Love it or hate it, The Notebook is a classic romantic film. It’s got a woman caught between two men, plenty of tearjerker moments, and an iconic scene in the rain.

Adapted from the Nicholas Sparks’ book of the same name, the film is the story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), who fall in love in the 1940s despite class differences.

The story is (warning: spoilers ahead) narrated by an older Noah, played by James Garner, to an older Allie (Gena Rowlands), who has dementia.

At the end of the film we go back to Garner and Rowlands’ version of the characters. Noah joins Allie in bed and clutches her hand while talking to her, and she finally remembers who he is.

We then cut to a nurse walking in to find the pair have both died in their sleep while lying in each other’s arms.

It’s a heartbreaking ending, but a narratively satisfying one.

So it’s understandable that some fans have been outraged to find that the version of the film on Netflix UK uses an alternative, and much more ambiguous, ending.

Instead of cutting to the nurse, we leave the older Noah and Allie and then get a scene of birds flying over water, a callback to a scene of a young Noah and Allie rowing through a lake full of birds.

Fans have been sharing their displeasure at the ending on Twitter.

But this isn’t the first time the alternate ending has been used – some Twitter users have said they have never seen the ending where Noah and Allie die.

We guess the only way to judge which ending is best is to watch the film with both. Just make sure you have plenty of tissues to hand to mop up your tears.

Images: Rex Features