People debating ending *Spoilers*

How did you figure that out?

I also immediately, correctly guessed that it was the wife and son under the sheet.

Asking how we figured it out is a good question and deserves a thoughtful answer. I think I can explain it. It will be long, but it can also help you (and others) understand and enjoy films even more than you already do (no one ever stops growing in this respect).

First off, a lot of this comes from simply having experienced a ton of films and having read a lot about films (and it helps, but isn't necessary, to be familiar with some film theory or at least conventions of films from a filmmaking standpoint).

Also, for me, a lot of the following is simply intuitive at this point. I don't have to think all of this through. But I've watched thousands of films over the course of 4+ decades now.

It's important when you're watching a film to keep in mind that conventionally, every single thing you see and hear in a film--every single shot, everything a shot is designed to focus your attention on (which is achieved by techniques such as framing things in particular ways, lingering on particular things, subtly changing the literal camera focus on them, musical cues, more obvious things like character comments, and all sorts of other things), every bit of dialogue, etc., everything--it's all there, exactly the way it is, for a reason, with those reasons being, more or less in order of significance (a) to understand the temporal and spatial setting, (b) to understand something important about the characters, and (c) (the other two points ultimately factor into this one too) to gain important information, as well as foreshadowing, symbolism, etc. for the plot.

Now, the above is just a convention, something that not every filmmaker follows (and it's often followed to degrees rather than just being either 100% or nothing), and I do not agree with the view that there's something flawed about not following it, but it's generally a good idea as a film-watcher to read all films that way, at least the first time--to assume that every shot is giving you either (a), (b) or (c), and isn't just there randomly because the director thought something looked pretty, or weird, or whatever but it had nothing to do with the characters and the story they're in. If you catch yourself watching a film and you find your attention drifting as (especially dialogue-free) shots go by of things, locations, particular objects, seemingly unimportant actions, etc.--stop for a minute, rewind the film if you have to, and for every single shot, think to yourself, "Why are the filmmakers showing me this? There must be a reason for it, some significance to it, something important for the story". (And by the way, especially if you have a tendency to focus on dialogue, watching silent films is a great way to help train yourself for this, as it requires a different sort of concentration to "get the story" . . . it also should go without saying that it's not a good idea, given this, to try to watch a film while you're talking with friends, reading the paper, playing a video game on a portable, etc.)

Alright, so knowing the above, it's worth noting that the makers of Kill List are definitely following the convention.

So as you watch the film, you'll notice a number of unusual things, including:

----------MASSIVE spoilers below----------------

* The way they dwell for a minute on Shel's intense conversation, and the way that she's having it at a level of remove from the viewer--in a language, without translation, that most viewers won't understand.

* The fact that Fiona is apparently a newcomer to the social group, and the men clearly fib a bit about their activities to her, but then she does something even more subversive--she draws what looks like a cult symbol on the back of Jay & Shel's bathroom mirror. (Knowing that it looks like a cult symbol would come from watching a lot of films if nothing else.)

* Fiona's abrupt disappearance, but then her mysterious reappearance to Shel.

* The fact that Jay and Gal have some suspicions about Fiona.

* The fact that they spent time focusing on a playful swordfight between Jay, Shel and their son.

* The fact that there are a few King Arthur allusions, including that swordfight, plus they make sure to mention Arthur and Guinevere (as possible dog names)--this is significant in light of the seemingly odd relationship--that they make sure to show us Jay being uncomfortable with--between Gal and Shel

* The fact that the guy who hired Jay and Gal for the round of jobs we're watching is (a) older than you might expect him to be, (b) comes off as a bit creepy yet powerful, (c) engages in a blood pact (cutting their hands), etc. (he gives off a bit of a "Tall Man" (Angus Scrimm in the Phantasm films) vibe, actually). Also later, when they talk to him again, suddenly he's in a room with a handful of similar men, suggesting something conspiratorial going on,

* The fact that something--we don't know exactly what--apparently happened that was very f-ed up when Jay and Gal did their last job together in Kiev, and their present employer as well as some people they're killing know about it,

* The fact that both the rabbit entrails in the yard and the dead cat are common as part of occult rituals, spells, etc.

* The fact that every time they show Jay returning home, it's framed in a manner, and with ominous music, that almost suggests it's the house in Amityville Horror or something

* The fact that victims seem to be almost grateful for being victims--smiling, thanking them, etc.

* The fact that at the hotel, Jay sees Fiona in a nightgown, in the field, waving to him, and later, the sacrificial victim at the ritual waves in just the same way,

* The fact that when we finally get to the climax, we clearly see that the people that hired Jay and Gal for this round of jobs are among the cultists.

--again, the above isn't at all a complete list, just some things to notice that you should expect to be tied in to the rest of the film somehow.

It's clear pretty early on, by the way, that something more is going on than simply Jay and Gal getting a new set of contracts. It becomes pretty clear that Jay (and probably Gal, too) is being set-up or double-crossed, etc. in some way (the mystery of Fiona, the fact that they discover photographs of themselves doing surveillance, the employer's threat-based refusal to allow someone else to finish the job, etc.), and we can make a reasonable guess that it must have something to do with Jay's past--specifically whatever went wrong with the Kiev job. (My early guess, by the way, was that Fiona was going to be a hit person herself, although as the occult-oriented stuff piled up, I figured that wouldn't be it.)

Now, add on to that that Kill List is strongly influenced in this final section by a host of other especially EuroHorror flicks, like the oft-mentioned Wicker Man as well as The City of the Dead and on and on, plus the knowledge that those films often have some climactic, tragic irony, plus all of the info above, plus the awareness by that point that the only thing Jay seems to really care about aside from Gal is his family, and he's emotional enough about the idea of something happening to them that he'll forget all of the precautions he should normally take, he'll even turn against his best friend at the thought of something untoward between Gal and his family, etc., then it becomes a very logical at that point to guess that what's under the sheet (and why is it under a sheet anyway?) would be the only things he cares about.

Of course, the film still leaves some things up in the air--the most important being whether Shel was "in on it" or not, but I am in the camp that thinks the film is better for leaving some things unexplained, because ultimately, it's shooting for Jay's horror, from a number of different angles, as things gradually and rather completely fall apart for him.



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That was the only thing in the whole film that was obvious. I knew as soon as they started in the ring that had to be his wife and it would be revealed. It also made sense.