The Ending Of Clerks III Explained

Spurred by his near-death experience, Randal decides he needs to do something more with his life than just talk about “Star Wars” with Dante all day. When Dante mentions that he always thought Randal would be able to make a good movie, he takes it to heart and decides to make an autobiographical film, drawing on his life and experiences to turn his daily grind into a comedic slice-of-life adventure.

While Randal initially intends to hire actors (leading to a lengthy montage full of high-profile cameos including Ben Affleck, Melissa Benoist, Freddie Prinze, Jr., and Sarah Michelle Gellar), he ultimately decides to have everybody play themselves for maximum authenticity. All the while, Randal insists that his movie is his story, not the shared experience of Randal and Dante. While hurt and annoyed by Randal’s selfishness, Dante mostly brushes aside his grievances for the sake of helping his friend make his movie.

At this point, it’s obvious that the movie Randal wants to make is effectively the story of the original “Clerks,” adding a meta touch that already makes “Clerks III” feel like Kevin Smith going full circle with his cinematic body of work.