MovieChat Forums > The Conspiracy (2013) Discussion > Ending was just flat out dumb

Ending was just flat out dumb

posted 10 years ago by bl-telfair
24 replies | jump to latest

The idea that he just got so pissed off at being "pranked" that he just decided to disappear is absurd. This is the same guy who was dead set on finding out what was going on. Thing is, there wasn't a hell of a lot going on. He didn't uncover some amazing secret or witness something spectacular. He just saw a bunch of rich people hanging out. They then find out he snuck in and decide to prank/scare him. He then gets furious because he obviously can't take a joke. Or perhaps the prank was just so terrifying he was mentally scarred forever. In the end, he was so mad/scarred that he decided to go climb into a black hole, never to be seen again.... Right.

That was a hell of a prank. Even incorporated the wife and kid just to really put that prank over the top.

That being said, anyone with a brain would immediately conclude that he was killed. If this secret society was intent on releasing info (as had been said) but not enough to let us truly form an opinion one way or another, they completely botched it. If you took 10 people, I'd bet 9/10 would agree he was killed.

[–] jamieisupercool 10 years ago

Thats not what happened. They actually killed him. The man who wrote the new york times article was actually in the tarsus club. The tarsus club is a creapy religous cult of powerful rich people that hunt and kill people as part of a ritual. They basically kill conspiracy theorist that find out about them and want to sneek into their meetings. The man told them to take their videos about the tarsus club off the internet because then the people that are looking for it will more likely run into the new york times article writen by him, hence allowing him to help "sneek" these people into one of the meetings to get killed in the ritual. The reason why they didnt kill the other guy was because they were covering up his disapearance and finishing up their documentary with the fake ending that the tarsus club only scared him and he disapeared somewhere because he was upset. Right after the part where they ambush him, it cuts to them in a video editing room with an anonymous editor editing out the part of the clip that shows him getting stabbed. This also covers up any loose ends that the cult had by explaining the cult rituals as ways to scare off people that sneak into the meetings. They threatened to kill the other guys wife and kid, unless he did what they told him to do. There is a part right after the ceremony where a guy is congratulating one of the main guys and mentions the words wife and small child in his dialogue that forshadows this. Then he says that he needs to show him something. And the guys like,"Okay one sec I have to use the bathroom." And there is a chase scene and he runs into a room and it cuts really quick but you can hear a baby crying as he opens the door.

[–] amandadewindt 10 years ago

Thank you for reitterating everything that we already know..

[–] Moesislak 10 years ago

Clearly the poster of the thread didnt get the ending and needed it explained.

[–] jon-k-law 10 years ago

No, the OP got it. They're saying that the ending is dumb because the movie is meant to be like propaganda piece but nobody would be fooled by the ending. Which is kind of true. The real-world ending straddled the line of being an effective in-universe propaganda ending ("oh, this guy disappeared but maybe he went to this camp thing he talked about for a second earlier in the movie") and telling the truth of what happened ("he got stabbed in the woods") and it does do it kind of clumsily that nobody who watches the documentary in-universe would be fooled.

[–] vicious2377 9 years ago

This is AMAZING. Literally, 5 people in a row that did not understand what the person before them meant, at all, and yet proceeded to comment anyways. This is some sort of internet-seven-wonders-of-the-world type deal.

[–] Floyd_Pinkerton 8 years ago

Reading comprehension is at an all-time low.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] sanious 10 years ago

I think it was Mark who responded to one of the documentary makers in why they let people have the little bit of information they do on Tarsus and it is because they as a group like to give a glimpse of how powerful they are. I don't know the exact quote but something a long those lines.

So even though it is obvious that he is dead, one could look at this as a way of them taking the opportunity to gloat about how powerful they are and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It is also bait for more conspiracy theorists to take and to get caught up in the hunt like the film makers did themselves.

