case study book ending explained reddit

6 major differences between Netflix's 'The Perfect Couple' and the book it's based on — including a dramatically altered ending

• Warning: Spoilers ahead for Netflix's adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's "The Perfect Couple."
• Elin Hilderbrand's book and the Netflix series have some key differences, including the ending.
• In the novel, Merritt's death is an accident. In the series, it's a calculated crime.

" The Perfect Couple ," Netflix's hit new murder-mystery series, follows Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) and her fiancé Benji Winbury (Billy Howle) ahead of their plush Nantucket wedding, which is called off after the dead body of the maid of honor, Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy), is found on the morning of the big day.

Benji's wealthy family immediately becomes fodder for tabloids and nosey neighbors as the police investigate every member of the wedding party, including Benji's famous crime writer mother, Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman), and his father, Tag Winbury (Liev Schreiber).

The series is based on Elin Hilderbrand's 2018 novel of the same name.

While the adaptation has kept the story largely the same, it may still surprise book readers, as showrunner Jenna Lamia and director Susanne Bier have tweaked a number of key details, including the story's ending.

Here are some of the ways the show differs from the book.

1. Merritt's death is accidental in the book

Perhaps the most notable change that Lamia made when adapting the story for the screen involved Merritt's death.

In the book, the maid of honor's demise is very much accidental, even though it is Abby (Dakota Fanning) who is responsible.

After growing tired of her husband Thomas (Jack Reynor) carrying on his affair with a family friend, Abby crushes up a sleeping pill and mixes it into a drink meant for her rival, hoping it will mean she'll fall asleep before she can fool around with Thomas the night before the wedding.

However, Thomas's mistress ends up giving the beverage to Merritt, who drinks it before accidentally cutting her foot on some glass on the beach.

As she heads to the water to wash the blood off, she spots a piece of jewelry that Tag gave her at the bottom.

She dives in to retrieve it just as the sedative takes effect and ends up drowning.

In the show, things play out a little bit differently.

It's Amelia's terminally ill mother's euthanasia pills that Merritt unknowingly ingests, and Abby very much wants her dead.

Her motive is financial, not personal; Merritt is pregnant with Tag's baby, and if she were to give birth, it would reset the conditions of the Winbury trust fund — which stipulates that it won't be released until Tag's youngest child reaches the age of 18.

Related stories

After crushing up one of the pills into a drink and giving it to Merritt, Abby lures her into the water under the pretense of taking a late-night swim together before holding her head under the water.

2. Justice is not served in the book

In the series, Abby is arrested for the murder.

In Hilderbrand's novel, however, Merritt's death is ruled an accidental drowning.

But that's not to say the murder remains undiscovered. Through her years of writing her own convoluted crime novels, Greer is able to piece the clues together and work out that Abby was responsible for Merritt's death.

However, to protect the family, the secret stays with her.

3. The bride-to-be is called Celeste, not Amelia

In the book, a woman named Celeste Otis is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket.

However, in the show, the character has been renamed as Amelia Sacks.

Explaining the reason behind changing the protagonist's name, Lamia told Netflix's Tudum that it was because Kidman previously played an "iconic" character named Celeste in the HBO series "Big Little Lies."

Although "the bride was named Celeste through many, many drafts of the script," the showrunner said the team didn't want to confuse audiences, so they changed it.

That's not the only name change from the book; Isabel Nallet, the French family friend of the Winburys, is British socialite Featherleigh Dale in Hilderbrand's novel, while Shooter Dival is Shooter Uxley.

The charming male detective known as "The Greek" in the book is also replaced by no-nonsense detective Nikki Henry (Donna Lynne Champlin) in the series.

4. Greer's scandalous past has been invented for the show

In the final episode of the show, Greer comes clean about her life before she was a fixture of the Nantucket social scene.

After being forced to admit to the police that Broderick Graham (Tommy Flanagan), the man who crashed her book party, is her estranged brother, she shares the full truth with her family.

Not only did she used to work as a high-profile escort, but Tag was one of her clients, who paid to have sex with her until they decided to pursue a relationship together.

Furthermore, there is no Broderick Graham in the novel at all.

The character and the plotline around Shooter wiring him money to help him pay off debtors have been created entirely for the show.

5. Will, the youngest brother, doesn't exist in the book

Will Winbury (Sam Nivola) is another new addition.

It appears that the teenager was brought in as a character after Lamia fleshed out Abby's motive.

Without the existence of Will, who is on the cusp of turning 18, Abby wouldn't have a reason to eliminate Merritt and her unborn baby.

Since Tag was the father of the child, its birth would delay Abby getting her hands on Thomas' share of the Winbury money.

6. The final scene of the series and the book are dramatically different

The very final pages of the book version of "The Perfect Couple" describe Merritt's accidental drowning, told from her perspective, and reveal to readers how she died since no one was actually with her in her final moments.

