2. Ending
SPOILERS BELOW Most films attempting to appeal to a more mainstream audience will traditionally go for a happy ending. It is expected too considering when people spend $12 and God knows how much else in concessions, you dont want to leave depressed moping your way back to the lobby. Elysium opts for the middle ground as Matt Damon sacrifices himself to upload the data stored in his brain to a server, which causes it to reboot simultaneously granting citizenship to everyone aboard the floating space city. This allows Alice Braga to place her Leukemia infected child into a medical bay for instantaneous curing. It may not be an ending full of roses and sunshine but in a bittersweet method, Matt Damon has accomplished his lifelong goal in bringing him and Alice Bragga to Elysium. There are no cliffhangers or sequel baits; Elysium tells a story and tells it successfully.