MovieChat Forums > Wreckers (2011) Discussion > What I think happened to Nick

What I think happened to Nick

posted 10 years ago by coffeecustard80
10 replies | jump to latest

Beautiful movie! But I don't think Nick's fate was left in any way ambiguous. The last time Nick sees Dawn, Nick screams that David *beep* her but loved him. The last think Dawn says as she's storming out is that if Nick loved David he'd leave her and David alone. I think that is what exactly happened. But he couldn't plausibly just leave. He was heartbroken and lonely and he also obviously suffered from PTSD. It makes complete sense for him to fly into a rage and tear and break things, and try to scratch his father from the snapshot we see Dawn looking at when she comes back later to give Nick money. And then, he left. Because he truly loved David and wanted him to be happy. I actually didn't get the impression that he was upset or hurt when he said David had owned him. I felt he was proud.

I actually think David is a hero. If I understood correctly (had a little hard time following all the British), he is a victim of abuse. He is not a cold-blooded murderer; he and his younger brother were abused and he actually took on the mammoth task of protecting his brother. Throughout the movie he seems to take care of Nick, he is generous with physical affection (he would, of course, since for me the incest was leaping out from the screen), he loyally refused Dawn's request to get rid of him. His violent outbreaks are rare and only happen when he is incredibly provoked. Dawn doesn't have a single bruise anywhere. Letting the dog out, lying about his mother, omitting to mention his father, and telling Nick Dawn was the infertile one -- bad stuff. He didn't escape unscathed. He's scarred, and he lashes out, and he lies, and he completely loses it. But very, very rarely.

In the final scene, I didn't feel Gary was trying to rub it in David's face. I felt it was suddenly obvious to both Gary and David and Dawn (I don't think Gary's wife caught on) how very closely the baby resembled Gary. The baby actually really did resemble him very much. If you look at Benedict's face you'll find all the pieces falling into place visibly on his face. Gary on the other hand was stuck -- I felt he was envious, then he was curious whether anyone caught on, then he became increasingly uncomfortable toward the end as though realizing that they had indeed caught on. And finally the look David levels at Dawn while he continues carrying the baby... I felt it was a combination of hurt, resentment at having been made a fool of for no reason (true, because who in real life runs to their partner and dutifully informs them they can't have kids? He didn't deserve to be cheated on and with someone like Gary no less) and perhaps the beginning of hate. I felt that his deep love for Dawn which was palpable throughout the movie began to dry up in that final scene.

Having said all that, I usually see things that seem very obvious to me only to discover no one else thinks they make sense. So if you've made it this far down this post, please know I'm not ridiculing other explanations of the movie. I was simply adding my two pennies' worth and gushing about another of Benedict's awesome movies.

[–] hellokristen 10 years ago

Beautiful recap & summary. You've convinced me. Altho there was that sinister line from Benedict at the hospital, after Dawn tells him Nick was here. "I know. I saw him." And? And? I hate when they just leave it hanging. I too had a hard time understanding much dialogue. Poor sound quality, more than British accents, I think.

[–] CreepyCrawley 10 years ago

coffeecustard I agree with your post 100%.
Wonderful analysis of the character of David.

[–] film_ophile 10 years ago

excellent, sensitive, detailed post.
only place you confused me was about possible brother incest- you thought yes or no? personally, i didn't think so. but i thought the ways they staged the physical closeness/hugging/reassuring was very effective . And i do think Nick had mental problems from his childhood on- that cried out for physical comforting- which David gave him all along, so it was a well established routine for them.

The way to have what we want
Is to share what we have.

[–] LisaAire 10 years ago

Hi, I pretty much thought just as you did, except for the end. I do think he knew she had been unfaithful, because he can't have kids, and perhaps he was thinking the father was his brother, only to realize at the end that Gary is the father. I also thought Gary was happy to meet his child until he got that look from david. But I didn't sense hatred or resentment from him towards his wife, more like a feeling of revolt or stupefaction, but something he would forgive.

[–] daddie0 10 years ago

I agree with you. I also thought that when she said she has "seen" his brother after he had come back that the insinuation was that his brother was the father of his baby. This seemed to come crashing down when they ran into Gary and while holding the baby it all became suspiciously clear. The moment after walking away, we get a view that the couple doesn't get: we see the fear and hurt and possible shame on her face, and we see him processing in the background. There was a palpable moment for me, where I thought he was going to finally lash out at this "final betrayal" and it happens just as he begins to swing the baby...and instead of setting the child down and walking away (or worse) he chooses to love and accept the child knowing the pain that lay ahead.

