Ending (SPOILERS)


I watched this for the second time last night, and so it hit me:

are we meant to believe that Natasha is dead at the end?

There are at least two references to a murder of two young girls in Scotland, one at the bar with Gideon, Stella and Andrew, and one at the party at the Indian restaurant. Gideon glances at the TV as the news reporter mention this, suggesting that he's slightly worried, but that's it. He suddenly travels to Edinburgh to look for Natasha, and collapses at the stand up theatre, not able to move or speak. Natasha is there, telling him she forgives him. When he wakes up, Stella's at the end of the bed talking to him. Natasha's there as well, but sits in a chair in the background. She doesn't speak, she's just smiling enigmatically, and she's not mentioned. In the next scene, when the three of them are walking down the sunny street, again she's silent and there's a clear distance between her and Gideon and Stella. She's referred to, but noone speaks to her. I got the feeling that she was one of the girls that actually got killed when she travelled to Scotland, which would explain Gideon's anxiety, his sudden travel and final break down at the club. Natasha's last conversation with him is merely a symbol, suggesting that she forgives him, or, rather that he forgives himself for being neglectful, he knows his love for her is real. This would also explain his close bond to Stella and why they disappear at the end: now they both have lost their children, and there's no more reason why they shouldn't be a couple (if there ever was one). I know that this hypothesis isn't actually 100%, but well...any thoughts, or was it just me?

Mind you, I have the DVD but haven't checked the extras or the interviews, so maybe all of this is crystal clear to anybody that did...

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Interesting theory. I do think she died. Watching it again recently, there is a certain spiritual quality to Natasha that I always couldn't put my finger on.

It is precisely facts that do not exist, only interpretations.

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A very good theory. If that was the case, it would heighten the sadness of the movie and raise it to a new level of story quality.

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Did I miss something here? Wasn't Natasha walking on a street sidewalk towards the end? It clearly showed her, and Wikipedia wrote that "she looked radiant".

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She wasn't dead! Watch the ending carefully.

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