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Not sure why we assume they are "creatures"....SPOILERS

posted 5 years ago by replicant4 (219)
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It seems much more like an affliction or phenomenon than a bunch of physical entities doing this. I'd be more inclined to assume people are having some kind of reaction to a virus....or something in the mist...or even a magnetic field or the radiation/ultraviolet light of an unidentified nature, or poisonous gas.....than assume "creatures" are driving people mad. For example, if a bunch of creatures were all around, wouldn't Malorie and the kids have been much more..."vulnerable" to a physical attack while drifting down a river, blindfolded. Or...while walking through a forest, blindfolded. I didn't read the book, so maybe there's more of an implication that they are indeed physical beings creating this mayhem. But it sure is not made clear in the film.

Also...there's no rhyme or reason to why SOME people are impervious to the self-destruction effect, and instead just go around like psychotic "recruiters", trying to get people to look into the sky.

Also, as another poster pointed out....the older guy in the suit that they let in....was apparently one of those crazy "recruiter" people. However, he was able to act normal around the group and conceal that he had been affected....until such time as he was ready to make his moves. That's yet another inconsistent (or least unexplained) wrinkle.

Also, early on....it's KIND OF implied that whatever it is people look at....is personal to each individual. For example, the lady who was John Malkovich's wife....spoke to her mother when looking at the vision in the sky. However, the writers didn't do much more with that particular premise, that I can recall. Except I do seem to remember "voices" beckoning Malorie while she was looking for the 2 kids in the forest--trying to trick her?

Having said all this, I did enjoy the film. It was good and spooky (and TENSE). And Sandra B. really committed to the role. It was good. Could have been GREAT.

[–] ultravioletx (10216) 5 years ago

They were crab people... obviously.

[–] BrunoAntony (1198) 5 years ago

They never defined what the entities were, which is fine.

But, yeah, the “powers” they displayed were annoyingly inconsistent.

[–] ILJtheFirst (1928) 5 years ago

Maybe it was on purpose, like how "The Road" was a combination of several doomsday scenarios that happened together.

[–] mobocracy (845) 5 years ago

My understanding is that Cormac McCarthy based his apocalypse around the effects of a large comet or asteroid impact. He left it out of the book because he didn't think it was important. Its about the best explanation for the way the world was presented.

[–] Threadkiller (2955) 5 years ago

Also, as another poster pointed out....the older guy in the suit that they let in....was apparently one of those crazy "recruiter" people. However, he was able to act normal around the group and conceal that he had been affected....until such time as he was ready to make his moves. That's yet another inconsistent (or least unexplained) wrinkle.

That was the main thing that bothered me about the movie. How he was able to act completely normal, No "infected" eyes to give him away. coming up with a convincing, detailed story like some Russian spy, only to go full on psycho to reek havoc when he's left alone and everyone is distracted. I still stuck wondering how was he able to mask being infected/possessed/indoctrinated or whatever you want to call it. My biggest gripe in an otherwise solid, well acted and suspenseful little supernatural thriller.

[–] Painbow (156) 5 years ago

But he wasn't affected at that point. Hence his eyes changed when he looked out the window.

I believed his story. He wasn't a recruiter. I just think he personally decided... fuck it.

[–] Threadkiller (2955) 5 years ago

So he was a mentally ill person pretending to be normal "but not yet indoctrinated" who narrowly escaped from the clutches "indoctrinated" crazy people, holds up with a group of survivors and suddenly starts acting very odd and decides "f*ck it! I'm curious to see these things" when he's left alone for 2 minutes? That's makes even less sense.

Not to mention it doesn't explain why he's got a office bag full of creepy drawings, presumably of the creatures which suggests that he's seen them & was one of the indoctrinated crazies the entire time.

[–] Painbow (156) 5 years ago

Maybe I missed something. Why are we assuming he was mentally ill? Did he say something?

All I remember was that he went crazy once he looked out the window (that's when his eyes changed) Before that he was just a normal guy.

[–] Maximus256 (62) 5 years ago

No, I think he was crazy but pretending to be normal the whole time. If you remember, right after he arrived, they were all in the kitchen listening to a Dionne Warwick song on the radio. He was singing along non-chalantly but kept glancing nervously at the 3 birds in the birdcage. Yes, he was non-chalantly anxious.

Then we find out at the end that birds can detect and warn people when the “things” are near. So either (1) he was afraid the birds would give him away, or (2) he was watching the birds for clues that the things had arrived so he could tear the newspaper off the windows and start "recruiting".

[–] lovinthis12001 (20) 5 years ago

I think he was mentally I'll and they don't react like everyone else who seems them. So he was able to act normal until he got a moment to try to make everyone look. If he had tried earlier on that could have overpowered him.