This was more of a thriller with a mother that had a psychotic break and killed her daughter and ex husband at the end. All of this stemming from her buried trauma of killing her sister as a child and telling her parents she had run away. Though some may see it as a supernatural movie, I beg to differ, hear me out...
So we have Sarah, who's a doctor dealing with the recent death of her father. Her daughter, Mia, is turning 7, the same age as her sister, Alice, when she "disappeared". And she also has to engage with her mother, whom she had been long estranged from. Her mother had stayed in the house hoping Alice would some day come home, while Sarah and her dad moved to the city. After her dad's death and her mom being in a nursing home she has to go to the old childhood house and pack everything. All of these factors are leading to her mental deterioration.
We start with the rabbit on the front porch that her daughter insists they keep. The rabbit doesn't appear until after Mia starts making ominous comments about missing her grandmother that she's never met. At this time Sarah also receives a birthday card for Mia from the grandmother, which she later burns. The rabbit is a symbol for Alice. Sarah, later in the movie, tells Mia that Alice and her were very different. Alice loved animals and was appalled that their father, who considered rabbits to be pests, would kill them. Sarah would go check the traps for their dad and Alice detested this.
Mia doesn't start to get super creepy until she witnesses her mom trying to chuck the rabbit she took in over the fence. At that point the rabbit bites Sarah and Mia starts to wear a pink rabbit mask. The bite festers throughout the movie, which could allude to unhealed wounds from the past that's infecting her.
I also feel Sarah started to abuse Mia. Mia's head wounds and nose bleeds were similar to the ones that Alice had after being hit in the head. Mia was becoming more scared of Sarah, shaking her head when Sarah asks her if she is being bullied by someone at school and withdrawing into herself. OR it could be that the head wounds and nose bleeds were a figment of Sarah's imagination and this freaked Mia out.
Mia was also not the one drawing the creepy pictures. Sarah was drawing the pictures in her deluded state, as we see at the end of the movie when she is lying on the floor scribbling a black rectangle.
This is what concluded for me that Sarah was crazy and there was no supernatural entity. She was seeing her sister Alice in Mia. She kept blurring their faces, she told Mia that she looked like her sister (dark hair and freckles). She was the one that smashed all the family photos in the hallway and trashed Alice's bedroom.
Now, why I do I believe she killed Mia and her ex husband at the end? Well, during one of her dream states she is walking to the edge of the cliff, her father calls her name and reaches for her asking where Alice is. She then looks down and she is holding hands with Mia by the cliff- the same cliff she pushed her sister off. Sarah looks at her ominously and then Mia starts screaming. She wakes up to Mia actually screaming and finds her in Alice's bed. How did she end up there when she was initially sleeping in Sarah's bed? Mia's head is bleeding once again and Sarah cuts her up with scissors trying to get a better look at the wound. Mia is very scared of her mom and recoils at her comfort.
So now it's morning and Sarah had Mia back in her bed. She hears banging out in the barn and this is where we get the full story on what she did to her sister as a child. She locked Alice in an old armoire in the barn while they played. When she unlocks it Alice attacks her, Sarah then grabs one of their dad's steel rabbit traps and hits Alice in the head with it. Alice runs and Sarah chases her yelling that she is sorry. When Alice turns around and they both see how bad Alice's head wound is (severe bleeding from the head and nose) this is the point of no return. Sarah doesn't want to get in trouble and Alice starts screaming. Sarah pushes her off the cliff. BUT, in current time she actually pushed Mia off the cliff. If you look closer, after she hit Alice in the head with the rabbit trap she looks up and it's Mia standing at the barn door. Mia starts to run and she chases her, just like she did with her sister.
We fade to black and Sarah wakes up scribbling a black rectangle on the floor while her ex husband is frantically banging on the front door. She suddenly comes to like she's been in some sort of trance and they can't find Mia. They run down the cliff side and she jumps into the water and sees a body. Though you can't make out the face I'm sure it is Mia. When her and her ex get back to shore they find Mia huddled under a bush. I think this was all in Sarah's head. Mia and her ex were already dead at this point. After they are all hugging the screen fades to black and then you see Sarah going to visit her mom, but she is still wearing the dirty, wet clothes she had on. Why would she travel all the way to the nursing home like that and not change?
Why? Because she wasn't in a clear frame of mind. She comes back home and her ex and Mia are sleeping in Alice's room. Back in that room, I see. She lays next to Mia, with her grungy gross clothes and talks to her like she is Alice, telling her she is sorry for what she did and that she lied to their parents. Mia's eyes are wide open, and still so in the morning when she, like a ghost, slides downward out of her mothers arms. Sarah wakes up and looks at her ex husband oddly, as he is laying in a strange position on the bed with a pillow over his head. She then walks into the other room and sees out the window that Alice and Mia are holding hands walking towards the cliff. They turn around to look at her, Mia is sporting that sore on her head and also has gashes all over her arms.