In the show, after Abby is arrested for the murder, things flash forward to six months later when Amelia has left the world of the Winburys and Nantucket behind her.

She is shown to be working at London Zoo when Greer surprises her with a visit.

Greer explains that she has written a book about Amelia and will not publish it unless she has Amelia's permission.

Speaking candidly about what happened in the summer, Greer admits that she used to hate Amelia but has come to admire her. Finally, Greer asks if Amelia would like to be friends with her.

Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.

• Main content

• Sign in / Join
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Portuguese (Portugal)

Kate Atkinson's "Case Histories" - Spoilers allowed!

Talk monthly author reads.

Join LibraryThing to post.

This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.

1 sweetiegherkin May 10, 2015, 9:41 pm

2 sweetiegherkin may 10, 2015, 9:45 pm, 3 tara1reads may 19, 2015, 2:40 pm, 4 sweetiegherkin may 25, 2015, 9:52 am.

Group: Monthly Author Reads

312 members

6,636 messages

This topic is not marked as primarily about any work, author or other topic.

Touchstones

• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
• Kate Atkinson

The Book Report Network

• Bookreporter
• ReadingGroupGuides
• AuthorsOnTheWeb

Sign up for our newsletters!

Find a Guide

For book groups, what's your book group reading this month, favorite monthly lists & picks, most requested guides of 2023, when no discussion guide available, starting a reading group, running a book group, choosing what to read, tips for book clubs, books about reading groups, coming soon, new in paperback, write to us, frequently asked questions.

• Request a Guide

Advertise with Us

Add your guide, you are here:, case histories.

Kate Atkinson's marvelous first novel, BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM, distinguished her as a gifted storyteller and a novelist to watch. Now, with her fourth work of fiction, CASE HISTORIES, Atkinson proves her mettle with a thoroughly engaging novel that is part thriller, part psychological study, and part consideration of the mysteries of fate.

The novel opens with three "case histories." First come the Lands, the four daughters of a remote, unlikable Cambridge math professor. The youngest, Olivia, is universally beloved. When she disappears from a tent during a backyard slumber party, none of the Land sisters will ever be the same.

The second case is that of Theo Wyre, a Cambridge solicitor who dotes on his younger daughter, Laura. He worries about her constantly: "He worried when she went out in a high wind that a piece of falling masonry might drop on her head, he worried that she would take a student flat with an unserviced water heater and die of carbon monoxide poisoning." That's why, when Laura takes a job in Theo's office during the summer before she is to start college, he's glad that he'll be able to keep an eye on her. Little does he know that what he imagines as the safest place for Laura will prove deadly.

Finally, we have the case of Michelle Fletcher, a young mother who feels trapped by her marriage and her baby: "she hadn't 'bonded' with the baby, instead she was shackled by it." Isolated and lonely, Michelle snaps when her husband makes the mistake of waking the baby up from a nap.

Some of these cases are more than thirty years old; others happened recently. Into the middle comes private detective Jackson Brodie, who, in the course of a few weeks, shifts from investigating adulterous wives and missing cats to pondering cases that the police had abandoned years ago. Jackson is having a personal crisis of his own, and he ends up getting personally and emotionally involved with too many of his clients.

As the story unfolds gradually, shifting perspectives and timelines expose connections that no one had anticipated. Careful readers will delight in these revelations (one character reveals her identity by using a particularly odd metaphor, for example). All along, the careful plotting of Atkinson's story and the loveliness of her language make for a novel that is as thrilling as any mystery but has depth beyond most other thrillers.

Reviewed by Norah Piehl on January 7, 2011

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

• Publication Date: October 17, 2005
• Genres: Fiction
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• ISBN-10: 0316010707
• ISBN-13: 9780316010702

• How to Add a Guide
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Newsletters

Copyright © 2024 The Book Report, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How to end a short story: a case study.

Sure, it's fine to talk about what it takes to start a new first draft, how you keep yourself at your desk, how to follow the story along to see where it leads you. But how do you end a short story? Nobody tells you how to end a short story!

Short fiction already has a bad reputation for endings. A successful story doesn't have to resolve in the same way a novel does: often, readers come to the end of a short story wanting more. That's it? they cry. But what happens to the people next?

A seasoned short fiction reader learns to love that rush, the feeling of missing a step. He appreciates having a story-sized stone in his pocket, and touches it for meaning and nuance throughout the day.

But there's a difference between ending a story abruptly because the story has resolved itself, and ending a story abruptly because you don't know what else to do.

Here are three trouble spots I've noticed from years of writing and reading and teaching short fiction. Do you find yourself in one of these cul-de-sacs?

1. You write, describing scene after careful scene, but eventually you run out of juice. So you end your story, on a lovely, poignant image. But - what happened? What's the point of the story?

