I'm surprised nobody considered the possibility…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Goodnight Mommy
working_girl — 9 years ago(June 12, 2016 10:03 AM)
that Elias killed Lukas too. I don't think Elias saw Lukas out of coping with grief but out of guilt at what he had done. In a parallel way, at the end I'm pretty sure he survives, and after killing his mother he sees her along with Lukas. Most likely he also killed the cat. He was deranged from the beginning.
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Giraffe_Monster — 9 years ago(June 12, 2016 05:05 PM)
But why would Elias kill him? That doesn't make sense. The fact that he's seeing Lukas is because he can't accept that his brother is dead. And "Lukas" acts like he's very much alive.
If it was because of guilt, we'd see Lukas giving him a hard time or something, but that never happens.
Pretty sure by the end of the movie they're all dead though.
And Elias didn't kill the cat, it died of natural causes.
Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM? -
working_girl — 9 years ago(June 12, 2016 06:00 PM)
Why would he kill his mother, then? He had as many reasons to kill one as to kill the other. He was crazy, he was a natural born murderer. And the fact that he may have felt guilt, doesn't automatically mean he is going to punish himself. I see it as that he couldn't let go of his brother, just as he cannot let go of his mother at the end, because of what he did. Another possibility is that he killed both to "reshape" them more to his taste. In his fantasy now they are the perfect family, which they weren't before.
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Giraffe_Monster — 9 years ago(June 12, 2016 08:43 PM)
He killed her because he believed she wasn't his real mother it's the whole plot of the film.
I don't think it's fair to say that he's a "natural born murderer" when the only person who dies directly because of him is only his mother.
The whole theme of this film is about grief and coping. Elias was left "unattended" by his mother, and retreated into fantasy, while the mother had to deal with the loss of one of her sons and the divorce on top of it all, so she turned to cosmetic surgery to make it "easier".
Nothing at all hints at a murderous intent from Elias.
Another possibility is that he killed both to "reshape" them more to his taste. In his fantasy now they are the perfect family, which they weren't before.
How can you say so, when you've never seen Lukas while he was alive? You can't know how perfect or not perfect he was, since he was pretty much a figment of Elias' imagination during the whole film, and not his actual brother.
And as I said, I think it's obvious that everyone is dead by the end of the film.- When the mother catches fire, Elias/Lukas run towards the stairs. Nothing in his/their behavior indicate that they actually want/will flee the house;
- One very, very important and obvious hint is the song that the Mother sings in the end, something like "god watching over us" -> death;
- And finally, the very last shot are the flaming embers in the air, as if to say everything/everyone burned and they're no more.
Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM?
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eric-mlp — 9 years ago(July 21, 2016 08:44 PM)
I believe Elias killed Jacob in a fire just like his mother. This is due to him having a Lighter at his room, when the mother looks for the cat. (Just look at how mad she gets when she finds it)
Also when they run to the fields where the farmer is burning hay. You can see that Elias is quite interested by the flames. At the end when he kills his mother, he seems to have an idea of what he is doing.
I believe he killed his brother while playing with fire. Thus the house burned down, and they moved to the house thats in the film. The mother was in an accident either during the fire? Or after. Thus as she was a reckognized TV persona she needed re-construction of her face. -
Giraffe_Monster — 9 years ago(July 22, 2016 05:02 AM)
I believe he killed his brother while playing with fire. Thus the house burned down, and they moved to the house thats in the film. The mother was in an accident either during the fire? Or after. Thus as she was a reckognized TV persona she needed re-construction of her face.
That doesn't make sense considering what the movie tells us;
The Mother is trying to sell the house because she's single now (divorce) and there's only her and Elias, as opposed to Mom/Dad/Elias/Lukas, and she can't afford that big house on her own, so it doesn't make sense that they'd move into a house they can't afford.
They clearly had that house for a very long time before the accident/divorce.
And the Mother wanted the surgery, it had nothing to do with any accident.
Fine, fine, I'll leave! But first I'm going to bother these peanuts! Hmm? Yes? Hmm? HMM? -
Elemenoh — 9 years ago(August 20, 2016 12:49 AM)
Everything you're claiming here is either unfounded or 180 degrees from the truth.
- The mother is separated, not divorced, which is a recent development. She specifically mentioned this to the priest who dropped them off.
- She most-certainly can afford the house. Nothing suggested financial troubles, in fact they went to great lengths to show us how rich & famous she is. She's selling the house because Elias is spiraling in that environment.
- The mother didn't "just want" the surgery, and there's no evidence that this is the case.
- Lukas/Elias and fire were such a blatant visual pairing that I marvel how you can think Elias
didn't
cause the fire. Hell, his mom's last-ditch attempt was to tell Elias the accident wasn't his fault. That wouldn't even rise as a possible defense if there wasn't some question of it. - They flat-out said the house was new-ish. They used to live in Vienna.
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SaliceMcD — 9 years ago(October 22, 2016 08:24 AM)
- We're shown photos on a wall of the mother with a plastic surgeon's marks on her face. It's fine; no burns. We also see her studying her body in a mirror, perhaps considering further work; she also has colored contact lenses. As she's joined an online dating service post-separation, it's clear to me that she's undergone a "makeover" prior to moving on.
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Elemenoh — 9 years ago(August 20, 2016 12:50 AM)
The movie went to PAINFULLY clear lengths to display that Elias has an unhealthy affinity for fire.
His mom even goes as far as to say the accident wasn't his fault, as a last-ditch attempt to survive. That's not a thing that crosses somebody's mind, especially as a form of self-defense, when there's absolutely zero ambiguity that the person in question wasn't at fault.
Then there are the hamfisted visual connections implying the exact same thing:
The controlled-burn scene, suspending the cat in gasoline after a candlelight vigil, hiding lighters in his bedroom Damn near half the time we see Elias/Lukas, we also saw fire in the shot somewhere, or else him burning something in some other way.
That's the visual equivalent of screaming "THIS KID BURNS SH_T" in your face. -
dancenog — 9 years ago(September 03, 2016 06:52 PM)
SPOILERS obviously: I just watched it and i thought the son had caused both fires. When the mom pleads that the first fire wasnt his fault that surely implies that it was.
I also thought throughout that they were showing him with lighters or magnifying the sun. This ties in peefectly with the farmer with the burning crop and the boys reaction. It also ties in with the mother reacting bad when catching him with lighter
End - they are all gone and she was his mother.