Published 17:48 IST, May 9th 2020
The Lodge ending explained | How two children turn their lives into their worst nightmare
The Lodge ending explained: The psychological horror The Lodge looks at how past horrors and gaslighting can lead to traumatizing experiences. Read here.
The Lodge movie is a psychological horror film that was released in July 2019. The lead character Grace is stuck with the children of her boyfriend Richard, Aiden and Mia, in a lodge. The children seek revenge as they mourn their mother’s suicide, which happens because their father Richard falls for Grace. The movie stars Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Alicia Silverstone, and Richard Armitage.
The Lodge ending explained
The Lodge Movie has the lead character Grace believing that she has been hallucinating things and that she has no idea of the difference between what she is thinking and what is reality. Slowly, the plot unfolds to reveal that her boyfriend’s children are behind Grace's so-called hallucinations. Aiden and Mia create scenarios in such a way that make Grace believe that she is hallucinating events while the planned out by the two.
The reason behind this is that Aiden and Mia are out to take revenge from Grace as they are not happy that their father fell in love with another woman after their mother died. Using what is known as the gaslighting technique, the two children manipulate Grace psychologically, making her believe that she not the victim but the problem itself. They do things like using the cell phone to show that Mia is pretending to have a conversation, Aiden falsely pretending to hang himself while he was conscious, which send Grace over the edge.
Grace already had a Christian 'cult' background, which committed mass suicide led by her father. Aiden and Mia unknowingly trigger this past of Grace. The children realise that they have pushed things too far as Grace comes to know her dog is dead. While the kids do not plan to kill the dog, it certainly plays an important role to shift the narrative into horror. Grace starts self-flagellation and starts punishing herself for her sins. She removes a log from burning fire and kneels on it pray.
Aiden and Mia try to hide in the attic and stay away from Grace until their father arrives. But Mia gets caught by Grace while going to the bathroom. Grace has also managed to get hold of their father Richard’s gun as well. When Richard comes, it seems that the film might have a positive turn. But Grace believes that she is dead and trapped in purgatory and wants to prove it. She shoots Richard with the gun. Aiden and Mia try to escape in their father’s car but are recaptured.
The final scene shows how Aiden and Mia are sitting around the dinner table with Richard’s dead body. Grace moves around them reciting a prayer. She tapes a duct tape on the mouths of the children with the word ‘Sin’ on them. Before anything happens, the movie ends.
While it can only be assumed that Grace kills the children and then herself, there is symbolism in Grace’s belief that she is ‘stuck in purgatory’. As per a source, the makers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz revealed how the purgatory shows that there is good and bad in everyone. The audience themselves are torn between sympathizing with Aiden and Mia on one hand and horrified by their deeds. The same two feelings also apply to Grace. Thus, it becomes hard to point out who is the real villain of the story.
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Updated 17:48 IST, May 9th 2020