The Ending (spoilers, obv.)

Interesting post. There is also a theory that Martha really wanted the cult to find them and bring her back, while at the same time killing her sister and brother-in-law.

I do feel that the ending is ambiguous. I thought some scenes leading up to it to help create the paranoia were great, especially the scene with the bartender.

My only problem with the idea that the cult would track her down is that it would be a lot of trouble..she is like 3 hours away

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I bet I can convince you... Sean Durkin (writer/director) said he intended the ending to be "open" from the very start. He is quoted as saying when asked about when people ask about the ending:

Well I just don’t answer. [laughs] Some people want to know what happens next. I don’t know what happens next; we didn’t shoot that. The one thing I do say when people ask about the ending is that the film is Martha’s experience. I set out to create the experience of what it’s like for someone who comes from a group like this. Where the film ends, that’s where it ends for Martha. If people have questions, they’re probably the same questions that Martha has.

As for your interpretation of what happened, it just doesn't make sense at all to me. First, they knew where she was living for some time before this last scene (the same black SUV was parked at the house where she broke the driver's side window with a rock, the guy watching her from across the lake during her last swim scene, the bartender at the party) so why wait so long if they are just going to kill her? Why lose the element of surprise by getting the car to stop and then not ambush them all then and there but get into the SUV and follow them? No, unless the cult members were impossibly stupid then they had no intent of killing Martha.

So assuming they WERE there, they had two other possible intents that I can come up with. One, they wanted to keep her intimidated to keep her silent about her witnessing the murder. Two, they wanted to keep their hold on her in the hopes that she would decide to return to them. To me, the first possibility is invalid because there is no statute of limitations on murder so killing the witness is the only way of guaranteeing their silence. The second possibility would be a huge risk but it makes more sense. She reached out to them with her phone call and they are making sure they are available for her to return with them when she is ready. I also don't see the cult as being accustomed to murder (yet) as we saw in the way most of the members were affected by it. It also solves all of their problems by not drawing more attention to themselves, by leaving everyone alive and no sign of any crime being committed, and gives them the power to deal with Martha in any way they deem fit.

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I agree 100%. In my opinion, they had caught up with her and would no doubt kill all 3. I re-watched it multiple times with a very open mind and in my opinion, its very clear that she isn't hallucinating. They went with an open ending because it was ultimately a much better ending for this movie and made people really think about what they saw. Doesn't change anything for me tho. I absolutely believe they had found her and hence the end was nigh.

Still Shooting With Film!

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I haven't read any other opinions but I thought the same as you. All three would be killed for sure. The optimist in me thinks she told them to drive to the police station though. ;p

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I am really surprised that there were so many posters here who thought that the ending implied that the cult had caught up with Martha, and several even thought that not only Martha but also the sister and her husband would be killed within minutes after the end of the film. To me, the ending was undoubtedly meant to be at most ambiguous, and simply indicated the state of paranoia Martha was in.

There was little to suggest that the cult might be able to trace where Martha was, save the single phone call she made to her friend at the camp. As one poster above pointed out, if the cult wanted to take Martha back or kill her, there was no reason why they waited so long. I think it was almost certain that the bartender she accused had nothing to do with the cult, and that the guy who watched her swimming from the other side of the lake was not the cult leader. The commotion on the road at the end was not explained, but there was no evidence that it was caused by the cult. If the cult had already located Martha, there were certainly many better ways to silence her than shooting not one but three people in broad daylight on a busy road.

I think all the above simply implied that Martha had become a physical and mental wreck, and she had to continue to live in fear and suspicion. Her body was perhaps damaged permanently by meth (she urinated on herself during sleep). She continued to have bad dreams and suspicions, and on one occasion even kicked her sister's husband down the stairs. She had been an accessory to murder and so could not approach the law enforcement for protection from the cult. Though she left the cult, she had somehow adopted some of its warped social values. She regarded herself as the "teacher and leader" and morally superior to her sister's family who in her opinion only cared about making money for a comfortable living, but she had no plans for a job or responsible living. At the end they were taking Martha for medical and professional help and one hopes her condition might improve. It appears to me, however, that Martha would have to hope with all these issues for the rest of her life.

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