What was on the tool box at the end? Spoiler
It wasn’t the barrette. But Denzel looks at something in the metal tool box before he puts it in the fire
sharelooked empty to me
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MovieChat Forums > The Little Things (2021) Discussion > What was on the tool box at the end? Spo...
It was the dental bridge, that Deacon found in Sparma's apartment when he was first there.
shareHere my explanation of the ending:
Close to the end of the film, the serial killer Jared(Albert) provokes the detective Jim(Rami) to kill him, proving his point "you and I are a lot alike.". If this reminds you of the movie Se7en, then you would guess Deke(Denzel) finds a victim's head inside the toolbox at Jared's apartment. His facial expression indeed suggests that. But before he put it in the fire, we all get a glimpse of the inside and the box is clearly empty. Then right there, the scene cuts back to the autopsy room to explain when Deke(Denzel) started to see things (ghost) that others can't. The red barrette that Denzel bought gives a further hint: he most likely sees the face of the jogging girl wearing a red barrette. We know it is not his hallucination since only Jim is told about the red barrette by her parents. Although Deke has no conclusive evidence, seeing the victim's face in the toolbox makes him absolutely believe that Jared was the killer. That's why he could leave all case files behind- cases closed and no more angels business for him.
I like this.
shareI think Joe knows that Albert is the killer but he has no real proof. He bought the barrettes and sent the red one to Jimmy so Jimmy could move and not be haunted for the rest of his life (like Joe was), knowing that Albert was indeed the killer. It was an act of kindness on Joe's part.
shareThat's exactly what it is. But I don't necessarily agree that Albert was the killer, he could be, but there was a just no hard evidence.
sharethere is no hard evidence but there are hints the director gives us that Sparma indeed is the killer are:
- the victim killed in her apartment had her appliance repaired by the shop in which Sparma works.
- Sparma has newspaper clippings in a hidden box of those cases, if he is innocent why put them in a box and hide them? Just put them in an album like a stamp collection like a normal pervert psycho but not the actual killer.
- Denzel is sitting in his car and for a second or two there is a stop on a roast beef restaurant sign; roast beef which was the last meal of the victim.
- the young girl who escaped the killer at the beginning of the movie, when she is the police station and sees Sparma we definitely feel that she recognizes him.
The thing about Sparma stopping his car at the mileage sign 467 where one of the victims was found, since Sparma has a police radio scanner he simply could have heard it there so it's not really a hint / evidence.
That's all called circumstantial evidence. A lot of people eat roast beef. And the appliance repair connection is how Denzel first suspected him -- it's a circular reference, not an independent point of evidence. Sparma has no evidence from the victims in his apartment. And a creepy serial killer fanboy might wisely hide his hobby from any friends who come over. The girl identifying him is the strongest evidence, but they can't use it because she saw him being taken into custody, and she never got a good look at the guy who was after her.
shareAgreed, on both points.
shareI thought it was the bullet that the coroner pulled from the girl Denzel shot and him burning it was his way of finally letting go. But I might be wrong, it was a pretty quick glance.
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