The ending does not make sense..
Was his mother in heaven? it looked like an idyllic setting, why would she want to kill him? to release him from the closet?
shareI can't understand why he saw the shiny perfect picnic if she was such a bitch with him.
shareShe didn't want to kill him she wanted to make amends. She couldn't have known he would faint and fall to his death thereby re-uniting them at what should have been a happy moment in his childhood. Remember Cassie told him that if the entity wanted to hurt him it would already have done it. Although there was plenty of tension and shocks there was never any aggressive action against him.
shareI read the ending differently. No heaven, no picnic, just a gloss on his imperfect memory, or a re-vision of what 5-year-old Bryan had put in his mind to escape the true memories. Remember, we have factual corroboration that the picnic never happened.
[SPOILER!]
And why do you think Bryan is dead at the end? All we know is that the film ends moments after he falls; we know that he has been dreaming about his mother for years; my own take is that he was knocked unconscious and finally had a good dream about her, because he himself is cured psychically (I mean that in the sense of "mentally").
It is certainly not a definitive ending; we're allowed to read it as we choose. (As critics have said about Henry James's "Turn of the Screw," to my unending impatience. James intended his story to be a true ghost story.) Select the ending you like best.
Fiona
Very good. I drew a similar conclusion about the ending. I believe he was so frightened of his mother that he subconsciously conjured up the images of the family picnic. The apologetic look on the mothers face suggests otherwise, but its one of those endings you can interpret the way you like. It was really good imo, a fitting ending for a ghost story.
shareI thought it was just poor writing. Cassie just leaves after she's going to help him and oops, she's out of the story. No closure with his wife and child...oops, they're just out of the story. Not good writing. But, Tim Daly was very good in the role. That's a plus. Overall, it was a fairly good movie without the 'Hollywood' formula of gore and overplayed 'special effects'.
"If I don't suit chu, you kin cut mah thoat!"
I thought it was just poor writing. Cassie just leaves after she's going to help him and oops, she's out of the story. No closure with his wife and child...oops, they're just out of the story. Not good writing.
I disagree.
(Surprise! That's why I'm posting this, LOL)
Depends on how you define 'good writing'...the fact that there was 'no closure' between Tim's character and his wife, the fact that Cassie was 'just out of there' is sure a lot more true to life and the way reality really works than if we had been subjected to 'neat, tied up' scenarios...those rarely occur for real, do they?...;)
I find a story like this, with an ambiguous finale, MUCH more satisfying than a phony, Hollywood 'look, everything worked out in the end' wrap up...an ending that leave you to THINK afterwards works remarkably well for thrillers/horror...the story stays with you long after the credits roll...
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Completely agree. Way too many threads left up in the air. <spoilers> Did the ghost actually exist, or was it all in his head. Ending it where they did just seems lazy and a cop out. If it was about his mother's redemption, why did the aunt die....why did the psychic get a bad feeling at the door. Did she die from picking up his toys and falling over, or did he push her? Why was he so prone to fainting when he saw her, even though he had some cathartic moments that should have helped him deal with whatever it was he was hiding/freaking out about. Solid acting and a good story, but although I appreciate ambiguity and red herrings, the ending feels completely unfinished.
shareI also wanted to believe it was all in his head. But for a few subtle things. 1) her hand on his head. We see that from our point of view, not his, so, to me, it shows us it is not all hallucinations. 2) He enters her presence when he opens the closet door in his mind and the light of "heaven" shows on his face -- again to us. 3) Why would his mind make up a good, forgiving new memory about his mother after what he had been through 4) if it was all in his head, what was the priest warning him about, If it was all in his head, what killed the aunt?
shareI agree with Burglarbil, his mother was making amends. I'm not even sure if he was dead from his fall. He may have been having a moment of great relief. A very enjoyable movie all around. I've grown so tired of poorly made movies of this type that I had lost hope of ever seeing a good one again. This fit the bill nicely.
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I know sachinchandra, I like things spelled out for me. I wanted to see him happy and back with his wife and child.
share{{ Spoiler ))
Terrible ending. He fell down the stairs, and had what seems like a wish fulfillment dream. I fully expected him to get up and end the movie. Nope, they musta ran out of film.
A shame - the acting was moderately good. Writer just SUCKED at the end.
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Totally agree with you BurglarBill......
This was about forgiveness...... that she in Spirit wanted from her son. Her hand is tender on his face, she has tears,...and the only way this was going to happen is after he was tricked in going back up the stairs, and after he vented the represss rage he had at his Mother. Yes, the ending was totally about his forgiveness of his Mom, at his Mom's Spirit request. He was also conscious at end of the film.
This is one of my favorite 'ghost-stories'- and I know the Atheists in the crowd would only look at it as a psychological thriller. To each their own.
Rho.
He was a 5 year old child, he loved his mom no matter what.
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