Also the fact that hypothetically if this documentary were real, I think it is fine to assume that the majority people interested in watching it would be conspiracy theorists themselves. While most other general public would not be bothered with it considering most find conspiracy theorists crazy in the first place. And even so, even if "normal" people were to watch this, they wouldn't be the ones digging into info on the group as hard as conspiracy theorists would be, to the point where they would get themselves caught by the Tarsus group themselves.

[–] ScorpionTDC 10 years ago

I wouldn't say DUMB, I actually really liked the idea of it conceptually and it felt properly built up to. That said, it was kinda clumsy in terms of execution.

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[–] caramel53us 10 years ago

I can see what you're saying, but I had a different perspective. What I liked about the ending was the fact that the powers that be were passive-aggressively declaring: We don't expect you to believe this at all. We just want you to know that we will kill you and get away with it if you attempt to do what these guys did. They allowed the documentary to be made as one big advertisement for new victims and warning to those of us with something to lose to stay away.

[–] kayanders 10 years ago

There's two ways to look at the ending.

One: He wasn't just pissed, he was *scared.* He'd been talking about going to that off the grid community in Alberta for some time; this might've been the impetus for him to pick up and go. That's even alluded to at the end, when Jim looks at the website on the computer.

Two: He was killed, and Aaron is aiding in the cover up to protect his wife and son.

I'd like to think it's #1. But the inclusion of the already-reluctant wife says either they were going to *great* lengths to scare both of them... Or that Aaron was killed.

Ambiguous endings are tricky. It's too easy for them to be a cop-out. But this one was very nicely done.

Me? I aim to misbehave.

[–] mountaindewslave 8 years ago

there is no 'ambiguous' ending. Aaron is shown getting stabbed to death and then the video is shown being edited to remove that scene.

Beyond that it is more than heavily implied that both Aaron and Terrance ended up 'in the same place', i.e. they're gone, dead, etc.

The ending is straight forward

she fell through a hole, and was never seen again

[–] Walt-Most 10 years ago

IMO one of the major weaknesses of this movie is that the plot gets caught up in the guys' filming of the ritual, as opposed to documenting the power that the conspiracy supposedly wields. Let's face it, the ritual itself is pretty silly, aside from the possible/probable murder of Aaron. There's nothing inherently nefarious about rich & powerful people getting together, or in participating in some secret ritual (consider Scientologists, Masons, Mormons, various fraternal organizations, etc.). What the protagonists should have wanted to unveil, in keeping with their characters, was how the insiders manipulate world events.

That being said, I did find the movie entertaining.

*****
It is over.

[–] Tchoutoye 10 years ago

What you say about people getting caught up in the nature of the ritual rather than the power is undeniably true. However that is not the weakness of the film, rather the weakness of the characters depicted. Drama would be rather boring if it weren't about people's flaws. But one shouldn't ascribe the weakness of characters depicted to a weakness of the film makers.

[–] Walt-Most 10 years ago

That's a fair point as a general matter. But here the characters were established as being interested in the conspiracy's power. They were first intrigued by Terrance's claims about world domination, and then Aaron deciphers the pattern in Terrance's clippings showing some kind of manipulation of events. But then suddenly they are focused on the ritual.

*****
It is over.

[–] ychild 9 years ago

Conspiracy's power was their main interest, even when they were attending the ritual. They got those mini-cameras in order to "get evidence" - people, faces, names etc... Don't forget that this was that exact meeting where all of the major world events were supposedly planed. Still, the ritual was known to be a part of that meeting, so they couldn't avoid filming it, whether they wanted that or not. Too bad (for them) it was scheduled at the start and they never got to hear the actual plans made within this secret group.
On the other hand, even if they got a little carried away with the ritual itself, it's totally understandable. It can be an "overwhelming experience", especially for these two ordinary guys, who started as a documentary filmmakers and ended up as intruders on a dangerous group's party . Yet, it doesn't mean that the ritual itself was the main reason they are there.

[–] vnse 9 years ago

Exactly. I kept waiting to see some "brothers" discussing actual important things like "say old chum, how about we manipulate the British Pound a little next week?". Instead it's basically a big party at a mansion where everyone ears a silly mask. WOW, how conspiratorial!!