2. You write, carefully moving from story point to story point, until you reach the final scene. You may have known it was there all along. You feel the urge to make the ending satisfying, so you finalize it with a sentence or two that leaves no confusion: this is the end! It's clearly a whole and compelling ending! But when you read it over, it sounds cheesy.

3. You write, exploring action and causality, following what if? after what if? and then get to a point where you don't know what to do anymore. Your characters are in trouble (good) and the scene is ready for a shift (good) but you don't know how to resolve this.

Any of these scenarios sound familiar? Yeah, I know: all of the above. Me too.

The reason it's hard to find answers to the "how to end a story" problem is simple and infuriating: it will always depend on the story, and what that particular story wants. There's no easy way to do it, and there's certainly no formula. Every story is different.

But the same elements you need to start a story are also present when you end one: you need to be familiar with risk, faith, receptivity and uncertainty.

One thing to do: think about your story before you go to bed, and then ask your mind to give you an ending while you sleep. Keep a notebook by your bed. If you're a well-practiced dreamer, you can solve problems this way. This is not a joke.

If that's too out there for you, here is a story about how I ended a particularly vexing story. I’ve included all of the technical details. I hope this will help you.

Ending W atching A tlas : a case study

I had rewritten about 10 drafts of a story I eventually called "Watching Atlas" (the title came early - it's so much easier to title a story than it is to end one), but I knew it still had a long way to go. Not just because it had a lame (read: nonexistent) ending, but because I still didn't know who the story belonged to. I was having a POV problem.

The story had two main characters - Greg and Lise. They fought a lot, especially about the fate of an alcoholic friend's young son (Atlas). I went back and forth in the writing, telling it first from omniscient POV, then to 3rd person limited, in Greg sections and Lise sections. I separated the sections first, and then rewrote it, weaving them together. It was a mess. My editors resorted to drawing diagrams in the margins to try to help me sort it out. By the 10th rewrite, I had decided to tell it through omniscient POV once again, and write the consciousness of both Greg and Lise.

Each rewrite was a true revision - I started on a blank page, with my previous drafts in a pile beside me for consultation, and I wrote it over again. Writers: please don't underestimate this step. It doesn't matter if you're looking for the right POV or the right ending or the right scene - rewriting is the only way to become truly engaged with your material again; it is the way to discover it.

So I was poised to rewrite for the 11th or 12th time, this time from a big "voice of god" narrative voice. And then my mentor said, I want you to rewrite the ending of your story in the style of someone else. (If you're in the Story Course , you'll see this assignment explained in detail in Lesson 7.) I wrote a new ending for the story that was ridiculous, out of line, and over the top. I knew it was all wrong: I wrote it in Lise's POV, for starters, and I had already decided I was going to have an omniscient POV. I dared myself to write an ending that would make my mentor shocked to read it - something she would never expect from me. I dared to write an ending that made me cringe.

Writing an ending this way -- with energy and a dare, without any boundaries or consequences -- this is how I found my story's ending. I let my guard down, and then there it was.

More precisely:  the ending met me halfway.

To be clear: I still had to revise the story after that. I didn't use the experimental ending in my final draft. But in and through the writing of it, I discovered what the story really wanted. For instance:

Writing with abandon was exciting, and much easier than I expected. That told me that my story wanted some fire and race in the narrative.

I'd written in Lise's POV but it didn't match her character. The fire and race felt like Greg's energy. So it was Greg's story that I wanted to tell.

I liked how the final paragraph felt in the new ending. So the story needed a slow crash at the finish.

The bigger lesson:  there are risks involved in ending a story, just as there are risks involved in starting one. That feeling of jumping off a cliff - the feeling that got you to the page in the first place - you have to draw on that when you end a story, too. You have to take a running jump and go for it. Don’t overthink it. Get out of the way.

Go here to read the experimental (unused) ending of Watching Atlas .

What short story endings do you particularly love? What stories end so brilliantly you can read them fifty times and still feel stunned? Let me know by leaving a comment below. I think it's time to start studying endings again.

• Most Popular (57)
• Writing Advice (212)
• Writing Tutorials (74)
• Book Recommendations (47)
• Writing Career (32)
• Guest Authors (66)
• Newsworthy (108)
• Uncategorized (1)

18 comments

Leave a comment.

• Fantasy & Sci-Fi
• Harry Potter
• Amazon Prime Video
• Comic Books
• Geek Culture
• Lord of the Rings
• Sponsored Content
• Tech & Games
• Where to Watch

The Case Study of Vanitas Part 1 Ending Explained

The Case Study of Vanitas released its final episode for now

Published: Sep 21, 2021, 2:26 pm Updated: Oct 20, 2021, 4:04 am

The Case Study of Vanitas released its final episode for now. Thankfully, the second 12-episode cour is already confirmed, so returning to the steampunk vampire Paris is only a matter of time, and we just can't wait. Meanwhile, here's the ending of Part 1 explained:

Safely and securely tune in from anywhere in the world with a VPN

The Case Study of Vanitas Ending Explained: What Is Ruthven's Plan?