A beautiful, painful, and elegant film!

[–] LimittedSunshine 10 years ago

I agree with this so much! Someone on Benedict's message board told me that I thought too highly of David.

Official member of the CumberCollective, Cumberbabes and anything Cumberbatch.

[–] httpmom 9 years ago

CoffeeCustard,
You put into fine words every thing I thought while watching this movie as well, especially the ending. I got the feeling that once David realized his wife's transgression, he changed dramatically. It seemed to me that Dawn was going to be made to pay and that he was more than capable of making life a torture for her. I almost felt that Dawn was wrong to send Nick away. He obviously really loved and needed his brother. I felt rather sorry for him to be tossed aside. He was family after all. Unless of course her reason was that she suspected incest.

"If I wasn't a transvestite terrorist, would you marry me"?

[–] nesy_1 9 years ago

I agree with most of what everyone's saying so far, but I don't think that the final scene and the look at David face was about his wife. He knows his wife was unfaithful from the moment he finds out she's pregnant. So it doesn't make much sense that only after figuring out that the father of the baby is not his brother he'd start to resent her. On the contrary, I think he finally realized that he was wrong about his brother (some people are saying that he killed him, I personally don't see anything in the movie that proves it, but imagine how much it would suck if he really did kill him and just realized that it was for nothing :D)

I don't think that David is a hero.. yes, he was protecting his brother, but it seems just so that he can abuse him himself (after the party Gary says something like "he used to pay me to beat you up", in the beginning Nick tells how David and his mates were making obstacle course for him while he was sleepwalking and he fell into the pond and so on) So I'm not entirely convinced he was all that good a guy.
The only almost decent character seems to be Nick. He may have some issues but given what he's been through can you blame him? He may not be a saint but compared to the others he is way better.

[–] corinthmills13 9 years ago

I think the final scene is about how the past stays with you. The entire movie is really about David trying to run from his past. When Nick comes Dawn begins to learn all the things about David's past which he has not told her, thing that he did and things that were done to him. David has no reason to get angry at Dawn during the last scene, he already knows the baby isn't his. It is plausible he thought it was Nick's (from their conversation in the hospital) or that he just didn't know whose is was. I do think he realizes that Gary is the father at the end (or Dawn had already told him), but this just reminds him that their happiness has a tinge of sadness to it. Our past mistakes and sins are always there, and so are the sins which others have committed against us (especially childhood abuse and things like that). It is still possible to be happy (as I think Dawn and David are able to be in the end) but there are always evidences of those past events. Nick was one of those reminders, which is one of the main reasons they wanted him to leave. Now, they have another reminder, Gary. This is just a fact of life, we carry the scars or our past mistakes. I think the ending shows us that even though we have made mistakes and there is pain in the world it is still possible to find good in life and be happy.

[–] waxyjo 8 years ago

It's interesting reading other people's views of this film. There is so much ambiguity and yet I do believe the writer had a very clear idea of the history, interaction and psychology of the characters.

The reason I'm looking into this, is I'm wondering if I'm the only person who believes David killed Nick at the end? It seems to me that David's character is gradually and slowly unveiled as a psychopath; and Nick's as the one who took the blame for David's behaviour and became irreparably damaged as a result.

It's funny how it seems obvious to me that Nick never lies once in the entire play. Yet many are perceiving it differently, as we have been told the story from the eyes of the married couple and so, by the time it is revealed that David not only tried to kill his mother, but also 'owned' (abused, controlled, manipulated?) his younger brother, the twist is so late that his behaviour is excused.

I say watch the film again - knowing that David pushed his mother down the stairs, seeing that he has violently pushed over his wife next to the pool (when she was trying to break up a fight?). Knowing that he paid his 'friend' to bully his younger brother, so that Nick had no chance of escape or sanity.

David is a classic psychopath, they do function in normal society. The key is they feel no guilt, empathy or remorse and the only emotion I see in David's character is jealousy and the desire to continue the facade of being the man he created in order to win his wife's affection. Hence I do believe he killed Nick in the end and that is inferred when he admits to Dawn that he knew he was back....