The ambiguity and ending of “Don’t Move” on Netflix explained
October is scary time: That means,and psychological films are now on our watchlist.has released some old and a few new films again this year. One of them is currently at number 2 on the Netflix charts:“Don’t Move”.A thriller whose premise will (appropriately) leave you frozen in fear. The film has a clear ending in the sense of: Yes, she survives. But the last sentence in particular allows for an ambiguity that is (or could be) hidden behind the film. We explain the ending and the ambiguity of “Don't Move” on Netflix.
That's what “Don't Move” on Netflix is about
The film “Don't Move” is an exciting thriller, but can also be understood as a character study. Our protagonist is Iris (Kelsey Asbille), who has not yet fully come to terms with the death of her young son. Her grief over the hiking accident that cost him his life leaves her deeply depressed. At the beginning of the film, she decides to visit the cliff that her son Mateo fell down - and it becomes clear that she plans to meet the same fate as her son.
However, as she stands at the cliff, she meets the charismatic, handsome Richard (Finn Wittrock), who convinces her not to jump. She is moved by his tragic story about the death of his girlfriend and his tornness as well as the slow recovery of his will to live - and together they set off back on the hiking trail.
This is where the actual thriller part of the film begins: Richard is of course not a nice guy who just wants to save our protagonist. He wants to play a game with her. Richard injects her with a drug that slowly paralyzes her within 20 minutes. Afterwards she can neither speak nor move.
The film now runs in quasi-real time as Iris tries to free herself before she can no longer move at all, and Richard of course does everything to prevent that from happening.
This is what happens at the end of “Don’t Move” on Netflix
Is “Don’t Move” the most exciting thriller of all time? No, definitely not. But the premise is good, the twist at the end is entertaining, and the metaphorical level of the film definitely makes it more exciting.
Richard's plan is to take the paralyzed Iris to his cabin in the forest, torture her and ultimately let her sink into the lake. But before the paralysis can fully set in, Iris escapes and takes refuge in the forest. But it doesn't take long until Richard finds her again. Since the paralysis will soon wear off and his wife now wants to visit him, Richard takes her straight to the lake in which he wants to drown her.
But Iris saw through Richard. He just wants power over her - so she gives him this false sense of superiority and uses it to gain the upper hand. She rams his knife into his neck and gives him two more bullets from the pistol that he stole from a police officer.
The boat sinks slowly and Iris saves herself to the shore of the lake with a lot of effort. There she sees that Richard has also managed to get to the shore. But instead of helping him, she thanks him and starts her new life.
What is Richard's motive?
Why does Richard want to murder women at all - and why does he make it so difficult for himself? He had several moments where he could have simply killed Iris without giving her a chance to escape. But Richard doesn't just want to kill women - he wants to see them suffer.
The tragic story that stopped Iris from throwing herself off the cliff was only partially true. Yes, his girlfriend at the time died in a car accident - but as Richard watched her slowly die, he felt incredible power in that moment. A power that he wanted to feel again and again. As his girlfriend took her last breath, he thanked her for this awakening moment.
Richard tells Iris this after he has had a phone call with his daughter. In fact: Richard also has a daughter and a wife who think that he always takes a break for himself in the forest. But in an interview with the Netflix blogTumduDirector Schindler warns the audience to take everything Richard says at face value. He is a good actor who can convince the people around him of something that he is not.
Basically, Richard is above all a. His motivation for the murders is to have incredible, almost divine power over the lives of the young women. When he tortures them and they can't defend themselves, he can enjoy how the life slowly flows out of their bodies.
Why does Iris say “Thank you” at the end of the Netflix film?
This is where the film's ambiguity comes into play. On the one hand, her “thank you” is of course a reference to the last words Richard said to his dying girlfriend. Iris took away the power he felt back then. But she thanks him for something else.
“For me, the film is a conversation with yourself about your own will to live,” says Iris actress Kelsey Asbille to the Netflix blogTumdu. "That's what makes the genre perfect for this kind of confrontation, we can show their existential paralysis physically, not just metaphorically." Because at the beginning of the film Iris was ready to give up her own life because she has been in a complete emotional standstill since the death of her son.
The drug leaves her body in a paralyzed state for an hour. But she fights against it: runs before the paralysis has fully set in, tries to communicate while it does, and ultimately saves herself when the drug slowly loses its effect. She doesn't give up fighting and at the same time regains much more than just her mobility. She also gets her will to live back - and ironically, she has Richard to thank for that.
“I think there is a moment when Iris decides to live and not just survive,” Asbille continuesTumdu. “That’s what moved me: the desperate struggle to overcome something that left you paralyzed.” In the end, she not only survived her physical paralysis, but also her emotional paralysis. What at first seems like a simple callback to an earlier scene is actually a true thank you.
Does Richard survive in “Don’t Move” on Netflix?
After a knife wound in the neck and two bullets in his body, Richard still manages to swim to the shore of the lake. But there will no longer be a showdown. Richard lies half-bleeding on the floor while Iris can still say her last words to him. Theoretically you can't see how he doesactuallydies. So in the realm of film logic, he could absolutely have survived and potentially star in a second part.
“Don’t Move” is available to stream on Netflix.