Mia was dead before the ex showed up. The ex never went down to the water with her, I'm sure she killed him when he went into Alice's bedroom looking for Mia. Everything after that was Sarah's delusion.
So we have Sarah, who's a doctor dealing with the recent death of her father. Her daughter, Mia, is turning 7, the same age as her sister, Alice, when she "disappeared". And she also has to engage with her mother, whom she had been long estranged from. Her mother had stayed in the house hoping Alice would some day come home, while Sarah and her dad moved to the city. After her dad's death and her mom being in a nursing home she has to go to the old childhood house and pack everything. All of these factors are leading to her mental deterioration.
We start with the rabbit on the front porch that her daughter insists they keep. The rabbit doesn't appear until after Mia starts making ominous comments about missing her grandmother that she's never met. At this time Sarah also receives a birthday card for Mia from the grandmother, which she later burns. The rabbit is a symbol for Alice. Sarah, later in the movie, tells Mia that Alice and her were very different. Alice loved animals and was appalled that their father, who considered rabbits to be pests, would kill them. Sarah would go check the traps for their dad and Alice detested this.
Mia doesn't start to get super creepy until she witnesses her mom trying to chuck the rabbit she took in over the fence. At that point the rabbit bites Sarah and Mia starts to wear a pink rabbit mask. The bite festers throughout the movie, which could allude to unhealed wounds from the past that's infecting her.
I also feel Sarah started to abuse Mia. Mia's head wounds and nose bleeds were similar to the ones that Alice had after being hit in the head. Mia was becoming more scared of Sarah, shaking her head when Sarah asks her if she is being bullied by someone at school and withdrawing into herself. OR it could be that the head wounds and nose bleeds were a figment of Sarah's imagination and this freaked Mia out.
Mia was also not the one drawing the creepy pictures. Sarah was drawing the pictures in her deluded state, as we see at the end of the movie when she is lying on the floor scribbling a black rectangle.
This is what concluded for me that Sarah was crazy and there was no supernatural entity. She was seeing her sister Alice in Mia. She kept blurring their faces, she told Mia that she looked like her sister (dark hair and freckles). She was the one that smashed all the family photos in the hallway and trashed Alice's bedroom.
Now, why I do I believe she killed Mia and her ex husband at the end? Well, during one of her dream states she is walking to the edge of the cliff, her father calls her name and reaches for her asking where Alice is. She then looks down and she is holding hands with Mia by the cliff- the same cliff she pushed her sister off. Sarah looks at her ominously and then Mia starts screaming. She wakes up to Mia actually screaming and finds her in Alice's bed. How did she end up there when she was initially sleeping in Sarah's bed? Mia's head is bleeding once again and Sarah cuts her up with scissors trying to get a better look at the wound. Mia is very scared of her mom and recoils at her comfort.
So now it's morning and Sarah had Mia back in her bed. She hears banging out in the barn and this is where we get the full story on what she did to her sister as a child. She locked Alice in an old armoire in the barn while they played. When she unlocks it Alice attacks her, Sarah then grabs one of their dad's steel rabbit traps and hits Alice in the head with it. Alice runs and Sarah chases her yelling that she is sorry. When Alice turns around and they both see how bad Alice's head wound is (severe bleeding from the head and nose) this is the point of no return. Sarah doesn't want to get in trouble and Alice starts screaming. Sarah pushes her off the cliff. BUT, in current time she actually pushed Mia off the cliff. If you look closer, after she hit Alice in the head with the rabbit trap she looks up and it's Mia standing at the barn door. Mia starts to run and she chases her, just like she did with her sister.
We fade to black and Sarah wakes up scribbling a black rectangle on the floor while her ex husband is frantically banging on the front door. She suddenly comes to like she's been in some sort of trance and they can't find Mia. They run down the cliff side and she jumps into the water and sees a body. Though you can't make out the face I'm sure it is Mia. When her and her ex get back to shore they find Mia huddled under a bush. I think this was all in Sarah's head. Mia and her ex were already dead at this point. After they are all hugging the screen fades to black and then you see Sarah going to visit her mom, but she is still wearing the dirty, wet clothes she had on. Why would she travel all the way to the nursing home like that and not change?
Why? Because she wasn't in a clear frame of mind. She comes back home and her ex and Mia are sleeping in Alice's room. Back in that room, I see. She lays next to Mia, with her grungy gross clothes and talks to her like she is Alice, telling her she is sorry for what she did and that she lied to their parents. Mia's eyes are wide open, and still so in the morning when she, like a ghost, slides downward out of her mothers arms. Sarah wakes up and looks at her ex husband oddly, as he is laying in a strange position on the bed with a pillow over his head. She then walks into the other room and sees out the window that Alice and Mia are holding hands walking towards the cliff. They turn around to look at her, Mia is sporting that sore on her head and also has gashes all over her arms.
Mia was dead before the ex showed up. The ex never went down to the water with her, I'm sure she killed him when he went into Alice's bedroom looking for Mia. Everything after that was Sarah's delusion.