MovieChat Forums > The Grifters (1991) Discussion > question about the ending

question about the ending


so, was there something she put in the glass of water? he seemed to be getting a tiny bit woozy - his eyes seemed to blink so much and (I think!) she never drank from her glass even tho she was the one who asked for a drink. is it possible she intended to knock him out with some sleeping potion or something, so she could get at the $$? or is this totally off-base? ideas anyone?

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Spoiler alert for anyone stupid enough to click on a thread about 'the ending' who doesn't want to know about 'the ending'.

We don't really know, there may be something in the book that confirms or refutes it but for the film I don't think it matters. There's the suggestion that she may have done, though Roy 'knows' she wouldn't, then his body language implies that she might have but then in the end he accidentally dies anyway before he could succumb to anything that may have been in the drink. I think it was a red herring within the scene to have you expect one outcome and be more shocked by what does happen.

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There's nothing in the glass. Lilly is on the run and it is difficult to imagine that she would have a knock-out drug on her in those conditions. Also, she was not intending to run into her son when she broke into his apartment. Finally, if Lilly has slipped something into her son's drink, why did she bother to hit him? She could have just waited for the drug to take effect and then taken the money.

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I find this scene awkward: using a tray to carry 2 glasses of water, and tap water as a beverage that you offer someone who is a guest. Then she seems to hit him with the tray (or whatever it was) and the glass breaks and a splinter happens to sever an artery. You couldn't break a glass and sever an artery like that if you tried. Dorky.

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You've never heard of someone drinking tap water? What are you, Paris Hilton?

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[deleted]

Uhhh

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Yeah, it was kind of weird, the whole tray thing. But this is 1990, and drinking tap water wasn't all that weird. Hell, I drink it now, but I'm on a well, not crappy LA municipal water system.

I can tell you, though, I have a few old glasses that I still use, that I could easily break and slice someone up with.

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I didn't feel like it was the era so much, but the tray, and water of any kind. You mentioned the cheap glasses: I hadn't given thought to whether she had that in mind, to use it as a weapon if needed, or if that was incidental. And she left without grabbing all of the money

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Oh, yeah, definitely the tray was, WTF? Who brings two drinks out on a tray? I mean, who the hell even has a drinks tray handy?

But I don't really think that she intended to kill Roy. She did what she did out of desperation - yes, trying to take his money - but no way did she intend to kill her kid. But her grovelling on the ground picking up the bloody money, while her son is bleeding out, yeah, that's her showing how pathetic she's become.

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