MovieChat Forums > Queen of Earth (2015) Discussion > Questions about the film

Questions about the film


First off really enjoyed the film. It definitely doesn't need some deeper non-obvious meaning to work. But there were a few strange scenes that must have had some purpose that I can't put my finger on.

(1) Toward the climax of the film, we see a flashback to the previous summer in which Catherine, Ginny, and James are about to go for a swim, but Catherine refuses. Just an odd scene. Why was this particular flashback included near the film's climax, or even in the film at all? Also of note, earlier, when Rich, Ginny, and Catherine are out on a canoe, Catherine is apprehensive about having her life preserver on correctly before the canoe departs. Neither Ginny nor Rich are wearing a life jacket. I assume this implies that Catherine is afraid of water/can't swim. We also see her staring out over the water at various points in the film.

(2) There is a scene just prior to or just after the party scene in which Catherine is standing outside the lake house, it is night out, and in the distance we see a boat pass by with it's lights on. It appears to be performing some kind of search. Catherine looks pleased. Presumably the Director had a specific reason to include this scene, but I don't know how it fits.

(3) The jogger scene and the party scene. Some have suggested that this is all a dream/hallucination. So who knows. Both the jogger and the party-goer mistake Catherine for the owner of the house: the jogger claiming to have seen her at a previous party, and the party-goer claiming to have seen her on TV during the investigation/prosecution of Ginny's family. Presumably she's being mistaken for Ginny. Maybe it's related to the theme of role reversal we see throughout the film? Or is there something else to it? She seems annoyed when the party-goer asks her if her Father and Ginny's Father were friends. Maybe she was offended that the party-goer would suggest her Father would be friends with Ginny's Father (a possible criminal)?

(4) The scene earlier in the film where the landscaper gives Catherine that cryptic warning about staying at the lake house. He hinted that people might come looking for pay back after being defrauded. The reason for this scene may be self explanatory: to introduce the shady background of Ginny's family. Presumably this was the "bad thing" that happened to Ginny 3 years prior that Catherine alluded to. It seemed the scene would foreshadow something later in the film, but nothing came of it.

I'm not trying to micro-analyze the film. Just curious if any more astute cinephiles on here have any theories.

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There were some other curious scenes/clues like when she lies down with the teeth thing..? And the line about she could murder the sleepy guy and no-one would know...?

Watching it a second time just felt like the various water scenes/imagery were a metaphor for depression in various ways - having to be carried by others, seeking rescue and so on.

Also sort of felt like the main theme was how, and hey maybe this is an overstretch here, being fraudsters affects daughters? That the mental descent is caused by the guilt and worry surrounding the consequences of being related to such people and running their business and staying in their property etc??

Rich seems to be one of those feral-elite-aggrieved people.. and that he's called "Rich" seems symbolic. And that woman at the party the next day sounds almost investigative.

Perhaps the more apparent theme is of revenge. Catherine wasn't 'there' for Virginia the year before because she was in her relationship then, and the following year, having been dumped, Ginny sort of gets her expressed wish of seeing Catherine suffer, post her breakup, which is exacerbated by her choosing to have antagonist Rich in the way so often.

In the end Ginny is kind of punished by the departure and portrait of her with its fiery background, portraying her as a demon essentially.

The scene where Catherine delivers the epic putdown to Rich and Ginny blocks the knife, implying she thinks Catherine capable of some violent act, something further hinted at by the brief near-choking of Rich a bit later, tinges that final portrait moment with a sense of Virginia possibly being scared for herself as well as saddened by the mind state of Catherine.

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Practically no Robots anyone has ever known called themselves Mr. #fail

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After watching it I must confess to haveing just as much if not more questions than you.

I really enjoyed it,yes indeed a bit pretentious but the performances quite make up for it and it's the type of movie that makes you stop and think.It's quite particulary hard to understand and follow due to it's nature.

Regarding your questions:

1)The swimming scene was an obvious scene in which Ginny's actions created a jealous response from Catherine.At least that's what I thought.She didn't look particulary pleased to her bf's positive reaction to Ginny's idea.
Also the darker nuance already mentioned by other people regarding Cat's water-fear of water-mental breakdown thing going on.There's a connection yet you can't quite put your tongue on it.
Same thing with the canoe scene.That scene also gives me the vibe Catherine was scared that something might happen to her.Maybe she thought Rich and/or Ginny were out to get her.Or maybe it was all in her head.

2)Great and creepy scene.The light going back and forth on her somewhat hideous monstrous face by this point.She was really out of it.
Ugh,don't really know,like you said the boat might have been searching for somebody.Leaves to go back to the sleeping guy scene.Did she actually kill him?Did she throw his body in the lake?Did she know nobody would find him as she mentioned to him?

3)Really confusing here.All in her head I think and maybe the most clear of these scenes.But it may be a bit of a flashback since it seemed it was a party from the year previous(since the sleeping guy mentioned the party).

4)The guy with the chainsaw/Did he actually mention or imply people looking for her after being defrauded?Did he even know her?Know who she was?
I'd tend to say no.


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4)The guy with the chainsaw/Did he actually mention or imply people looking for her after being defrauded?Did he even know her?Know who she was?
I'd tend to say no.


I would have to re-watch the scene. I thought it was clear K told him that she was staying at Ginny's house and he said something like "people may come looking for the money." I could be incorrect. But that is what I recall.

Thanks for your thoughts!

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[deleted]

I think he said people may resent their money (Ginny's family). My impression was that it was townie resentment against rich summer people. What that has to do with the movie, I have no idea.

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1) Either a metaphor for depression or she is afraid of water.

2) Definitely hinting even more at her actually killing the guy she talked to moments before this. She also wears his headband on her wrist in the following scene.

3) This is one of the strongest arguments supporting the theory that Catherine is dead in this movie and it's actually Virginia we're following or she is making up stuff to deal with her loss. (There are more points that could hint at this). Otherwise, it definitely is to imply the role reversal deal of the movie, making Catherine experience what Virginia had to.

4) I think that was just done for tension and to give reason for Viriginia's state the year before. It could imply other things but I haven't found them yet.


I love dissecting this movie lmao

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About 1 and 2:

She can't swim, which is why she wears that life jacket on in the canoe. The boat light from the sea is a hallucination, something that's "calling" on her and she smiles because she realizes what she wants to do. At the end of the movie she cleans her room, finishes her painting and presumably goes out into the water and drowns herself.

Her father had depression and comitted suicide, which she also exhibits in the present. (overeats on unhealthy food like chips and soda, sleeps a lot or is in her dark room and gets very uncharacteristically messy later on.)
She then begins to hallucinate and even thinks she talks to her boyfriend on the phone, which could be a symptom of schizophrenia as well.

The ending I read as her friend realizing that Cathrine has probably taken her own life and that's why she cries.

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...and presumably goes out into the water and drowns herself.

???

I hardly think that such a fate is implied. We only know that Catherine is no longer present in the house.

"Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

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(3) I don't think the party-goes was talking about Virginia's family. I think she was talking about Catherine's father- that he possible defrauded a lot of people and that may be why he committed suicide.

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