MovieChat Forums > Mirrors (2008) Discussion > Mirrors ending explained (spoilers)

Mirrors ending explained (spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by dascott2
32 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen this mentioned, but I'm quite sure this is how it works in the movie and it answers a lot of questions I've seen:

The demon has the ability to possess people. That's what demons do. In the mirror world, it is possessing your reflection, and then using that reflection to cause harm to you in the real world through creative means like ripping its own face off. However if you aren't being reflected, then whatever the demon is doing to you in the mirror world has no effect, because it has no window into reality.

Ben has no such power of possession. He could, I suppose, stab someone in the face in the mirror world and if they were standing in front of a mirror it would happen in the real world, sure. They would see Ben in their reflection poking a knife in their eye and then they'd feel the wound in the real world. Ben could also drop in and freak out his kids while they brush their teeth if he wanted to be cruel.

So there you have it. What you do on one side only matters on the other if it is being reflected. Without the mirror acting as a window, the worlds remain separate.

As far as how he got there or how he gets out.. no friggin clue.

[–] dascott2 15 years ago

One part does stump me though - the boy falling through the floor and being underwater. In the context of the movie, this one scene makes absolutely no sense at all and stands out as the worst offender. If he were in the mirror world, he's just be standing in the hallway.

Still, fun movie while drunk at 7am.

[–] solitaire40 13 years ago

"Still, fun movie while drunk at 7am"

I'll drink to that!

[–] Maxx_the_Slash 15 years ago

What I'd like to know is:

1. If Ben is in the mirror world, which I know he is, then isn't he still in the real world? Like, his mirror form and real form switched sides? Wouldn't things in the mirror world be exactly the same, only flipped around? If so, then he still has his mirror world family, which would act the same in the real world and would have their same memories, so there's no real need for Ben to panic, unless... well, read question 3.

2. HOW and WHEN did he enter the mirror world? Was it the gas line explosion in conjunction with the demon in the mirror using their powers? Was it when Anna was in the room and all the mirrors blew apart? Or did the demon Anna that he was fighting do it with some kind of demonic power?

3. This is something more like a question a Sci-Fi geek would ask a director or producer at a Star Trek convention, but I still wish I knew the answer. In the ending just as Ben found out words were backwards and discovered he was in the mirror world, everything was quiet. We're made to believe it's just for effect, until he notices the backwards letters, but what I'd like to know is, does sound in the mirror world exist? I know it's kinda pointless to wonder something so trivial, but if I were Ben in the mirror world and sound, I'd cut my losses, learn to read backwards and live with it. But if there's no sound, I can't imagine how I'd live. I'd have to learn sign language or some ****.

I wonder why people say this movie's ending sucks, like in that review on the Mirrors profile page on this site. I think it's great. It get's you thinking. I like to think after movies. And I like situations in horror movies where you feel bad about something that's happening to a character that you want to help prevent or change, but can't. This is like that for me.
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You **** with The Warriors, you get your ****ing head split.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] smithshannon-1 15 years ago

Yeah I agree, don't know exactly how they wrap that all up, but I think Ben died when the building collapsed and his soul somehow was sent to this mirror world. He kind of sacrificed himself to save his family. Now I don't know about the demon, but I think that the demon is dead, it finally was released from the mirrors and possessed the nun, Ben killed her. Now what I'm not too sure of is, whether or not there was ever a mirror world to go to. Earlier in the movie we see the various souls in the mirrors and the nun makes the statement that the demon traps the souls in the mirrors(?) Again not very wrapped up neatly is it, but for entertainment value I liked it, especially the ending.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] novimovieman 12 years ago

<3. This is something more like a question a Sci-Fi geek would ask a director or producer at a Star Trek convention, but I still wish I knew the answer. In the ending just as Ben found out words were backwards and discovered he was in the mirror world, everything was quiet. We're made to believe it's just for effect, until he notices the backwards letters, but what I'd like to know is, does sound in the mirror world exist? I know it's kinda pointless to wonder something so trivial, but if I were Ben in the mirror world and sound, I'd cut my losses, learn to read backwards and live with it. But if there's no sound, I can't imagine how I'd live. I'd have to learn sign language or some ****.>

Let me give you a real life experience. When confronted with knowledge that overwhelms the mind, the outside world shuts down. In the 1970's I was driving down an interstate highway and there was a girl standing in the highway divider. She darted across the highway and was struck by a vehicle. I pulled off the highway to see if she was badly injured. When I approached her I was in shock because her head was missing. The ghastly reality of this scene made all of the highway sound go away, temporarily. I was instantly numbed to the outside world. There was only silence and the girl. I believe Keefer's character experienced this extreme but transitory state.

As an apologist turned authority I don't defend my comments because I am always right.

