MovieChat Forums > The Strangers (2008) Discussion > Can someone explain the part with the tw...

Can someone explain the part with the two boys to me? (SPOILERS)

posted 7 years ago by AtomicReturns (1252)
3 replies | jump to latest

At the beginning of the film, you hear the two boys (after discovering the murders) on the phone to the police, crying and completely shocked at the horror they've witnessed.

But at the end of the film, they walk around placidly over the dead bodies on the floor, like they're in an art museum. And one of them even kneels, reaches over pick up an object near Liv Tyler (what was it?)

Why the completely different tone and reaction compared to the first 5 minutes of the film, where they were absolutely frantic/frightened? At the end of the movie, they almost seem detached & creepy, like they were the murderers themselves. Wouldn't you either freak out immediately and run to a phone, or refuse to step inside something that obviously looks like a crime scene?

[–] AtomicReturns (1252) 7 years ago

And here's the end scene I found on Youtube (warning about the scary scream at the end from Liv):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw03M9qt64s

Those are two really weird boys!

[–] TM1617-2 (595) 5 years ago

AtomicReturns, the scenes with the boys are chronologically reversed. It can be assumed that the kids live nearby since they're handing out literature on the street. People who grow up in rural areas might be more likely to stumble upon the result of a mauling by an animal. Extremely religious parents who want miniature evangelists expose their children to graphic and disturbing things for the sakes of service and understanding. The boys probably think that they are walking into the scene of an accident that has come from nature (as long as they miss the bloody knife) and feel an obligation to see if a living person needs help. The young Mormons, who don't have anything remotely close to what the intruders commit in mind when they ask about sinning, panic when they hear the story from Kristen because they realize that they have just met murderers and crime is much worse than what they have been taught. The event shows the children that, despite what their faith says, there are untrustworthy and unmanageable people in the world. The frantic phone call is partially fueled by the terror of losing control for the first time.

[–] WandererFromYs (1626) 6 months ago

I would imagine they were a bit more frantic after getting jump scared.