Did Michael Rape Her At The End?

It does seem an uncomfortable possibility, but I would prefer to think he didn't.

And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him

I don't think that he did rape her, it seems pretty unlikely seeing as he probably got his end away with her sister many times during their dirty weekend - his little look to her was pretty nasty but it seems it seems like he was genuinely concerned for her. Don't forget, he doesn't have a clue what happened to her so she could have just been a victim as far as he's concerned.

I reckon the ending is my favorite bit of this film not because of 'the photo' or the undertones of family incest or any of that, but because of all those people just milling about in what is quite clearly violent crime scene. They just stand around offering not-very-helpful suggestions and generally being very nosey which is exactly what would happen in an apartment block... It reminds you of the fact that most of the time, the lives of our neighbours are entirely alien to us until its too late. (I reckon they also represent the disrespectful nature of the 'public interest' but I won't go into that)

I believe he did rape her - that's definitely the feeling I got. He used concern as a facade in order to get closer to her. I think it's kind of a perpetual vicious circle for Carole in that the men she encounters want her sexually. She too pretty for amoral guys not to lust after her and too damaged to stand up to these wolves.

i personally think she was a lesbian, but thats just me.

Oh and amazing work done on the sound track. i loved it.

That thought went through my head too, actually. I was just wondering that because, during the previous rape scenes, there was no sound except the clock ticking, and at the end when Michael carried her off, you hear the clock ticking sound again. I was really interested in this movie, but a little confused by the end. I'll have to watch it again!

I honestly have no idea how you all came to the conclusion that Michael was lusting after her or had the intention of raping her at the end. I thought it was made pretty clear that he was the one who 'saved' her. While everyone else just stood around watching and being scared or repulsed by Carol, Michael was the only one willing to check that she was okay and carry her out of there - away from the stench, mess and death. Carol looking at him in the end and not resisting being held by him showed that she no longer hated him. Remember how earlier on, even the sight and smell of him disgusted her.

Rape her in the end?
No, but the proctor buggered her in the rectory.

The impression I'm left with is that he raped her before that. The way he looked at her early on in the film, the way she reacted to seeing him shaving in the bathroom, the way she reacted to smelling his vest (was she checking to see if it was the same smell of the man who raped her many nights ago?), the way he pinched her cheek. You could also read into the way he looked at the guy in the bathtub. Initially he looked at the body, but then he stopped to take a closer look - perhaps because he recognised the guy was the same one who he hanged around with in the pub? And remember the conversation those dudes in the pub were having about their sexual tactics - one such being to cozy up to the sister to help get closer to the one you want? You could also interpret the way he hurried out of the apartment one morning and the way he said to the older sister that he'd call her back. A poster in this thread also mentioned how he kept putting his things into her glass, which I hadn't thought of before but makes sense.

Basically, I'm convinced that she was sexually abused by that man. The photograph at the end though has me left me wondering about her background. The way the hands were bulging through the walls suggests to me that she's been sexually assaulted many times. I mean, she's French but she's living in England - why? Maybe it's because she wanted to get away from her family? Yeah, the photograph at the end makes me more and more convinced of that.

Yep, I think she had been previous while she was growing up, she moved to another country with her sister to get away from it, things were going well with her job and she kinda made friends (the Charlie Chaplan interaction was really interesting I thought) but when her older sister's boyfriend assaulted her she kinda flipped back to her old self and then when she went so many days without eating properly all the delusions started to manifest themselves.

Ah, I just remembered. The phonecalls with the deep breathing. We know from her sister experiencing the same thing that they were real and not a delusion. Who made those calls? Not the landlord. Not the guy who got boshed in the back of the head with a candlestick. Could be the older sister's boyfriend. If not then maybe some other random dude. Or maybe. MAYBE it was someone who was friends with the older sister's boyfriend who was complicit in the younger sister being taken advantage of. Encouraged it maybe after clocking onto the fact she was a bit weird.

Just thought of another thing. The 12am bell seemed to be the same sort of time where Carole would experience her supposed delusions of being assaulted. The boyfriend mentioned earlier in the film how he didn't like the bell (also gave a slightly perverted comment about wild parties). Maybe it's because the first time he was in the process of raping Carole the bell had startled him? Also, I think he brought the older sister back to her apartment at that same time on two seperate nights to have his way with her - a coincidence or maybe he was trying to tease Carole who he knew would be listening in the other room?

haha, I'm probably over analysing this a little but I think it's important to look a littel deeper into it. I think the photograph at the end is a bit of an easy cop out for most viewers who can just think 'oh, she's always been a bit off and was probably assaulted as a child by a family member'. There's more to read into it than that I think.