What happened at the end of The Thing (1982)?

bash_bob

This is a spoiler. At the end of The Thing (1982), MacReady and Childs sit together. It is not clear if either or neither of them is the Thing at this point. I assume it is clear that not both of them are the Thing, because then they wouldn't bother with portraying human qualities. I also assume that it is intentionally left unclear what is the case. But has the writer of the script or the director made any hints towards what is going on?

Originally asked by AlphaCentauri on Stack Exchange (movies) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

There is an extensive answer on our sister site, Science Fiction and Fantasy, addressing this precise question. Rather than copy and paste it as a whole (and it's very long) I will quote the basic answer and link the remainder below. TL;DR: This is the million dollar question, as far as The Thing is concerned. Unfortunately, not only has the answer never been revealed, but the producer and director themselves say they have no idea what the answer is. There are a number of fan theories - both men are Things; neither man is a Thing; only Childs is a Thing; only Mac is a Thing - but the "evidence" employed to support arguments in favor of one or both men being Things is unconvincing, and it is...

Full answer by Paulie_D: https://movies.stackexchange.com/a/104791 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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