What I Think Really Happenned (an alternative point of view)..SPOILERS!!

I can buy your interpretation of what happened, no problem, Tony, but what's really interesting is how the film is conceived and open to interpretation (for us to make meaning of) depending on what we are able to bring to it. See some of the reviews, mine as well as others. This is a work of art that not only demands our attention, but makes us think a little bit to make sense of. A lot of people don't get it because they are unable to engage the film, and fault the filmmaker rather than questioning their own approach and perhaps developing their sensibilities in the process.

But then, why step on it and make use of one's intelligence to berate or trash it, as well as those who appreciate it when one has had a tough time ? Is that a sign of intelligence or ignorance? If one comes face to face with ones ignorance because of a difficult experience, is it better to lash out and destroy the messenger in a self-righteous tantrum, or perhaps ask a few questions, and be open to learning from others who are capable of bringing some light to the message.

People are way too accustomed to being spoon fed their emotions, thoughts, and everything else when it comes to movies, and don't seem nearly interested enough in developing the skills of engagement which presuppose interpretation or opinion.... This film is a fascinating puzzle, and all the pieces are there (just as with Haneke's Cache or Code Unknown). It is our job as viewers to pay attention to the clues or bridges that lead us into the narrative stream, and help us make sense of it....

I dont agree with you.Yes i do accept she suffered some type of minor conmotion,that made her (for example,go to her own dentist place,and sit and wait intead of seeing the patient) but please think all of the movie happened in a very small and closed-minded town where she is a part of the (let's call it) high class. and the rest are the "indians" (the boy she ran over,the plantpot seller,the housekeepers,etc) in these towns,like many others,you go to a faraway hotel if you don't want to be seen. thats what she does,she goes to the hospital (where someone must have recognise her) but she runs away,later when she returns her brother stops her at the entrance and tells her to leave...he`d get in charge of the situation...that means,he arranged the stuff...(money? influences? ) the same happened at the hotel.
I mean headless woman is one that has many privileges,but is completely commanded by men who are much able to wash her out of any kind of trouble (and,believe me,nobody cares when a little poor indian boy dies) And she knows all of this,men have the power and here it`s convenient for her. also her husband knows about her affair,but he`d sure have another,as the type of absent husband he is...
well i hope this could help ypu to get a different point of view.In my opinion,she killed the boy,and then she left herself surround by all the people who were trying to help her out.

Tony - A minor bump on the head couldn't possibly cause the type of amnesia you are talking about. Vero could have suffered a concussion, which might cause some mild confusion temporarily, but she isn't likely to have forgotten who she is, or her family. Rather, I think her confused state was artistic license and a plot device allowing for a subtle examination of the issues others have noted - especially class and race. Regarding the hospital records, there was clearly a cover up, as her husband tells her he has arranged for them to be removed from the hospital.

I agree with Tony-196, although I didn't think that it was hinted at or implied ... they pretty much flat out tell you that is what is going on. It's even right there in the tile basically. I don't see how anyone who watched this movie with any assumption other than that Vero was suffering from amnesia made any sense of anything ... without that basic knowledge the movie is pretty much pointless.

I think the film is a textbook example of someone suffering from what is called 'dissociative fugue' or 'fugue state'. It is similar to 'amnesia', and can be brought on by stress, and in this case, the bump to the head caused by the accident, and a combination of anxiety and guilt. This would account for Vera's inability to recognize and negotiate her old life following the incident. I found it very revealing that when she first went back to her own office, she first sat in the waiting room as if she thought that she was a patient. Although, you could make the case that the "nothing" happened after the accident, I think that the film gives amble evidence to support a cover-up orchestrated by her husband and family friends. However, the film works with either interpretation.

Excuse My Dust...

What clearly happened in this awful movie was nothing. It is another movie, in a long line of recent films, that is vague for the sake of being vague. Yea, yea,yea i know. Im one of those retards that needs a movie spoon fed to me to understand it.Im not nearly as intellegent as most people who post on this site claiming to get "what really happened" or "what that really meant". So since this movie was so brilliant and clever that nobody is still exactly sure what happened, I will give my version. On the way home, Vero ran over the dog and the kid. when she pulled over down the road she realized her car was damaged. It was then and only then did she realize her 30,000 mile warranty had just expired. She went to the hospital because she had a stroke, when she found out about this. There, at the hospital, she walked out without paying, because that symbolized the social inequalities of blond haired people to brunettes. She then cheated on her husband, went home, where someone turned the microwave on, which caused her to piss her pants and forget who she was for an hour. She then bought stuff for the garden and dyed her hair. Awesome movie.

i'd like to say just one thing: she did hit the boy.
there are two bumps, the second is white out with sand, but after there are prints of palms of hands on the car window from the outside. see for yourself!

Doesn't really matter what happened, surely the whole point of the film is the shock of seeing how the past events are so easily deleted from all existence (with particular regard to the state-sanctioned use of this during Argentina's dictatorship). A dog, a person, who knows, either way, the family are more interested in covering-up the event than finding out the truth. Trying to work-out what really happened seems to be to be a secondary point.