In Episode 11, Ruthven seriously injured Noé, making us worry about his fate; this happened because Noé proclaimed that he likes vampires and humans equally, as both are equally capable of good and evil alike. Without spoiling too much from the manga, it's important to know that Ruthven once shared this idealism but does not anymore, so he took Noé's remark rather personally.

The finale reveals that Ruthven decided to keep the young vampire alive for now. However, by attacking and drinking his blood, the vampire lord forced a terrible fate on Noé. At one single – an currently unknown -point in the future, Noé will have to obey one command by Ruthven, whatever it is.

Noé is forced to swear this oath, though it's strongly implied that he does not remember it, as he wakes up fine, with only his thirst for Vanitas' blood concerning him. At this point, we've no way of knowing what Ruthven is going to demand. However, given the way Season 1 started, I would guess that Ruthven is going to command Noé to kill Vanitas .

After all, Noé admits to that from the very beginning, and this is a major plot point that keeps fans interesting. Killing Vanitas seems so out of character for Noé so it would make sense for him to be supernaturally coerced, rather than do it out of his own volition. Hopefully, Part 2 and the ongoing manga will reveal the answer sooner rather than later.

It is clear that Lord Ruthven is not on our main characters' side, but we'll, unfortunately, have to wait a bit longer to discover his exact motivations.

The Case Study of Vanitas Ending Explained: Where Are the Main Characters Now?

The dynamic between the main characters is still quite fragile, though they've settled into a rather comfortable companionship. Noé finds Vanitas intriguing, and he's very interested in his blood. Of course, given how Noé is an Archiviste, someone who can access a person's memory by drinking their blood, Vanitas has made it very clear that this is out of the question.

Vanitas' past will therefore remain a mystery for now, as what little he chooses to reveal is often disjointed and potentially unreliable. However, the anime and manga have a long way to go, so we can hope that more about him will be revealed soon.

As Noé is still ashamed of his lapse at a moment of extreme hunger, things between him and Vanitas are a bit awkward, but the two nevertheless embark on a new journey. This time, they're traveling to find out more about the infamous beast of Gevaudan. In the far away, snow land, an unnamed new character is revealed to be plotting their revenge.

Related: The Duke of Death and His Maid Ending Explained

Meanwhile, Noé's new friend, the chasseur Roland, is warned that his friendly disposition towards Noé will threaten his family, as he's supposed to be a vampire hunter first.

Jeanne has a lot to process, as her feelings for Vanitas remain more complicated than she initially hope, and it appears that the human has feelings for her as well, given how much of his blood he's let her consume. But is she a curse bearer? Neither Jeanne nor Vanitas were able to tell at the time, so this could pose an interesting tension later on.

While not particularly complex, the ending of Vanitas no Karte leaves a lot of questions and many plot points to be picked up at a later time. The new episode batch can't come soon enough!

Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!

Aftersun Ending, Explained: What Happens to Calum?

‘Aftersun’ marks the feature film debut of writer-director Charlotte Wells. The drama film is a heartfelt portrayal of a daughter’s relationship with her father, explored through the prism of timeless memories. The film stars Paul Mescal (‘ Normal People ‘), a single father who takes his eleven-year-old daughter, Sophie, on vacation to a Turkish resort on the eve of his 31st birthday. However, Calum deals with the anxieties of being in his 30s while Sophie discovers the world of adolescence.

The slow-paced and emotionally riveting movie provides an intimate look at the relationship between a father and daughter , making it deeply personal for the viewers. However, it refuses to provide answers to some of the burning questions about its plot and characters. Therefore, viewers must be in search of some explanation. In that case, here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Aftersun.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!

Aftersun Plot Synopsis

‘Aftersun’ opens with a young Sophie recording her father’s “ninja moves” while on vacation at a resort. Sophie is embarrassed by her father’s actions, and she engages in witty banter with Calum. We then jump to a scene in the recording that depicts Sophie waving goodbye to someone at the airport. The film then tracks all the way back to the beginning and formally introduces us to Sophie, an intuitive eleven-year-old girl who is on a plane with her father, Calum. The father-daughter head to Turkey on vacation to celebrate his 31st birthday.

In Turkey , Calum and Sophie stay at a resort and explore their new surroundings. However, it soon becomes evident that Calum is emotionally distant. Nonetheless, he deeply loves Sophie and cares for her to the best of his ability. Calum is separated from Sophie’s mother. While the couple is divorced, they are on good terms with each other. Soon, it becomes evident that Calum is dealing with certain emotional troubles. In one instance, he expresses his surprise at being alive at 30 and wonders if he will survive till his 40s.

