MovieChat Forums > The Skeleton Key (2005) Discussion > The Ending is Nonsensical

The Ending is Nonsensical

posted 16 years ago by imdb-19531
18 replies | jump to latest

Justify tells Jill that Violet & Ben left Caroline the house in their wills. Great, only Violet & Ben aren't dead. They are being taken away in an ambulance to a hospital where they will recover. The story established the fact that unless the 'medicine' continues to be given the person begins to regain functionality. After missing one dose 'Ben' was able to write and make an escape attempt. So assuming that either is smart enough not to get committed ranting about hoodoo, they are just going to write new wills and then show up with the police and kick the lawyer and nurse out of their house. Then they will have possession of all Justify's spells and can seek a remedy.

Or they could just show up with a gun and shoot them both. The whole let them live & leave makes zero sense.

[–] Freestate 16 years ago

They could have killed them, but it wasn't worth it in todays day and age. They might have been discovered and then had no possible way of conducting the ritaul in prison for a new host body.

Letting them leave allows them to live on in freedom, as they know nothing about hoodoo, more than likely never EVER want to go back to the place to face more torturous hoodoo and probably will never convince anyone normal that hoodoo is going on.

The best bet for them to live in peace is just to forget it ever happened.
Or go kill them like you mentioned :)

[–] Net-45 16 years ago

The OP makes a very good point!

My way of explaining this is that 'Caroline' was really keen for Jill to go in the ambulance with 'Violet' and 'Ben', so what I drew from that was that maybe the ambulance would have an 'accident' on its way to the hospital and thus nobody would survive who'd had any previous connections with 'Caroline' and 'Luke'. Are there any extras on the DVD that would give any more clues?

[–] imdb-19531 16 years ago

I took the suggesting Jill go along in the ambulance as their simply wanting to get her to leave as fast as possible.

If you want to kill them why send them away? Surely its far easier to kill them off at home. Also I suspect a doctor is going to be able to distinguish this drug induced state from a real stroke. But I guess Violet's 'stroke' was a way of explaining away the police call. So you send Violet to the hospital to get checked out and hustle her back to the house as fast as possible. There is no reason to send Ben along. In fact why not finish him off now and say his death was the cause of Violet's stroke?

A fatal traffic accident would be convenient but I see two problems with that.

1) The movie doesn't establish that the servants have those kind of powers. The soul swapping ritual was the only confirmed bit of magic in the entire movie. Caroline didn't test the circle of protection and 'Luke' may have simply been acting like he couldn't cross the red dust in order to help with their goal of getting Caroline to believe.

2) The movie does establish that hoodoo doesn't work unless the victim believes so they would have no ability to do anything to a random ambulance driver.

[–] StarryEyes1 14 years ago

You have to remember that the ambulance was most likely called by Jill after Caroline placed the call to her. Remember the phone line was cut by either Cecile or Justify while Caroline was talking to Jill. Cecile and Justify weren't expecting the ambulance to come. I'm sure they had another plan but it was ruined when the ambulance came. They had to think of something else so they sent Jill with Violet and Ben so that they could hatch up a plan. They were going to go to the hospital later and give Ben and Violet more of their brew. At some point I'm sure that they will be killed by Cecile and Justify in the hospital.

[–] moosefeathers 14 years ago

I always got the impression that they are going to take Jil;l's body.

Swing away, Merrill....Merrill, swing away...

[–] thepoet26 14 years ago

I was left with the impression that Cecille would eventually take Jill's body, as well, because Cecille even mentioned to Justify that she'd have preferred to be a black woman again, right after she took over Caroline's body. Then in walks Jill, Caroline's friend who just so happens to be a gorgeous young black woman.

Baba mi Ogun modupe

President Barack Obama

[–] briangbrady 14 years ago

My take on the very ending was that Caroline had called 911 so they obviosly had no choice but to let them go. Then I think Papa and Cecile would just cast a spell and kill them..I'm sure they had some of their belongings like hair etc to cast such a spell!

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 11 years ago

I always got the impression that they are going to take Jil;l's body.

That was my thought too.

[–] dayvit78 9 years ago

There is another confirmed bit of magic - that was when Violet was calling for them not to leave the house. Sure enough, even ramming the gate at full speed with her car, the gate remained locked and Caroline couldn't leave the grounds.

[–] eyerny 14 years ago

What makes you think they won't visit them in the hospital everyday and administer the potion when no one is looking?

[–] Kratos2020 14 years ago

Its quite simple that even if they recovered who would believe them. To the common person they would just be two rambling old nut jobs talking about swaping bodies. Think about it so quite frankly it makes perfect sense.

[–] Frack_TJ_Mackey 14 years ago

Thank you. Somebody, at last, thinks instead of trying to be smartarter than the screenwriters by not thinking...

[–] Sigmund 14 years ago

You're right. Suppose that Caroline recovers and can talk to Jill. She can make her believe she is actually Caroline in that old body, because they were friends and she knows things, while accidentally the new Caroline doesn't know a thing about Jill. Moreover it seems like that many people over there don't just shrug their shoulders off about magic rituals... So leaving the two old people alive IS a danger. OK Cecile and Justify (in their brand new bodies) had no choice, but they seem to not even worry!
Just a plot hole?

[–] denise1234 11 years ago

Violet will not be able to take care of the house now.

As Caroline is now legally being treated functionally as Violet's and Ben's 'heir', then she can stay in the house and take conservatorship.

If 'Luke' hadn't gotten conservatorship for Caroline already, that certainly would happen next.

Jill is riding with them in the ambulance and 'Caroline' & 'Luke' are going to follow.

As they (really Justify & Cecile) are supremo enough conjurers to be able to do soul swaps, I am certain they can come up with some kind of spell where Violet & Ben won't be able to communicate further and/or they won't be believed if they tried.

And they probably could conjure up a death to happen to both of them over the course of the next few months.

Given their physical conditions, their dying that soon wouldn't be suspicious.

They are not going to recover in the hospital.

~~ The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means ~ ~ Oscar Wilde

[–] Mary_Jane_Abba-Zaba 10 years ago

Maybe Violet (Cecile) already signed the house over to Caroline. Remember Ben (Justify) was a lawyer.

[–] Zuider_Zee 9 years ago

In that case, the ending fits the rest of the movie since the whole thing was nonsensical.

[–] drunkenchorus 9 years ago

you know, when i was about ten or so, i've watched an old Australian movie probably produced in mid 70's on tv, with the similar ending. a young woman taking care of an old lady, the old lady was a witch. i can't remember the name of the movie.

[–] nilbog_king 8 years ago

The name of the movie was Alisons Birthday, and it's a little known classic

self-respect is simply the act of respecting your own wants and needs.