American Beauty (spoilers)

This movie is actually very similar to American Beauty. The whole point of the film was the façade people can put up. The girl is mentally ill and has a different image of reality than what really is.

Instead of being the average middle class white girl, surrounded by middle to upper class people, she in reality is lower class and surrounded by other lower class people. But the dream she has in her head is the white colonial house with the white picket fence. She dreams of college professors and admission counsellors as they don't have worries as they must have money.

The seeing that people in her life aren't beautiful people but actually ugly seedy looking people is a way to escape. Same as having a friend who travels Europe instead of just being a drug dealing nomad.

The question then becomes what happened at the end?

-Dan killed her, he couldn't risk her keep calling and texting which would ruin his relationship with his fiancée

-Dan told her it's over and she ran off

-her boyfriend killed her after finding out she cheated on him

-Martin sheen abducted and killed her, he does have the criminal past

-a creepy reader found out who she is and abducted her

-she killed herself

-she drove off to escape (unlikely as her bank account was never touched)

-she made up the whole story including the ending for page views

-her mother had made up the whole story. Her daughter died young and this was a way to pretend what she'd be today

-the old man that molested her as a child read the letter, and tracked her down and killed her to prevent her from telling anyone else.

There's so many things that could've happened. I wish we had 5 more minutes to find out instead we are left to decide on our own