MovieChat Forums > Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022) Discussion > (Spoilers) Problem with final plot point...

(Spoilers) Problem with final plot point of ep. 1 - Lot 36?

posted 2 years ago by swanstep (2769)
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The final plot point is that the Mexican (?) woman who Nick earlier treats cruelly appears (conveniently!) outside the locked door through which Nick wants to escape the storage complex (and the oncoming monster). Nick pleads through the door for her to open it but she's understandably 'Nuh-uh'. The woman watches calmly as the monster finishes off a screaming Nick (how she could be quite so calm, so sure that the Cthulu-esque monster won't come crashing through the door and finish her off too - and then maybe the whole world? - isn't explored).

My problem with this ending: why should we or Nick think that the woman has a key or any other way to open the locked door from the outside? No storage facility would *ever* have a simple pull open/turn knob/lift handle mechanism *on the outside* (particularly not when it's securely locked on the inside), so while the woman being there as a witness to Nick's demise is fair enough, the idea that she has any power to save Nick which she just declines to exercise seems spurious.

[–] Ace_Spade (9657) 2 years ago

Excellent points.

I found it weird that a door would lock from the outside, as well. However, I thought the implication was that she was the one who locked the door or barred it or something.

Now, what I do find super weird is your other point: she's conveniently there. Why did she hang around all day and night, especially after Nick had left? Did she know about the monster? She curses Nick, and then seems to hang out to watch the curse play out, so maybe she has supernatural powers and knew something was going to go down? Maybe that's also why she's not worried about the demon, because she knows that once the curse is fulfilled it will go away?

I'll throw another problem in: why did that occultist not run like heck the split second Nick scuffed the seal? He obviously believed this stuff, but he just stood there. He wasn't even trying to bargain or use a charm or anything, he just stood there and got consumed.

[–] Filmtenk2 (4136) 2 years ago

I wonder if the occultists warnings to Nick were said into his deaf ear so that's why Nick ignored ignored them?

[–] Ace_Spade (9657) 2 years ago

Nick couldn't hear because the chip on his shoulder was so big it blocked sound.

[–] TylerAArse (2938) 2 years ago

Emilia walked away before the demon came down the hall. She never saw it, so she didn't know why he desperately wanted out. And since he was always at the facility, I'm sure he knew how the door worked. But when you have a tentacled demon bearing down on you, you're gonna plead your ass off no matter what at whomever is on the other side. I know I sure would.

It is odd that Emilia was lingering around. When I saw her peeking around the corner, I was like, "Why the hell is she still there." It didn't make sense. So maybe she knew more that I thought? I don't know.

[–] Ace_Spade (9657) 2 years ago

She had to know something, otherwise she wouldn't be hanging around locking him in. Otherwise, what? Her big revenge is making a guy stay in a storage unit all night?

When she curses him earlier, to go to Hell, I think she knows that this will literally stick and she's just lurking to find out exactly how. Still, I thought that part of the film maybe could have been explained a little better - that she had power or some inkling that an awful fate was coming down on Nick that day.

[–] ronatola (398) 2 years ago

and what was the point of her putting the broken/clipped lock on the outside of the door? It was already locked.

[–] TylerAArse (2938) 2 years ago

Exactly. I didn't get that either.

[–] Ace_Spade (9657) 2 years ago

She's reminding Nick of his earlier callousness towards her own difficulties. He gave her the lock as a way of telling her to p-off, so she's doing the same to him.

[–] DeckardB26354 (1213) 2 years ago

Footnote: Did you know that Elpidia Carrillo who played the part of the Mexican woman was Anna, the young woman in the 1987 Predator film...

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0093773/mediaviewer/rm9848576/

[–] LoveCatsHateDogs (2001) 2 years ago

I totally did not notice that.