bridge. Inside, Volkov gets impatient and kills his own pilot to push the throttle.

Jake fights his way through the cars, ends up in a brutal fistfight with Volkov, and pins the warlord's hands to the table with knives to keep him put. Drea triggers the charges. The bridge goes, the train launches into the ravine, and just before it all becomes scrap, Volkov gets his last word in:

'checkmate'

The crash looks final enough that Drea — and the audience — assume Jake is gone. He isn't. He crawls out, pulls the safety plug that prevents the bomb from arming, and takes it back to King August along with the bomb's location. It's a gamble that August will not be like every other strongman strip-mining the planet for one more hit of power.

So, does the Mona Lisa survive?

Yes, but not in a frame. The painting that launched the quest is just graffiti on a warhead. The real 'Mona Lisa' is a nuclear bargaining chip that changes who gets to call themselves king.

The final beat

Jake and Drea end up on a boat under clear skies, stealing a moment of peace that could be real or just another of Jake's daydreams about retiring into the quiet. The movie leaves it open — a tidy touch in a world that stopped giving guarantees six years ago.

Afterburn is a rough-edged, occasionally very weird romp with a killer hook and a mean streak of dark humor. If you check it out in theaters, tell me where you land on August's 'civilization' pitch and whether that ending felt earned — or wishful thinking.