My Take On This Movie

I've read a lot of negative comments about this film and how they hated the ending, and I understand them completely. However, for me, for the most part, I enjoyed this film.

I'm only mentioning the dog being lost here, because I'll mention him/her again in a little bit.

Yeah, OK, it would have been nice if we knew why the actress was so remote and sad. My guess? She was depressed. I don't know if any of you have ever been depressed (and I don't mean the occasional feeling down kind of depressed, I mean the soul stealing, emotion-sucking, chronic fatigue kind of depressed) but if you have, then you should be able to identify with the character. She seemed remote and sad on a level that went beyond the normal reasons like losing a job, or something. It seemed more like she was looking for a way to connect on some level, but couldn't, and she was just going through the motions of life, but when pushed to really connect, she pulled away because she was incapable of expressing herself, and was possibly afraid of really exposing herself, and trusting anyone.

For the little girl, I was just fearful for her. When she came in contact with the older boy, I kept blurting out (thankfully I was at home while watching this, so I wasn't bothering anyone, lol) "Run, little girl. Run away. Get away from this guy!" and I swear, I thought he was going to hurt her. That older guy was just creepy.

Then there was the executive. He seemed under a lot of pressure from his job, which seemed to make him stressed out, frustrated, and distant from people. So, similar in some ways to the actress, but yet different because he wasn't depressed. still, he couldn't seem to connect with people either. Every time he came in contact with the woman, he pulled away. He almost seemed afraid to let go and be human again. Like it was a weakness he couldn't afford. Her friendliness, and constant attempts to be positive no matter how bad things got seemed to somehow be a threat to him at first, but then as time went on, and he started paying attention to her, she seemed to crack through his buffer and he started to feel again, and began to care about her plight.

So, this brings me to the end of the movie. In my opinion, everything came full circle. The lost dog finds its way home, the housewife (in my opinion) becomes depressed because of how she was treated by the actress, and likely feels very used, and therefore is confused about why she bothered to reach out to the actress in the first place, and also seemed to have a "why bother" attitude about things, and yet still doesn't understand why she is crying (which is a definite sign of depression).

The little girl helps the creepy kid by showing him kindness, which he doesn't seem to get from his dad, and it helps him learn to be kind in return.

And finally, the executive seems to realize the importance of love and family, and how that can all be lost in an instant. So where he couldn't or wouldn't connect with them before, and wouldn't talk to his wife (who very quickly seemed to be becoming his ex-wife), decides to return home and reconnect with her and probably make up for lost time.

So, that's my take on the movie and the ending, and as such, I found the ending to be satisfying, and it made sense to me.