I don't understand what would make anyone think Grace had any hope. This would go from a really interesting movie to absolutely ridiculous if Grace lived in the end and the family went on happily ever after.
This is just my opinion, but I think the ending we got in
Excision
is the kind that cause lots of wishful thinking because it disturbs the viewer so much. It's hard seeing a young and innocent character die while everything practically goes to hell for the rest of the people involved. Thus, for some people it's probably easier to tolerate and accept the conclusion if they interpret it with a sense of ambiguety that gives them the possibility to imagine a happier outcome.
Of course, there's no way Grace could have lived, but by speculating the possibility it becomes easier to live with for certain viewers.

Well you have to remember that anything can happen in a movie, but I don't understand what would make anyone think Grace had any hope. This would go from a really interesting movie to absolutely ridiculous if Grace lived in the end and the family went on happily ever after.

thank you captain OBVIOUS!

Yes, because movies are real and Craigslist is safe;/

Was that a note to self?

Chloroform has to be applied continuously in order for the person to stay under, so it might be that both patients woke up a some point.

I was undergoing surgery when I was 4 years old~and woke up in the middle of it. They said I tried to get up and had to struggle to get me to take more ether. It turns out that ether, which was often used back then, didn't have a lasting effect on me. When I had surgeries when I was 10, they had to find another anesthetic that would be sure to keep me out.
I don't have a clear memory of what happened, but I told my mother about the experience when she was with me in the recovery room. She thought I had a nightmare till they assured her that it really had happened. I can't say what I felt, but I am certain it had a lifelong effect on me, a very serious one.
So, imagine if she did regain consciousness even partway through. shiver With CF and the malfunctioning lungs, she possibly didn't take in enough chloroform to keep her under. Now, THAT is a horror film!
*** The trouble with reality is there is no background music. ***

The same thing happens when people had their heads cut off by a guillotine, it is thought that you regain consciousness for a very short time.

Even thought it would have only been for a brief few moments, I cant even grasp how horrific it would be to be in her shoes at that point and lets just hope that you don't have the problem this film gave me with not being able to leave my mind for about 2 weeks xD

Oh no! I didn't think of it like that, that she woke up and was aware of what was happening.. OH GOD watched it last night and I am still thinking about the ending now..

It's very clear she is dead due to all of Parabolola's facts which he states in the first comment.
The thing I found extremely shocking and depressing was how nice and Innocent Grace was in the film and at how one moment she is fine coloring in like any kid and the next moment she's dead, You don't get to see hardly any of the procedure of opening either of the girls up it just escalates in a way that I have never seen in any other film which left me breath taken with my hands on my face saying oh god no
The fact that you see Grace with her eyes open at the very end tells you that she actually woke up from the chloroform and was awake moments before dying, I find that absolutely horrific and it hasn't been able to get out of my head for days which I'm assuming was the point of the ending of the film, to leave it's audience speechless.
But overall it was an absolutely amazing film in my opinion and I'd give it a 9/10.

Gee,parabolola. Many thanks for stating the obvious.
I don't know what I would have done without you!

What I want to know is how she got the rib cages open

You no longer want to live on this planet because of some guy's dumb comment? How emo of you.
If you've heard of it, it's already too mainstream for me.

Yes, I am terrified that people think she survived. Someone on the official FB page asked if she lived and the admin said no, she died. The OP then said, "But why, she did everything right!" I no longer want to live on this planet.

lol at OP, great post. Para: It is %*(^&ing unbelievably scary that people are even ASKING whether anyone might have survived that "surgery." These must be the same people who fall for the Nigerian "I have $500,000 in my bank but I just need your $5000 first to get back to the country and get it, so please send me money" scam. I think I might have to stop coming to these boards because they make me very pessimistic about humanity's chances of survival.

Haha yep, exactly.

She isn't a sociopath at allshe thinks she's saving Grace and her parents will finally be proud of her and her mother will love her. OK, the girl next door has to die, but it's a sacrifice for her sister.

What do you expect when John Waters is your shrink.

Perfectly stated, Wrenny. Right on the money.

OK, so if the end result was that the two girls died and Pauline didn't succeed in the surgery, then that means she has no redeeming qualities to her whatsoever, she is just a blood-thirsty sociopath who needs to be shot and buried in the same ocean as OBL for the betterment of society.
The acting and atmosphere were great for this movie, I'll give it that, but the story overall didn't click with me, and I just don't feel for that monkey they call Pauline.
..that's kind of the entire point of this movie.
she is a severely depressed, bipolar mess of a sociopath with grandiose and delusional ideas and thoughts. She needed severe help. I think she truly did want to help her sister and thought she had the ability to do so, and it makes it a sadder ending for that, in my opinion.
Pauline is a young girl with severe mental problems that never got any help for it because of her parents either never recognizing how truly messed up she is, or not wanting to admit to themselves that she was that ill so they just ignored it. Likely the latter. It doesn't actually take a rocket scientist to recognize your daughter is acting beyond moody-bitchy teen-girl antics and might need help, not a pastor with no psychiatric training.
In the end, I think as her mother held her and screamed in both anger and sorrow over how truly messed up Pauline is, perhaps finally admitting to herself that her daughter was
that
ill, that Pauline had a moment of clear-headedness and realized the implications of what she had done and that she hadn't helped at all, but destroyed two lives, two families (the other family being Jump Rope Girl's) and her own life and future.

OK, so if the end result was that the two girls died and Pauline didn't succeed in the surgery, then that means she has no redeeming qualities to her whatsoever, she is just a blood-thirsty sociopath who needs to be shot and buried in the same ocean as OBL for the betterment of society.
The acting and atmosphere were great for this movie, I'll give it that, but the story overall didn't click with me, and I just don't feel for that monkey they call Pauline.

Thanks for this information, just in time as well, as I was just about to start work on my brother and the post man, could have come a real cropper there!!

Worst as in artistically / as a denouement for a film, or worst for a surgeon? If it's the latter, I'd agree. Also, terrible for people with OCD. So much mess
"It's too late Always has been, always will be
Too late."