MovieChat Forums > The Way Way Back (2013) Discussion > Anyone dissapointed with the ending with...

Anyone dissapointed with the ending with the mom?

posted 10 years ago by MisterBabadook
12 replies | jump to latest

When they're heading back home and Duncan is in the back feeling depressed about having to leave. Then we see the mom up front looking like shes deciding on something and we get the feeling shes about to tell Trent to stop the car and they are staying.

Instead she just craws in the back with Duncan and sits. I just felt like "Really? you're not gonna leave Trent and stay there with Duncan and let him continue working at the water park? you're just gonna sit beside him in the car? ok then...".

Thats what i love about these high school girls, i get older they stay the same age.

[–] marisa-rael 10 years ago

Yeah! I was a little disappointed about that. However, I think the decision she made was choosing her son over Trent.

[–] bubba_tyler 10 years ago

That was my impression. Although it was subtle, I think it was meant to convey that she was moving away from Trent both literally and figuratively. From that sigh of relief she gives, I could imagine her calling Allison Janney's character at the next rest top to come get them.

[–] apple2991 10 years ago

Right? It's like unless she pulls out a knife and carves an epilogue into Trent's chest, people can't surmise what happened at the end of this movie. The movie couldn't give us a much clearer focus on that last shot: she has decided that Trent is not part of the "family", and despite all of her widow worries she is realizing she already has a man in her life: Duncan.

I don't see why Duncan and Pam need to do a barrel roll out of the car for this movie to have closure to them. In reality, she would get back to whatever town they're all from, unpack their things, and tell Trent that it's over. And that's fine.

[–] hka-3 9 years ago

Great post, apple2991!!

Mag, Darling, you're being a bore.

[–] trickg1 9 years ago

Agree - this pretty much hits the nail on the head IMO, but said a whole lot better than what I would have come up with. Nice post!

My name is Gladiator - Maximus Decimus Meridius

[–] forksforrests 8 years ago

Lmao. Spot on.

[–] americaneskimodog 9 years ago

It was a callback to the title of the movie. "The Way Way Back" refers to the way back seat of the car, where Duncan is shown to be sitting throughout the movie. It's symbolic of his removal from the rest of the family, because he felt he didn't belong. In the end, when Pam joins Duncan in the backseat, it represents her decision to also remove herself from the rest of the family and be where her son is.

[–] mgulev 9 years ago

--- I like that interpretation.

[–] mzlove 9 years ago

I absolutely love this movie and have seen it at least 10 times... And I somehow never made that connection before. I feel kinda daft now. LOL

[–] btj-33917 8 years ago

I actually adore the ending. It refuses to wrap a pretty bow on the film. We as an audience don't exactly know what's gonna happen to these characters beyond the end but something points at a hopefulness. It's lovely and subtle.

[–] Xcalat3 8 years ago

Like others have said above, i do believe the mom decided to stay behind and leave Trent.

Libera te tu temet ex inferis.
pro ego sum diabolus, pro ego sum nex.

[–] MoDo12 8 years ago

She did choose her son but I don't understand all the comments about "staying". Staying where? At the drunk ladies house she'd known a week? They said at the start of the film "he and her son live in a 1 bedroom apartment" - they didn't all live in the same house as a family - she and he were only dating, not married. Once back in town, it was over between the mom and the guy.