The Ripley Book Ending Features A Scam For The Ages

It’s been 25 years since Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Matt Damon starred in the psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley — and now, there’s a new spin on the story about an Italian sojourn gone wrong.

Like the film before it, Netflix’s new limited series Ripley is based on the 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, as well as the series of novels as a whole (there are five!), the streamer notes. But don’t expect the new adaptation to echo the vibe of the Oscar-nominated film. Series creator Steve Zaillian told IndieWire that he wanted to convey the “quite sinister and quite dark” tone of Highsmith’s novel. “I just couldn’t imagine that taking place in a beautiful Italian setting with bright blue skies and colorful outfits and things like that,” he explained.

Wondering what to expect? Here’s The Talented Mr. Ripley book ending and plot summary to refer to as you watch the 1960s period thriller.

A Mysterious Visitor

Herbert Greenleaf wants his son, Dickie, to return to the United States after living in Italy. He asks Tom Ripley to travel there and encourage him to come home. He thinks Tom and Dickie are old friends, but they barely know each other at all. But Ripley is a con artist, so he’s able to play along.

He travels to Italy on the Greenleafs’ dime and meets Dickie and Marge, who are living together. Ripley quickly gets close to the couple. Too close. Dickie is especially disturbed to find Ripley wearing his clothes and imitating his host in the mirror.

Later, Ripley and Dickie take a trip to San Remo together. It’s here that Ripley realizes he’s no longer in Dickie and Marge’s life. His anger and obsession culminate in a fateful boat trip, in which Ripley beats Dickie to death with an oar.

Ripley’s Cover-Up

As he’s a con artist, Ripley quickly puts a plan into place. He stages a story about Dickie choosing to travel to Rome alone, instead of returning to Marge in the town they lived together. He even writes to Dickie’s parents as their son, to update them about his whereabouts (and keep getting their money).

However, Ripley’s killing doesn’t stop there. He also murders a suspicious friend of Dickie’s, Freddie, and this rouses police suspicion. But the police, Dickie’s parents, and Marge ultimately come to the conclusion that Dickie planned to die by suicide.

Ripley, in an especially bold move, even writes to the Greenleafs to say he found their son’s will — and Dickie left everything to Ripley. And they buy it. At the end of the novel, Ripley decides to continue with his travels now funded by his dead friend’s fortune.