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Smiles greatest asset is its cruelty.
She bought him a very nice model train, actually!
It was thethingthat pulled the traumatizing switcheroo.
For Rose, its difficult to say which is worse.
Makes sense, right?
Up to this point,Smilehas revealed that Roses mother died by suicide and that Rose found the body.
(Holly, the elder sibling, had already moved out.)
Either way, Rose ignores her, closes the door, and walks away.
In the flashback, young Rose is confused and scared.
And she really shouldnt blame herself as an adult for the actions of her guardian.
Rose was not randomly chosen by the hungry entity.
This cycle of guilt and fear started a long time ago.
Shes been a walking feast for most of her life.
Rose is trying to break this cycle, much like we break cycles of trauma and abuse in therapy.
Rose is relieved and cleansed.
She confronted her past and conquered it.
Unlike the characters inThe Babadook,this trauma will not be with her for the rest of her life.
But shes not going to run anymore.
Shes dealt with her trauma and is ready to start over, happy and healthy for the first time.
What happens next is the cruelest moment in the film.
No, confronting your past and coming to terms with it is not enough.
Rose wakes up back in the house and realizes she never left.
The figure she thought was Joel was actually the entity, masquerading as the one person Rose can trust.
It has trapped her in a fantasy of catharsis that cannot actually come true.
(The monster effects inSmilewere all achieved practically, albeit gussied up with some supplementary CGI.)
The creature unhinges Roses jaw and mashes itself down her throat, a reversal ofMens monstrous birth.
Then Joel returns to save the day.
The cycle will continue.
Smilewriter-director Parker Finn characterizes the two endings of his film as an attempt to get ahead of audiences expectations.
Inan interview with Polygon,he said that horror audiences have gotten so savvy …
I tried to subvert that and do something that might catch them off guard.
What we want is to be reassured that monsters, external or internal, are beatable.
Whether its doing so deliberately or not,Smileargues that its not actually that simple.