Through Calum’s interactions with Sophie, it becomes evident that Calum is having financial problems. Moreover, he is single and hasn’t had a steady, loving relationship in a long time. Calum has fallen into a pattern of self-hatred and experiences sudden waves of sadness he can not explain to his daughter. He hides his emotions with self-help books and uses Tai Chai to calm down his anxieties. Meanwhile, Sophie witnesses he father dealing with adult problems that she cannot process or understand.

At the resort, Sophie experiences what it means to be an adolescent. She witnesses several teenagers talking about and indulging in sexual activities. Sophie befriends another guest at a resort, a young boy who seems to have a romantic interest in her. Simultaneously, we see flashes of strobe lights as intercuts of Calum dancing at a rave fill the frame. Likewise, Calum teaches Sophie to use the video camera as they record their vacation together.

Later, Sophie starts feeling a distance between herself and Calum after he refuses to perform a karaoke song in public with his daughter. A disappointed Sophie spends some time alone while Calum has an emotional breakdown in the hotel room. Soon, it is time for Sophie to return home, and she bids farewell to Calum, bringing us to the end of the recording. By this time, the cracks in the father and daughter’s relationship and the facade that Calum is putting up for the sake of Sophie become evident. The experiences on the vacation shape Sophie’s perception of her father and her adult life, forming the rest of the plot.

Aftersun Ending: Where Is Calum? What Happens to Him?

After arguing with Calum, Sophie wanders off to spend some time by herself. Meanwhile, Calum goes back to the hotel room but feels restless. Following his breakdown, Calum heads to the beach. We see him approach the waves as he vanishes into the night’s darkness. It is as if the darkness, the depression, the self-hatred, and the sadness within Calum are consuming him. The next time we see Calum, he is passed out in bed as Sophie returns to the room.

On the final day of their stay at the resort, Sophie and Calum attend a pool party. Calum takes to the dance floor and freely dances to the music. Sophie is embarrassed but joins her father on the dance floor. The intercuts to the rave scene occur more rapidly than before. In the rave, Calum nears exhaustion as an adult Sophie steps onto the floor. In the past, Calum embraces Sophie, who pushes him away. However, in the rave, Adult Sophie finds her father and closes the distance between them. However, as Calum tries to hold on to Adult Sophie, he starts losing his balance.

Ultimately, we see Calum dropping off Sophie at the airport. He is the one recording the montage of Sophie we see at the film’s beginning. After Sophie bids a goofy farewell to her father, we see Calum filming the footage. He retreats into the airport corridor and disappears behind a door. The door opens momentarily to show the strobe lights imply that Calum enters the rave after dropping off Sophie at the airport. The rave is an imaginary space that most likely exists out of space and time. It is the pocket of memories that Sophie has created where Calum lives.

In this space, Calum appears the same age and wears the same clothes as he while dropping Sophie at the airport. Hence, it is implied that Calum is no longer a part of Sophie’s life. Moreover, several instances in the film highlight Calum’s depression and self-guilt. We see him disappearing behind a bus as if it squashed him, standing on the railing of his hotel balcony, almost ready to jump off and vanish into the ocean. All of these moments indicate that Calum s battling suicidal thoughts . Hence, we believe that Calum took his own life sometime after the vacation with Sophie.

What Is the Significance of Calum’s Dance?

The film’s climax delivers a satisfying yet unsettling moment between the father-daughter we follow throughout the story. On one side, Calum graces the dance floor with his carefree dance steps. On the other hand, he breathlessly dances in the rave as if his life depended on it. In the first instance, the bright sunny light gives a hint of optimism. During the second instance, flickering strobe lights in the darkness hint that hope is about to run out soon. Thus, the two different dance sequences can be seen as the two different perspectives Sophie has of her father’s struggles as an adult.

At the pool party, Sophie pushes her father away, while Calum fails to hold on to his daughter’s adult version in the rave. The sequence is tuned to “Under Pressure,” the hit single by the band Queen and singer David Bowie. The song embodies all the unknown and unsaid struggles that Calum is facing internally , the ones he hides behind the Tai Chi and fake enthusiasm, and the ones that seep through in moments with Sophie that showcase his emotional distance from his own daughter. These unexpressed and unresolved issues fill a sense of dread in the atmosphere.

Ultimately, the vividly different dances help the viewers and, more importantly, Sophie, see the man Calum was apart from being her father. In the rave, Sophie finally acknowledges that her father has become a shallow shell of the person she thought she knew. However, Calum keeps slipping out of her grasp, probably because Sophie is still coming to terms with the burdens of Calum’s actions. Thus, when Adult Sophie finally ends the distance between herself and Calum in the rave, she stares at the reality that she was too young to see in the past.