[–] ychild 9 years ago

That would've totally ruin it. See, the most important concern of the movie is to leave the main question unanswered: „Is it just an unusual party or are those people really a part of a secret society which controls things?“. The moment they pick a side, the point becomes reduced to a one-sided and biased perspective on the matter.

But this way, without the "how about we manipulate the British Pound a little next week?" part, the movie's ending has a double meaning, two different messages, depending on the type of audience.

A. The "regular folks" will take that ending and say "Well, these guys are just a bunch of rich fellas having a regular party and a good sense of humor. That conspiracy nut took the bait and now he's ashamed to death, living in some sort of a hippie community somewhere in the woods"...

... The movie ends and... nothing really happens.

OR

B. The conspiracy-minded people will get the true message: „You know that we exist and you know that we killed him. But see, nobody believes you. We are too powerful and we'll discredit and kill you in a blink of an eye. You are alone. So, what are you going to do about it? Nothing, of course"...

... And that's a really powerful message for the "believer", as it provokes all kinds of feelings - fear, anger, urge to fight back even harder etc. It's a slap in his face, and if a movie slaps me in the face - i know it's a good one.

And just in case anyone still has doubts about what really happens with Aaron... He is killed, and that is clearly pointed out by the fake smile on James's face while he talks about "the joke", and especially from the facial expression of his wife (who was kidnapped and therefore knows the truth) sitting next to him. That whole scene screams "something is not right here", which only confirms what's obvious.

[–] hafaball-1 9 years ago

Also, after the Taurus group got their hands on the documentary, they probably edited that stuff out. I wondered why the faces were blurred and voices changed when this is the party they're trying to expose, but the ending really is well done to answer all the questions.

What I wish was different was the bald guy on the bike and the big black SUV scenes. They were kind of silly in hindsight.

Time is a poem, the world is a verse, people are a word, I am a letter

[–] boo_themighty 9 years ago

Well the ritual serves many purpouses for the narrative:

1) It implies that the secret society is like a cult that serves darker supernatural forces, which adds another level of horror.
2) It implies that the society is very old and having unbroken traditions back to the Roman ages at least, which is actually a bigger display of their power than random chit chat about world events.
3) It also implies how closely knit together they are.

So actually the ritual is very important.

[–] puppethead23 9 years ago

I loved the ending! It was very much like the classic Wickerman but updated and brilliantly mixed with real life conspiracy theories. The only thing totally fiction was the Tarsis group which is actually the Bilderburgs and Skull N Bones. Even the meeting/party was a replay of the real life documentary of Alex Jones invading Bohemian Grove. It was brilliantly setup just like that.

Now the one thing I thought was too much of a givaway to what was going to happen at the end was the blurred out faces and muffled dialogue of figures at the party. I knew when I saw this that the video was found and edited at the end by those in charge. I knew they had won at that point we were just going to see it play out. There's no other reason why you would blur out those faces and conversations other than if you were being forced to. I also knew then that we weren't seeing what was happening in the story in real time any longer.

Great movie overall and about 100x better than other fictional conspiracy films. It's so much better too; that anyone really interested in researching many of the topics in the film would really find themselves going down the rabbit hole!

[–] jim-konng 9 years ago

Guys,

Sorry i am being dumb but i think i missed the ending. I did hear the baby crying but is it true they killed Aaron ? Why they killed Aaron ?

[–] essex9999 9 years ago

They killed Aaron (assuming they did kill him, which I think is what we're meant to believe) because they kill people who try to infiltrate their society. They killed him but spared Jim because Jim had more to lose - his wife and child. Also, it was pretty clear that Jim was the more practical and Aaron the more fanatical of the two. They knew they could control Jim and couldn't control Aaron, so Aaron is one who dies. Jim is allowed to live because they know he's safe, and, anyway, they wanted the edited documentary released to deflect the darker conspiracy theories about themselves.