MovieChat Forums > Eden Lake (2008) Discussion > A predictable ending.

A predictable ending.


A lot of people have commented that this film's ending is a shock and a surprise because essentially the 'bad guys' win. I didn't find the ending a surprise at all. We'd been set up all the way through to think the worst of these people, the kids and their parents, and that they'd be capable of anything, so it wasn't a surprise to me that the adults did what they did at the end. What would have been a surprise, and a brave piece of film making, would have been to have the adults turn out to be decent people at the end and actually do the right thing (call the police etc...) and even have Brett's dad defend her against the other's revenge. Instead the director takes the easy way out and has them conform to the stereotype he'd set up. It would have wrong footed the audience to have not blamed their upbringing to explain what the teenagers did. In life there are no easy answers for the things people do, and just blaming the parents was the most obvious and least intelligent ending in my opinion.

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But that would contradict the film's message, which is keep an eye your kids, regardless of their age. The ending made perfect sense why Brett and his dad are the way they are.

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I agree it made sense, but it was also predictable, that was my point. The kids are like they are because of the parents...ho hum. As for the film's message I'm not sure what that was. Was it just about bringing up your kids properly? The one thing I took from this is don't be stupid enough to go camping next to a lonely lake when there are gangs of chavs nearby and you have already provoked them the day before...

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Sorry this is a late reply, but to answer your question, yes it was about how the kids were brought up. Also in the beginning, when Steve and Jenny were driving to the lake listening to the radio, there were reports of kids not going to school, wrongfully behaving, etc.

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I partially agree with you about the ending, but the sad thing is that kids and families like this are so common in modern Britain. I see this mentality all the time, and it's never out the news either

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'I partially agree with you about the ending, but the sad thing is that kids and families like this are so common in modern Britain. I see this mentality all the time, and it's never out the news either'

It is a fair point as we saw earlier, the mother thought her kid could do no wrong.


It's that man again!!

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