And it’s complicated by the opening, which is a similar scenario from a movie, where a mother embraces her kids in a field and sings.
This odd little comedy interlude to give the audience breathing room before shit goes back to being awful. It made me feel conflicted, not only because I was laughing at such a fucked up scenario, but also because I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for anymore, Mother or the boys. Like the way the mother had this really odd grudge against one of them but not the other. I didn’t know if Lukas was dead or it was a Tyler Durden Elias-making-someone-up-in-his-head situation, but there were clues early on that something was definitely up with the kids. So let’s get into THE TWIST. Don’t listen to your brother.” Kristy: Mention of “the accident.” I mean, even the opening is the two boys running through the woods, then Elias loses Lukas and calls out for him. ), Kristy: I realized maybe thirty seconds before mother says Lukas is dead what the deal was. By Kristy Puchko | Film | September 14, 2015 |. Kristy: Mention of “the accident.” I mean, even the opening is the two boys running through the woods, then Elias loses Lukas and calls out for him. And, if memory serves, it’s not just one scene either, where you get through it and it’s done. Kristy: Our sympathies are with Elias and Lukas for the first 2/3 of the film. What a fucked up double-feature those would be. If you’re still confused about the allegory, Matt Goldberg does a great job of breaking down what it all means right here.
Because there’s this tiny little scene, early on, part of the montage where you see the boys having this happy, glorious summer before their mom comes home, where Elias is laying on a raft on the lake, and he’s a little bit scared and calling for Lukas, whom he can’t see. And those fucking stupid Red Cross employees, oh my God. I don’t think so, but I know a lot of people scoff and eye-roll at the “ambiguous ending” conceit, which can, after all, be a bit overused. I want to mention the Red Cross scene first because I love it SO MUCH.There’s this one bit where two Red Cross workers come to the house and ask to speak to the mom, who’s tied up upstairs. You can follow her on Twitter.
If Elias is living in a fantasy where his family is restored—is that happy? People who complain about spoilers in comments will be banhammered! And you think “Oh, Lukas is gonna pull a Jaws and turn his float over.” But, in retrospect… nope. Kristy: But it’s not brutal in that Hostel/Saw sort of way of “look what we can get away with.” Like, I don’t think the directors want us to relish in the torture. Mother Nature). The baby, in this instance, is Jesus Christ.
Kristy: What’s remarkable is that as far as gore, it’s pretty tame. Kristy: But what’s more interesting to me is that it doesn’t matter if you think Elias is dead or alive to ponder: is it a happy ending?