Perhaps this realization holds Sophie back from holding on to Calum. Sophie likely feels she could have been there more for Calum when he was struggling with the pressures of adulthood. In one scene, we see Calum reminding Sophie that she can talk to him about anything. Perhaps Sophie feels if only she had extended the same courtesy to her father, his burdens could have been lessened. The harsh truth hidden in the dance sequence is that Calum simply cannot keep up the facade he creates at the pool party and succumbs to the darkness of his thoughts.

Why Is Sophie Rewatching Her Dad’s Videotapes?

The final moments of the film reveal that Sophie is watching Calum on the videotapes they had recorded on vacation. The opening scene establishes that someone is playing the recordings on a TV. The same is evident when Sophie interviews Calum about turning thirty-one. The interview leads to one of the most gut-wrenching yet nonchalant revelations in the movie, as Calum tells Sophie about being abused as a child. The moment provides us with the first hint of the reason Sophie is watching the tapes and, more importantly, why she is stuck at this particular moment when the film starts.

As we later learn, Adult Sophie is married to a woman and has a baby. Moreover, she is turning thirty-two and faces the same mental battles as her father, or at least similar ones. Thus, Sophie is able to see the other side of Calum that she could not see as a child. The same is evident in the movie as the camera lingers on seemingly irrelevant visuals while the dialog takes place off-screen. Such a visual treatment represents that Sophie is rewatching the videotapes and recognizing all the times she failed to see her father’s struggles.

However, with Sophie herself becoming a mother, she likely feels the need to mend her relationship with her father. Sophie probably hasn’t come to terms with losing her father. Hence, she must first understand the reasons for his actions and see for herself the sadness that simmered underneath the facade Calum presented Sophie. The former’s emotional distance complicates Calum and Sophie’s relationship as a father and daughter.

Sophie understands the trauma Calum’s parents caused him but also does not want her relationship with her child to mirror the one with Calum. Therefore, she watches the tapes to find solace in the good times she shared with Calum. Meanwhile, Sophie tries to overlook or perhaps forgive whatever failures he might have had as a father and a person. Ultimately, Calum exists in the imaginary space created by Sophie’s memories of her father. She finds it equally painful to let go of and hold on to Calum. In this tragic way, Sophie and Calum’s relationship finds an equilibrium, allowing Sophie to start her journey as a parent.

Read More: Is Aftersun Based on a True Story?

SPONSORED LINKS

• Movie Explainers
• TV Explainers

How did that book end? Book spoilers to jog your memory.

Reviews with Spoilers

Karin Slaughter | THIS IS WHY WE LIED Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Everyone here is a liar, but only one of us is a killer… A secluded cabin retreat For GBI investigator Will…

Catherine Steadman | LOOK IN THE MIRROR Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Nina, still grieving from the loss of her father, discovers that she has inherited property in the British Virgin Islands—a vacation…

Will Dean | THE CHAMBER Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Six experienced saturation divers are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. Calm and professional, they know that rapid decompression would be fatal…

Jean Hanff Korelitz | THE SEQUEL Spoilers

THE BOOK Series: The PlotThe Sequel The Plot (from Goodreads): Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business—that is to say, she’s taken care of her…

Benjamin Stevenson | EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and…

TJ Newman | WORST CASE SCENARIO Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): When a pilot suffers a heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner filled with passengers crashes into a nuclear power…

Anna Downes | RED RIVER ROAD Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Katy Sweeney is looking for her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, her free-spirited younger…

Jaime Lynn Hendricks | A LOVELY LIE Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): 1999: The night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Russo and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that…

Ally Condie | THE UNWEDDING Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Ellery Wainwright is alone at the edge of the world. She and her husband, Luke, were supposed to spend their twentieth…

Liv Constantine | THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH Spoilers

The Mrs. Parrish Series: The First ShotThe Last Mrs. Parrish (read my spoiler post)The Next Mrs. Parrish The Plot (from Goodreads): Daphne and Amber Parrish…

Riley Sager | MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT Spoilers

This was a Book of the Month! If you’ve been thinking of joining BOTM, use my referral code to get your first book for $5! This page…

Catherine Mack | EVERY TIME I GO ON VACATION SOMEONE DIES Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for. All that bestselling…

Ashley Winstead | THE LAST HOUSEWIFE Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): While in college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her best friends met a captivating man who seduced them with…

Caro Carver | BAD TOURISTS Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Best friends Darcy, Camilla, and Kate escape for a post-divorce retreat in the Maldives, the perfect place to relax, reset, and…

Alex Finlay | IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to…

Kellye Garrett | MISSING WHITE WOMAN Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the…

Kaira Rouda | UNDER THE PALMS Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): During a weekend retreat, a powerful family plays a dangerous game of dark secrets and cold-blooded ambition in a novel by…

Kaira Rouda | BENEATH THE SURFACE Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): You are cordially invited to an overnight voyage on the Splendid Seas. An invitation to Catalina Island from billionaire CEO Richard Kingsley….

