Did Ronnie actively murder the baby on Alice's orders or did she just neglect her until she died and not give her back to her family? And at the end we see young Alice smiling over the unattended baby carriage. Is she the one who really grabbed the baby in the first place?
shareThe ending hints that it was all Alice's idea. Ronnie did strangle the baby forced by Alice (that's why she kills herself)
shareIf the ending hints that it was Alice's idea, then why is Alice shown in FLASHBACK shouting "No! Stop! What are you doing?!" when Ronnie first takes the baby?
Messily directed!
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"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"
My opinion: Flashbacks/memories belong to whoever is having them and aren't necessarily truth. Since Alice is so warped and had been lying to everyone for so long, it makes sense that she's completely convinced herself that her lies are the truth, so sheโs able to "remember" Ronnie taking the baby even though that's not how it really happened. Likewise, Ronnie's memory of taking the baby could be explained by the fact that everybody had been saying for so long she was the one that did it, so she eventually believed it herself.
Antidote: I have a memory from when I was about 6 of my mom taking me and my little brother (he's a year younger) to the doctor for some vaccinations. I got my shot first and I cried a little. Then my younger brother got his shot and he cried a lot. We got in the car and he cried the whole way home until I turned to him in the car and said, "Stop crying. It didn't hurt that bad." I mentioned this memory to my mom and brother a few years ago and they both were like, "It was you that cried the whole way home. Brian said that to you." My mind was blown. Apparently, I was embarrassed that I cried more than my little brother, so I convinced myself that he was the one being a big baby and I created a false memory to support that idea.
Fair explanation - but I think it would've been more complex/engendered more sympathy for Alice, if it could've somehow been hinted with visual cues that that is what might be happening...
It's POSSIBLE, and your resolution is a good one, but it doesn't seem like the movie has a perspective, either way... so I still say it makes the whole thing rather ill-conceived.
I like movies to have a clear direction, whether the audience at large agrees with it, or not. ๎
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"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"
also i thought alice was in a bathing suit when they happened upon the baby
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