[–] furrerfilms 14 years ago

Ben has been inside the mirror since the beginning of the film.

The first time he enters the building and looks in the mirror, the door opens. He then goes down the stairs into the basement. The camera then pulls all the way back out, up the stairs, and then back to the mirror and in the reflection we see the door shut, thus, he is now inside the mirror.

His shortcomings as a detective and a father are highlighted by his desire to "investigate", therefore his subconscious mind creates a problem that needs to be solved. Once he "solves" the case, thus proving his capability as a detective and "saves" his family, reestablishing the desired bond with his wife and children, he feels complete. Only then does he realize that he himself is inside the mirror.

Obviously only conjecture, but I'd be interested in hearing others thoughts on this theory.

Sincerely,
FilmGuy10

[–] McQueen85 14 years ago

Couldn't stand this movie @ all, but your explanation sounded right on the money to me!...

"You want to investigate my courage? Do you? Find out! Find out!" (Robert Ford)

[–] 1powderedtoastman1 14 years ago

he couldn't be in the mirror world from the beginning. He was reading various things throughout the movie (ie. psych ward report, "objects may be closer...", etc).

I just took it that he died. But instead of letting his soul rest, he's gone to the mirror world.

[–] asortofdream 14 years ago

I like two theories 1) that the mirror world is pure illusion and Ben will lose his sanity and become the demon. 2) Yours.

I don't believe your assessment prevents Ben from interacting with the real world. It was that he couldn't perceive his predicament until the end, after he had "faced his demon". The concept is similar to that of dreaming. One does not realize one is dreaming no matter how absurd the subject matter of the dream except under exceptional circumstances.

The final scene of the movie felt to me like a dream sequence (however I don't believe that it was). The inability to differentiate dreaming from reality appears related to the condition of schizophrenia (loss of the cognitive protections that would separate two distinct realities).

I'd like to add the possibility that Ben had lost his sense of self when his personal problems were solved. He existed to solve problems but without a problem he had no purpose.

[–] FortySecondStreetFreak 14 years ago

How the hell could he have been in the mirror world from the start, and yet spend the rest of the film speaking to friends and family, not seeing anything backwards, and doing real actions like throwing out the mirrors and painting them.

He was doing real world physical acts (from speaking to people to moving things) throughout the film.

People over analyse these things.

The end is simple. He died (there was even an alternative end of his body in the ambulance) while killing the Nun and his soul went into the mirror world.
Simple and obvious.

I agree that HOW he came into the mirror world is not covered in the film, but I assume it was because he died when the building collapsed on him under the reflective water.
which makes sense and is easy enough. The only problem I have with that is, if the demon was OUT of the mirrors and in the Nun...why would the reflective 'mirrors' (water or whatever) still be 'claiming souls'?

www.beardyfreak.com

[–] rayquaza11 14 years ago

I figured it out:

So there's two Bens: one on the mirror side, and one on the "real" side. When the door closed, his soul was transferred to the mirror side. Both versions of him still remained intact, so you couldn't tell which one had the soul.

When his "real" version died, it was then he realized that his soul was trapped on the mirror side.

Remember that people's mirror versions could be possessed by the demon, and act on their own accord without "mirroring" the real people. This is how the mirror version of Ben could move around while his body remained in the real side.

The demon wasn't really "claiming souls", it was just moving them to the mirror side. After the demon died, there was no way for souls to be transferred. I think Ben is stuck there forever.

[–] Bree_33 14 years ago

« As far as I could tell the demon didn't actually kill him. I believe he died from the building collapsing and then probably because of the mystical energy from the demon previously being in the mirrors- instead of his soul passing on to the next life- his soul instead went into the mirror world. That's just one possibility though.

Overall, "Mirrors" was an entertaining movie. However, I was expecting better things from the director of "The Hills Have Eyes." If you can overlook a lack of explanation and poor characterization and aren't looking for a particularly gory film, then "Mirrors" shouldn't pose a problem for you.«

I'm the ghost with the most

[–] waz_fukashima 13 years ago

I think the last 30 minutes redeemed it in my eyes.

Apart from the devil nun action scene, the tension of the house filled with water, the daughter being attacked and the exploding nun were all top class tense filled moments, and the ending was an extremely cool gimmick (which made sense considering you expected him to die).

[–] Hurry_up_N_buy 12 years ago

@furrerfilms .. I like that synopsis cap'n, never thought of it like that.

Lotta nonsense in this movie, but it was still very fun.

.............................................................................that's 100 characters

[–] ringworm3141 12 years ago

He hasn't been on "the other side" the whole time. Because he was shown earlier reading old newspaper clippings and investigating etc_and the letters weren't backward.....