Lucy Foley | THE MIDNIGHT FEAST Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal…

Katherine Faulkner | The Other Mothers

The Plot (Goodreads): When a young nanny is found dead in mysterious circumstances, new mom, Tash, is intrigued. She has been searching for a story…

Cate Quinn | THE CLINIC Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Meg works for a casino in LA, catching cheaters and popping a few too many pain pills to cope, following a…

Peter Nichols | GRANITE HARBOR Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): In scenic Granite Harbor, life has continued on―quiet and serene―for decades. That is until a local teenager is found brutally murdered…

Elle Marr | The Family Bones Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): What makes a psychopath? A young woman delves into her family’s shadowy legacy. Psychology student Olivia Eriksen’s family is notorious among…

Diana Urban | These Deadly Games

The Plot (from Goodreads): Let’s play a game. You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the…

Mary Kubica | She’s Not Sorry spoilers

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica ending explained. How did She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica end? She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica spoilers. Get spoilers for She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica here.

Tara Laskowski | The Weekend Retreat

The Plot (from Goodreads): Every year, the illustrious Van Ness siblings—heirs to a copper fortune—gather at their luxury winery estate for a joint birthday celebration….

Catherine McKenzie | Have You Seen Her

The Plot (from Goodreads): Equipped with a burner phone and a new job, Cassie Peters has left her hectic and secretive life in New York…

Jaclyn Goldis | The Chateau

The Plot (from Goodreads): A dream girls trip to a luxurious French chateau devolves into a deadly nightmare of secrets and murder in this stylish,…

Sally Hepworth | DARLING GIRLS Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls…

Ruth Ware | ONE PERFECT COUPLE Spoilers

The Plot (from Goodreads): Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her…

Lisa Unger | The New Couple in 5B

The Plot (from Goodreads): Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle…

Steve Cavanagh | Kill For Me, Kill For You

Spoilers for Kill For Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh ending. How did Kill For Me, Kill For You by Steve Cavanagh end?

Ashley Winstead | In My Dreams I Hold A Knife

Spoilers for In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead ending. How did In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead end?

Megan Miranda | Daughter of Mine

The Plot (from Goodreads): When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the…

Clare Mackintosh | A Game of Lies [DC Ffion Morgan #2]

The Plot (Goodreads): They say the camera never lies.But on this show, you can’t trust anything you see. Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality…

Helen Cooper | The Couple in the Photo

The Plot (from Goodreads): Lucy and her husband, Adam, have been best friends with another couple, Cora and Scott for years. The four are practically…

Rachel Hawkins | The Heiress

The Plot (from Goodreads): When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The…

Nina Simon | Mother-Daughter Murder Night

The Plot (from Goodreads): Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door. A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Gilmore…

Sue Watson | The New Wife

The Plot (from Goodreads): You can never truly know what goes on behind closed doors… My darling son, Sam, is marrying his childhood sweetheart and…

BA Paris | The Guest

The Plot (from Goodreads): Iris and Gabriel seem to have it all: a beautiful home in the British countryside, a daughter happily working in Greece,…

Stacy Willingham | Only If You’re Lucky

The Plot (from Goodreads): Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of…

Sara Ochs | The Resort

The Plot (from Goodreads): A searing vacation thriller set on a remote island in Thailand following two mysterious women, a charismatic group of expats, and…

Ashley Elston | First Lie Wins

The Plot (Goodreads): Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and…

Elaine Murphy | I Told You This Would Happen

The Plot (from Goodreads): Carrie’s sister is dead. Four months after losing her sister, Becca—a serial killer unknown to everyone else in town—Carrie Lawrence is…

Kate Alice Marshall | No One Can Know

The Plot (from Goodreads): Emma hasn’t told her husband much about her past. He knows her parents are dead and she hasn’t spoken to her…

Megan Lally | That’s Not My Name

The Plot (from Goodreads): She thought she had her life back. She was wrong. It was a mistake to trust him. Shivering and bruised, a…

Katherine Faulkner | Greenwich Park

The Plot (from Goodreads): Helen’s idyllic life—handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and cherished baby on the way (after years of trying)—begins to change the…

Amy McCulloch | Midnight

The Plot (from Goodreads): In this pulse-pounding thriller, a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica—to camp beneath the legendary midnight sun—becomes a desperate battle for survival against…

Taylor Adams | The Last Word

The Plot (from Goodreads): After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a…

Alex Michaelides | The Fury

The Plot (from Goodreads): This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that’s not quite true. At its heart, it’s a love story, isn’t it?…

Screen Rant

Silence of the lambs ending & real meaning explained.

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Dan Trachtenberg's New Predator Movie Plan Continues A 37-Year-Old Franchise Trend

Spider-man: beyond the spider-verse’s release update is perfect for miles morales’ live-action debut chances, fast & furious 11’s returning character tease brings justice to the franchise’s most underrated movie.

