MovieChat Forums > Clinical (2017) Discussion > The Ending Explained !

The Ending Explained !


Hello,

extreme horror/thriller buff here especially in the cerebral discipline. I would like to explain the ending for everyone. However, we first should eliminate what it is not.

Theory 1: She Hallucinated the Whole Thing.
Originally, I thought the movie was going to be an (usual) ironic twist where the therapist is going to be the one imagining the whole story with characters and all.
However, we know know this can't be the case for two reasons. A) we know her first therapy session began towards the end of the movie because the doctor announces that in the recording session.We also know B) that she killed her boyfriend thus she didn't make the whole thing up.

Theory 2: She Was Drugged When She Killed her BF and the Scarred Man Planned All of This.
This is probably the most common theory. However- this also has the most wholes in it.
For one, she dreams of situations happening to someone else before it actually happens to her. For example, she imagines her friend getting kidnapped from the psych ward, when she is the done who actually gets kidnapped. Unless she is psychic, that isn't possible. Also, Alex can't really be her father because Alex admits he has no money so how can he pay for the psych ward? This is also evident from the house he lives in. There is no mention of a daughter at all in the therapy sessions. Drugs also can't make you think somebody is someone else entirley, nor could the girl have caused that much damage.

The Ending Explained:
The main character feels guilty of what happened to the girl. Having the new client brings this all back. It should be important to note that Alex got scarred because he was the one actually in the accident but it is placing someone else in that scenario ( just like the main character is doing). It is her herself who is having trips and kills her boyfriend thinking it was someone else. There was no drugs. This also explains the ending. She didn't actually pull the skin off his face because his whole face is torn up and he is sitting down on the bottom floor couch when he supposedly grabbed her from the top floor. In actuality, she killed her friend and she killed him when he came over for a therapy session.

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[deleted]

This film was very straight forward and explained, no theory needed, no questions left unanswered....

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Please explain then, because some of us are not sure. Thanks!

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Ok...here goes. Nora was sent to Jane for treatment because of psychological issues. Jane used her "confrontation therapy" to help Nora get to the root of her problem. Turns out she was being raped by her dad. Nora attacked him and slashed his face all up. He faked a car accident to explain the damage. Nora went to Jane and attacked her. Jane had a breakdown and took a break for a year. Alex, Nora's dad, plotted revenge for Jane destroying the "beautiful thing" he had with Nora. First, he started seeing Jane for treatment after his "car accident," in which he heroically saved some (pretend) people. Then he stopped paying for Nora's treatment so she'd get kicked out of the facility. Then he used Nora ro convince Jane that she was going crazy. Then, with the help of some drugs, he got Jane to kill her boyfriend. Nora hanged herself somewhere around here. Jane was institutionalized, with most people thinking she was a crazy murderer who imagined the dead Nora attacking her. She got out, only to be attacked by Alex. They have a fight, she tears his face off, he dies, the end.

I think I got it all...mostly.

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[deleted]

I don't think anything you wrote makes any sense.

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the ending doesn't need an explanation

~ TAKE the ticket!

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Alex is Nora's father. The therapy session you're talking about is Jane's first one at the psychiatric hospital. Alex was lying about everything. The only thing Jane imagined, due to drugs and Alex's machinations, is Nora when Jane was actually killing Ethan.

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I’m sorry but you totally did NOT understand the movie.

Your theory 1 is correct and parts of theory 2. Don’t know why you felt you should eliminate those two theories.

First, correct she did not hallucinate the whole thing but she did not hallucinate or predict her friend being murdered. It was Alex who kidnapped the friend Clara. He has been daily waiting in the parking lot at the ward awaiting his next move since Mathis is being held there. He killed Mathis therapist as well. Mathis didn’t kill any of them. Alex has been stalking Mathis angry about her helping his daughter Nora which helped Nora come to understand her being abused which does not help her father having his strong power over her Nora. Nora did cut her father. She is unhinged now. Mathis is trying to help her but traumatized due to an attack from Nora during previous sessions. But Nora is still the victim here.

Yes, Alex is Nora’s father and he stopped paying for her treatment to get kicked out and changed his name as he stated it was easy. He escaped from what he has done and lived a life as if he did not have a daughter since her supposed car accident death which was a cover up. That’s why it is evident in the house he lives in that he doesn’t have a daughter because that was his goal for people to believe.
Drugs CAN make you believe somebody is someone else depending on how much you been abusing or how strong it is. Hallucination can also effect your judgement. As in this case, Alex has been drugging Mathis and possibly Nora to have the advantage to carry out his manipulation on them while drugged.

And yes Alex was in an accident but not as he described so he gains pity and not suspectedly ties the Nora case to him and implicates himself. He seeks revenge on Mathis for getting involved and messing the “beautiful” relationship he had with Nora.

The film is not trying to place someone else in any scenario. Only when she accidentally kills her boyfriend thinking it was Nora, this was the drugs effect Alex put in her. Some were hallucinations of Nora being at her home from being traumatized and sometimes she was there with Alex to keep her thinking she’s going crazy. Alex had a strong hold on Nora using abuse. But Nora fed up, hung herself. So Mathis thought it was Nora’s ghost or her mind messing with her after. Alex was left on his own and wanted to make Mathis appear crazier. Mathis later puts two and two together in the ward and escapes. And yes Mathis pulled part of Alex face off from the second floor and after some time he went downstairs and died sitting on her sofa.
That wasn’t a hallucination.



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This makes me feel more relieved than making its sound as if Mathis Hallucinated through out the movie. thanks.🙏

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He says he has no money so she won’t phone an ambulance since he had put in for his death certificate, the institution thinking he was dead and couldn’t fund her any longer is why she was kicked out

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