[–] hippiman72 14 years ago

The ending was just bolted on at the end cos it seemed like a good plot twist. There is at no point any explanation as to how he came to be in a mirror world. To me the whole mirror world ending was just done for the sake of it and though a good idea, just putting it in there with no reason as to how ruined the film (as well as the whole demon entering the nun and the kid in the water, actually.... if u stop watching just as the family start to get attacked its a really scary film, once the kid/water & demon/nun stuff happens it goes rubbish)

[–] dbzerogravity 14 years ago

it does seem to lose focus toward the end. i just took the end as he died and his soul is trapped in the mirror world. he definitely was not in that world the whole movie considering his interaction with his family and the nun. nice little twist at the end, but it didn't make up for the second half of the movie

[–] lostn 14 years ago

Horror movies (or supernatural thrillers) never end well for the protagonist. There's always an obligatory twist ending. You should have expected that.

[–] rndhyd 14 years ago

If there is no person by a mirror, then there is no reflection.
In other words, the demon only exists when there is a reflection.
Just guessing.
It's funny that you try to rationalize the impossible with some reality.
I stopped watching after about 20 minutes.

Besides boring, there is just too much departure from reality--even close to speed of light travel is too much for me.
Suspension of belief can only go so far.

[–] hybridschoolbus 14 years ago

Why did he vanish after touching the mirrored surface? Where did he go right at the end?

[–] david-nolan13 14 years ago

he didnt vanish. The camera went through to the "real" world and all that was you could see of Ben in thet reality was the handprint on the mirror.

[–] Lifeguardfan 14 years ago

So, if it only matters if you are being reflected, then how did Amy Smart's character die? She was reflected before she got into the tub, but she wasn't staring at her reflection when her jaw came off. Unless the water in the tub was reflecting her image...which would have made more sense then the demon in the bathroom mirror above the sink doing it.

[–] and_then_some 14 years ago

I am still with the "pushed through the mirror" part. I think that Ben was somehow dragged into the mirror again. I haven't really thought it through but it was like when his Son was pulled through the water in thier home. Take into account that the demon was not released yet. But who is to say there wasn't more than one demon inside anna?

Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage and make a Northwest Passage to the Sea

[–] DocAimster 14 years ago

I really have nothing to add about the ending of this movie other than to say that the 200yr old antique beveled glass mirror above my fireplace really has me freaked the F@*K out now! Some of you have posed some really good theories though.

[–] Michael-Keating 14 years ago

ROFL @ 200 yr old beveled glass mirror.

Here's a theory: There's a demon in the mirror of the psych hospital/department store. When you stare into those mirrors as Ben did, the demon can possess you. Ben was in the mirror world from the beginning; a major clue was when he entered the old psych ward room and saw the chair, one of his reflections shot at the mirror. He wanted out.

Once real world Ben communicated with the mirror, he found out they wanted Esseker. Esseker said bringing her back would just kill her, and release what's inside the mirror. As the demon sensed Ana was near, it got excited and could almost get out of the mirror, even able to bring people from the real world into the mirror world. The demon killed Ana, and broke free. Ben got killed in the fire, but still lived in the mirror world.

[–] rulanator 13 years ago

the ending reminded me of Cuentos para no dormir one of the 8 movies where the protagonist sees a parallel world through a baby cam.

[–] fidget2484-1 13 years ago

I'm glad I just saw this. I was just asking about an explanation fo the mirrors ending over in insidious. It makes sense that we saw his handprint only because he was trapped in the mirror world. His physical body died, but his soul was trapped in the mirror world. My favorite kind of movies are the ones that leave you to wonder what's going on after the ending.

[–] Duncan_Idaho02 13 years ago

There is a thread already dedicated to explaining the ending. Here is part of my explanation.

The american movie made it clear that the only reason the mirrors were significant was because the evil had left the girl during her days of therapy in the mirror room. So when they evil left the mirrors and went back into the girl/nun there was no more "mirror world" for him to go into. If there was supposed to be some permanent mirror world then the movie did a very poor job of bringing us in on this part of the plot. In fact they actually went out of their way to explain it in a way so as to make us believe that the only reason there was anything strange about the mirrors at all was due solely to the transfer of the evil into the mirrors during the therapy of the little girl. Once they left the mirrors to get back into her then the mirror situation is irrelavant. Again, a good idea, bad execution.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790686/board/nest/144956736?d=144994283&a mp;p=1#144994283

[–] DemonGate 13 years ago

A good idea, bad execution

You just summed up the entire movie.

"NO! Nod deh statue of meeee!" - Arnie (As Maria Shriver throws his stuff onto the front lawn)

[–] castlerock20002000 12 years ago

I agree, in the movie Into the mirror this ending made more sense.