MovieChat Forums > And Then There Were None (2015) Discussion > "Ghost kid" bits-spoilers, I suppose

"Ghost kid" bits-spoilers, I suppose

posted 8 years ago by doctorcrimedog
11 replies | jump to latest

I looked to see if this had bothered anyone else, and didn't see it mentioned. As the end approaches, we keep seeing the child who drowned hanging around watching Vera, as if to insinuate that perhaps the story is one of a ghost killing from beyond the grave as a red herring. This turns out not to be so, but that being the case, what are we supposed to make of those scenes? Vera herself never actually sees the boy; the audience sees him watching her or standing behind her, etc, which makes no sense if he's a figment of her imagination. There's no such thing as having a hallucination that you don't see; that's a contradiction in terms. Those scenes, as they were shot, only make sense if the kid's ghost is really supposed to be there.

-There is no such word as "alot."

[–] CharlesTheBold 8 years ago

She knew the kid was "there". It was a hallucination .

[–] doctorcrimedog 8 years ago

That's not what a hallucination is. A hallucination is false sense data mistaken for the real thing. It's not some vague creeping feeling that someone is standing behind you. It's sounds or images coming from your own mind which you think are being perceived by your ears or eyes. And if she actually felt that, why did she not react to it? It's done in the style of ghost movies where the audience is let in on something that the character is not aware of, particularly in the case of the hand reaching out of the sink, which startles her when she turns around, but which she gives no impression of being aware of beforehand. It seems clear that the audience is, in the end, supposed to think that none of those things really happened, but showing them to us and not to the characters supposedly having those delusions doesn't play fair with the rules of film grammar.

-There is no such word as "alot."

[–] internetnicknamehere-178-30027 8 years ago

As the end approaches, we keep seeing the child who drowned hanging around watching Vera, as if to insinuate that perhaps the story is one of a ghost killing from beyond the grave as a red herring.

During my first viewing, I never got the impression that they were trying to insinuate that a ghost was responsible. However, I had already read the book when I saw this adaptation, and since I already knew the killer's true identity, I didn't pay any attention to potential red herrings.

This turns out not to be so, but that being the case, what are we supposed to make of those scenes?

Something that should be considered is that General MacArthur and Emily Brent, also "see" their victims - shortly before they are killed. My interpretation of these scenes is that the appearance of each victim is supposed to indicate the guilt that MacArthur, Brent and Vera feel for the deaths of these people. Its worth noting that Lombard and Rogers have no such scenes, and both of them seem unrepentant about their crimes. Alternatively, the presence of the victims may be a reflection of how these three characters are losing their sanity.

Vera herself never actually sees the boy; the audience sees him watching her or standing behind her, etc, which makes no sense if he's a figment of her imagination.

MacArthur clearly sees Arthur Richmond, Brent clearly sees Beatrice Taylor, and Vera clearly smiles at Cyril in at least one shot.

[–] doctorcrimedog 8 years ago

Yes, she is seemingly seeing him in the shot where she walks into her bedroom. I'm referring to the many more scenes where she sees nothing, such as when the kid runs past in the empty hall. Who is hallucinating that? There's no one there. I think the director was trying to go for an explanation of a guilty conscience, but he seems to have cheated a bit by not having that logically follow from what he puts on screen. Overall I liked the series, but that aspect seemed oddly handled.

-There is no such word as "alot."

[–] Jimmy-128 8 years ago

I get what you're saying, and I agree. The bits with Cyril running across the hall and watching her at the sink don't fit with the other hallucinations, and I didn't understand the hand choking her, either.

[–] velcronewsletter 8 years ago

like the idea of them seeing the victims to nudge their guilty conscience but the old lady clearly didn't feel that in the book. she was unrepentant

[–] Shimmer_Me_Timbers 8 years ago

A number of them were being haunted by their past.

MacArthur saw his wife at one point and Emily Brent saw the girl she drove to suicide while she was praying.

[–] venanttout 8 years ago

It shows the guilty conscience of Vera, and her slow descent into despair an insanity, that leads her to hang herself.

[–] tomimt 8 years ago

We see more of Vera's hallucinations because she's the maincharacter of this version. The way he was used made me think what was the excess of her guilt before it was fully revealed.

[–] SuCue 8 years ago

I liked the hallucination stuff but it was over the top in the case of Vera, especially the bathroom sink bit. Belonged in a different movie,

[–] CaptainLombard33 8 years ago

I would have preferred the hallucinations be left only to Vera, as having "Cyril" pop up really helps drive home the broken mental state of Vera and allows the decision of Vera to hang herself make sense. That she feels guided to the noose to repent her sin of killing him, and it's what Hugo would want her to do.

The multiple-people hallucination angle seems to be a point borrowed from Desyat Negrityat. I don't remember if more than one person sees a vision of their victim, but I remember Miss Brent in that film "sees" Beatrice Taylor outside of her window, tapping to be let in, and she flings her bible at the window and screams at her to go away.

I'm in agreement with the others. The hallucination in her room and subsequent arm up the drain is more suited for a horror film. Plus, at that sequence of the film, in the novel, Vera is set-up to scream and draw everyone upstairs so Wargrave can be shot. Seaweed is hung and her window is left open to blow out her candle and make her think the seaweed is a hang grabbing her. It's a deliberate act arranged by the murderer to leave Wargrave alone downstairs.

Having Vera hallucinate and scream means Wargrave's shooting and apparent death was pure luck, as nothing was in place to draw the remaining group upstairs otherwise.