MovieChat Forums > Like Minds (2006) Discussion > I THINK I GOT IT...SPOILER SPOILER

I THINK I GOT IT...SPOILER SPOILER


I was really confused at the end of this movie. After thinking about it...I believe Alex is describing his own faults and misdeeds to the physchiatrist and just putting Nigel's name in place of his own. The only REAL evidence we have in this movie that Nigel is a bit "off" is 1. His taxidermy setup in his dorm room and 2. the secret room in the basement and his penchant for Knights history. These two things may be weird, but do not make Nigel a killer. Any thing else we are ecouraged to believe about Nigel comes from Alex while speaking to the forensic psychiatrist. There is no further EVIDENCE of Nigels actions. The physchiatrist begins to look into the Gestaat theory based on what ALex has told her. We believe it is Nigel, based on ALEX's accounts. Nigels parents are killed. We do not find Nigels dead parents until after Nigel is dead. We also find out that Alex's mother is dead, and he has been raised "impeccably". Furthermore Alex's description of Nigel to the physchiatrist makes us believe Nigel is evil and manipulative. I believe it was Alex the whole time. Nigel was the new guy. Alex learns Nigel is intelligent, and has some fantasies of his own. He also fears and is intrigued by Nigels "odd side" This fuels and adds to Alex's own pshychotic, genius mind. His genius is alluded to throughout the movie as he constantly debates his professors, and the Headmaster makes remarks regarding his mental capabilities. Alex mentions the painting in the school that his father looked at so often, and goes on to say that one day it dawned on him as to the actual meaning of the painting. Alex claims he was framed by Nigel himself for Nigel's death. By spinning everything around, and putting Nigel in HIS shoes while explaining the turns of events sets during the movie, this sets the stage for Alex to claim Nigel's death was a suicide. Alex killed the girl, killed Nigels parents, and went on with his physchotic adventure by stealing the girls head from the grave. After giving a stupendous seminar on the Gestaat theory, the psychiatrist is then led to the grave where the girls head is missing. She realizes this at this point it has been Alex all the time, calling him evil. She knows at this point he pulled the wool over her eyes.

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Exactly what I thought. Alex was the psycopath, reversing everything to make Nigel appear to be psychotic.

Also at the end, Alex gets on a train, and asked student, if he liked history. Which I assume, is his next victim.



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Obviously that's the case, but the final scene on the train is not even nessesary. It would have been fine to end it at the grave.

"This is the west sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

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That final scene on the train is great; ending it at the gravesite would have been a typical movie ending. Alex on the train, with the head in the box, approaching the kid reading the history book suggests that the story will go on. Cutting that scene would be like cutting the final scene of "Silence of the Lambs" when Hannibal calls agent Starling and informs her that he will be "having a friend for dinner.."

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I think you hit the nail on the head. Alex is the right age for schizophrenia to begin manifesting symptoms. By projecting all the problems onto Nigel he not only got away with murder, but he was able to re-write the events to make him the innocent victim of another's diabolical plot.

Good post. This is one of the few movies that made me rewind the whole movie in my mind and play it again with the roles reversed. It made a lot more sense that way.

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I don't think Nigel was innocent. Don't forget about the two embalmed human bodies found in the crawlspace below his house. No possible way Alex could have planted those. There was insufficient time. Besides which, Nigel was the taxidermy expert.

I think Nigel was crazy, and was a killer. And I think that Nigel eventually wore off on Alex, turning him into a killer. Tying in with the whole like minds and gestalt thing.

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I felt the same thing after I watched the movie especially after the end when you see him pick a new victim. It seems more likely that the new weird kid would be the one that is manipulated not the manipulator. Immediately after finishing the movie it made me think of The Usual Suspects where Kevin Spacey's character Verbal turns out to be Keyser Soze, thus putting a big twist on what you were just told

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I think it's different from the USUAL SUSPECTS where the twist is Keven Spacey happens to be the real culprit. But in LIKE MINDS, I don't think that the twist is that Alex just lied/made up the whole story but the twist is Alex inherited Nigel's beliefs and he does now continues Nigel's missions. So the story that Alex stated was all true.

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I do have one question though, why didn't Alex go to jail if he revealed that he killed Nigel's father?

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I was really confused, too. At the beginning, I thought the same as the first poster. I mean, Alex told the story putting Nigel's name in place of his own.
Even so, Nigel couldn't be totally innocent. He was the taxidermy expert and it must have been him the person who embalmed the bodies of his parents (even if Alex was who killed them).
I think that Alex inverted the roles when he told the story but both of them were linked by the same madness.

But there is another option. Maybe Alex was captured by Nigel's crazy fantasies and after Nigel's death, he decided to continue with "their mission". After all, at the beginning of the movie, Alex seemed to have a mix of feelings towards Nigel. A mix of bewilderment, disgust (specially for Nigel's obsession for dead things) and certain fascination too. When Nigel was taken to other room, Alex said that he had almost missed Nigel. This second option is based in other facts, too. Alex said something like Nigel got what he wanted: eternity. By keeping alive Nigel's mission, Nigel continued alive through Alex ("pray for you, pray for me, we're one" said Nigel before pulling the trigger). Nigel was the beginning, the next would be Alex and into the train, Alex chose a new boy to continue the chain. That's why Alex said that Nigel had got the eternity he wanted.

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I think Nigel was crazy, and was a killer. And I think that Nigel eventually wore off on Alex, turning him into a killer. Tying in with the whole like minds and gestalt thing.

That was what I took from it too...I could definitely see that angle of Alex being the REAL killer if Nigel wasn't the taxidermy expert.



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Everything we know about Nigel is whatever Alex told us.
But what if Alex was the one with the taxidermy hobby? If I remember correctly, he said to his father/the headmaster "I told you I'm not sharing a room with anybody". What if that was because he didn't want anyone to find out about his little hobby of cutting up animals? So in walks Nigel and ruins everything. But after a while Alex realizes that Nigel is weird too and could be easily manipulated. So Alex hatches this elaborate plan, blames Nigel for EVERYTHING (including the taxidermy stuff) and gets away with murder. Literally. And all just because Nigel was a loner who no one really knew so no one could dispute Alex's stories about him. I know it's pretty far fetched, but what if Alex "helped" Nigel with the room in the crawl space? And by "helped" I of course mean Alex instructed Nigel what to fill it with.
As far as I can tell there is never any mention of how much time passes, except once (that the play about Beckett was played a month after the girl Alex supposedly had a thing for was killed) so Nigel and Alex could have had plenty of time to decorate that crawl space and write "the bible" and whatnot.

I think Nigel was innocent. I think he definitely was all a-board talking about the order and creating a fantasy about possibly being chosen and all of that but I highly doubt that Nigel was anywhere near murder. I believe it was all Alex, from start to finish.

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According to the director/writer commentary, everything Alex tells in his story is true. This is gestalt psychology, not schizophrenia. They do become like-minded, but the story Alex tells is 100% true, according to the writer/director of the movie.

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