MovieChat Forums > The Imposter (2012) Discussion > The real genius of this documentary is t...

The real genius of this documentary is that

posted 9 years ago by Rienzi1864
2 replies | jump to latest

The imposter first fools the family into believing what they desperately want to believe. As that story falls apart the second scam is then played on us the audience. The family killed the boy. Before this is stated by the imposter Bourdin, the filmmaker drops hints. Nicholas was reported by a family member trying to break in to the house two months after he disappeared. OK, why is that important? But wait. The detective then offers that this is a trick played by guilty parties to suggest that the missing boy is still alive. Then beginning with the airport scene, it is suggested that the family's denial that Bourdin is an imposter is becoming objectively unreasonable and that there must be an ulterior motive for it. What is the family trying to hide? and why are they hiding from the truth? Does Bourdin all of a sudden become the victim here? Is he being used to hide something more sinister. If you say, "oh yeah, their guilty", then can the family be faulted for taking Bourdin in?

[–] affliction504 8 years ago

Interesting. I missed the break in part.

[–] SvenViking 8 years ago

I think so too, though sadly it also assists Bourdin in perpetrating a new, far-reaching scam and presumably brings a lot of hatred down on the almost-certainly-innocent family.

Edit: One thing I found particularly interesting is how they show Boudin saying Nicholas' sister went through the photo album with him methodically, prompting him with information as if intentionally teaching it to a known stranger, and most(?) people watching seem to accept the claim without question despite knowing it comes from a pathological liar who takes pleasure in fooling people.