Jonathan Demme's 1991 adaptation of Thomas Harris' psychological horror novel, The Silence of The Lambs is praised as one of the best films in cinema history, escaping the confines of its genre and landing well within the mainstream. Along with screenwriter Ted Tally, Demme brought Harris's bone-chilling book to the screen with equally scary success.

Both the novel and film follow Clarice Starling, an ambitious FBI trainee who is recruited to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, an incarcerated cannibal and former psychiatrist, in order to gain his insight on an active serial killer. Despite its gruesome narrative, The Silence of the Lambs  went on to win five Academy Awards , earning Best Picture as well as Best Director (Demme), Best Adapted Screenplay (Tally), Best Actor ( Anthony Hopkins ) and Best Actress ( Jodie Foster ). It was only the third film in history to receive all five awards and in doing so secured itself as a classic for critics and horror fans alike.

Related: Silence of the Lambs: Everything That Happened to Hannibal After the Movie

Guided by Lecter and his cryptic clues, Clarice becomes entangled in the hunt for a serial killer dubbed Buffalo Bill due to his habit of skinning his victims. When Catherine Martin, the daughter of well-known Senator, is abducted by the killer the case becomes more high profile and  Clarice's hunt for Buffalo Bill  turns into a race against the clock. As Clarice continues to tracks down Buffalo Bill, Lecter manages to escapes custody during a prison transfer. After hitting a breakthrough in the case Clarice locates Jame Gumm, identifying him as Buffalo Bill and killing him before rescuing Catherine. Her work on the case is highly commended and Clarice graduates from the FBI academy shortly after, though the celebration is interrupted by a call from Lecter. Now free and on the run, Hannibal is calling from an airport in the Bahamas where he watches Dr. Chilton, his enemy and former incarcerator, slip into the crowd.

The Real Meaning of Silence of the Lambs' Ending

After executing his meticulous and gory escape plan, Lecter is free once again and has no intention of changing his murderous ways. The next time Clarice hears from him he is calling from the Bahamas where he has managed to track down a doomed Dr. Chilton. With her FBI Academy graduation party in the background, Clarice listens as Lecter assures her he has no plans to pursue her and asks the same courtesy be extended to him, an example of the politeness Hannibal so proudly prioritizes .

When Clarice answers the call Hannibal greets her with his infamous, " Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming? ", referencing a story she shared with him in an effort to get his help finding Buffalo Bill. As Clarice works the case with Lecter's help, he persuades her into a " quid pro quo ", encouraging her to reveal personal information about her past in exchange for clues. During one of their talks, Clarice recounts a traumatic childhood incident in which she was woken by the sound of lambs screaming during the spring slaughter at a relative's farm, where she was brought to live following the death of her father. Clarice tells him that she can still hear the screaming in her dreams, and Lecter ties it to her determination in finding Catherine, a helpless victim up for slaughter.

How Silence of the Lambs' Book Ending Is Different

In Jonathan Demme's film, Clarice receives a final phone call from Hannibal, but in the novel he writes to her, penning his hope that " the lambs have stopped screaming ". In the book, his soft spot for Clarice is heightened by Lecter encouraging her career in the FBI, telling her that the screams will come and go, fueling Clarice's drive to save those in need. Lecter goes on to describe his view of the stars, avoiding information that might reveal his whereabouts but ending his letter by telling Clarice, " some of our stars are the same ".

Related: Best Horror Movies Where The Dog Doesn't Die

While the last shot of the movie shows Lecter hanging up the phone and following Chilton, the book ends with a moment of peace for Clarice. After reading Dr. Lecter's letter Clarice " sleeps deeply, sweetly, in the silence of the lambs ". After all Clarice has been through, the image offers some calming closure that viewers may not feel from the film, which chooses to let Lecter's question of whether or not the lambs " have stopped screaming " go unanswered.

Silence of the Lambs' Alternate Ending Explained

In the iconic film ending, Lecter hints at his sinister plans for Chilton, but screenwriter Ted Tally's first draft of the script actually showed the doctor in Hannibal's clutches. Tally describes the alternate ending in which Lecter has stalked Chilton to a remote vacation home where he proceeds to overpower security officers guarding the house and claim his victim. The final scene would have shown Hannibal calling Clarice from Chilton's home while cutting an orange with a paring knife, which he then holds up to a terrified Chilton asking, " Shall we begin? " When showed the ending, director Jonathan Demme thought it was too gruesome a note to end the film on and had Tally rewrite the scene. Tally did so and placed Lecter in the Bahamas, stalking Chilton but leaving his likely brutal fate unseen. Instead, Lecter alludes to his plans by telling Clarice that he is " having an old friend for dinner ", which adds an additionally chilling note to  The Silence of the Lambs'  ending.

More: All The Hannibal Lecter Movies Ranked, Worst To Best

• Silence of the Lambs