“What lies hide” and why the house ceased to be a fortress. Trespass (2011): film plot, ending, similar movies.
Country: USA, Bulgaria
Genre: thriller, drama, crime
Year of production: 2011
Director: Joel Schumacher
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman, Ben Mendelsohn
Slogan: “When terror is at your door, you can run, or you can fight”.
According to fans of Joel Schumacher’s work, he managed to make a dynamic and quite interesting genre thriller. The plot of the film “What Lies Conceal” (Trespass) tells about difficult relationships in one family and raises several serious questions at once.
Plot of the film Trespass
Brief description of the contents of the picture. Kyle Miller is a successful entrepreneur. He lives in a luxurious mansion with his wife Sarah and teenage daughter Avery. Family relationships, despite outward well-being, are not the most rosy. Avery openly rebels and is rude to his parents, Sarah is bored in her marriage, and Kyle thinks about everything but his beautiful wife.
Just as the man is about to leave, the house is invaded by a gang of robbers who disguise themselves as law enforcement officers. There are four criminals in the gang: Elias, his girlfriend Petal, his younger brother Jonah (Jonah) and the thug Tai.
The robbers tell the frightened spouses (Avery is at a party at this moment) that they have been watching them for a long time and know that there is a large sum of money in the house. Elias demands that Kyle open the safe, but despite threats, Miller refuses to do so.
Meanwhile, Sarah accidentally meets Jonah’s gaze and recognizes him. She involuntarily plunges into memories: it turns out that an attractive young man is a technician, it was he who installed a security system in their house.
Soon Avery returns home from the party and is also captured. Elias makes another call – this time he doesn’t so much demand as he asks: his mother urgently needs an expensive kidney transplant operation, and he doesn’t have the money for it. If Kyle doesn’t open the safe, he will “borrow” one of Avery’s kidneys.
Suddenly, Sarah, showing remarkable agility, arms herself with a syringe, inside of which there is a potent drug, and takes the leader hostage. The attackers compromise – they allow the girl to escape, and in exchange for this, Kyle opens the safe.
It is empty and the man is trying to explain to the robbers (and at the same time to his wife) that he is bankrupt and has no money. The house and everything else were purchased on credit… Hearing about this, Elias breaks Kyle’s hand in a rage and, wanting to get some kind of compensation, takes Sarah’s jewelry.
Meanwhile, Ty returns Avery to the house and a seriously frightened Kyle invites Elias to take his kidney. But he laughs in his face: it’s not about the kidney, his mother has been dead for a long time, and he always hated her. At this moment, Miller begins to suspect that there is some hidden meaning in everything that is happening: was it his enemies who staged this ominous performance?..
Meanwhile, the intruders separate the family: Kyle and Avery are left in the same room, and John takes Sarah to the kitchen. The young man assures her that he still loves her and promises that he and Avery will not get hurt.
Kyle tries to fight: he attacks Ty, who was guarding him and Avery, and turns on the security system. Despite the fact that Ty is physically much stronger, Miller manages to inject him with “medicine” from a syringe and he passes out. Thinking that his accomplice is dead, Elias shoots Kyle in the leg and reveals his secret: he is a drug dealer and he attacked Miller’s house because he urgently needs to pay off a large debt. And Miller will help him – whether he wants it or not.
Avery tries to run but is caught by Jonah. Threatening her with the murder of her parents, the criminals demand that she ask the security service not to call the police. After this, the girl tries to save her father, assuring the intruders that big money can be stolen in another house – the one in which she was at the party. Elias tells her to go there under Petal’s supervision. On the way, the girl picks up high speed, unfastens Petal’s seat belt and crashes into a pole.
Meanwhile, Kyle becomes aware of Sarah’s affair with Jonah. He accuses her of infidelity, but she claims, but nothing of the kind happened – the young man is mentally ill and the whole affair was only in his head. She only gave him a kiss, which was caught on the surveillance camera – and then against her will.
At this moment, Ty, who has come to his senses, attacks Sarah. Jonah tries to protect her and he and the thug begin to fight. The stronger Ty gains the upper hand, but suddenly Elias shoots him in the back. Dying, Ty tells Elias that he was set up all along, and the initiator of this whole bad game was Jonah – he needed all this robbery in order to see Sarah again and confess his love to her.
Kyle tries to escape again. The thieves chase him to the barn and, to their surprise, discover a huge amount of money there – which Miller, sensing the end of his business, had been secretly saving for his family. Elias and Jonah begin collecting money, but are interrupted by an armed Avery. Elias assures that she can shoot, but first he will kill one of her relatives. To confirm these words, he aims at Sarah, but is killed by John. Having completely lost his mind, the guy turns to Sarah and says that she belongs only to him…
Trespass Ending explained
Explanation of the ending of the picture. In the finale, Sarah resolutely rejects the criminal, and Kyle, trying to save his family, decides to sacrifice himself – he shoots the robber in the leg and sets the barn on fire. Jonah continues to pursue Sarah, but a wounded Kyle suddenly attacks him, after which his wife helps him escape from the barn engulfed in flames.
Miller has one more “safety cushion” – insurance. He asks Sarah to let him die – in this case, she and Avery will receive a large sum of money. However, Sarah refuses – she loves him regardless of whether he is rich or poor. Avery soon joins them and tells them that help is on the way.
The meaning of the ending of the film “Trespass” probably lies in the fact that the main characters realized that they have no one more dear to each other. Now everything will be fine for them.
The meaning of the film Trespass
In their analysis of the film, many viewers complain that domestic localizers have once again distinguished themselves: the title “What Lies Conceal” primarily refers us to the thriller by Robert Zemeckis with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. Both films are united only by the idea (in the case of Schumacher’s film, ghostly) of adultery. The meaning of the film with Nicolas Cage is completely different.
The phrase “My home is my castle”, perhaps, fully applies only to residents of the United States – it truly reflects their way of life. Its meaning is that a house is a small universe, the center of which is its owner. It is at home that we can afford the luxury of being ourselves, and it is its walls that protect us from a hostile environment.
However, the scriptwriters of the film with Nicolas Cage mercilessly destroy faith in this and clearly demonstrate that there are no “islands of safety” anywhere in our reality. You can expect trickery from everywhere. In addition, taking into account the way all the characters in the film behave, we can say that it can be expected from each member of the family.
The domestic title of the film really makes no sense: the film is not so much about lies as it is about the fine line between the truth, half-truths and outright untruths, bordering on betrayal. But still, it would be more correct to call the film with Nicolas Cage “Intruders” – after all, the heroes learned a lot about their loved ones only thanks to the failed robbery.
In films that center on a robbery, nothing fundamentally new can be shown. The scheme here is always the same, except that the interpretation of the actions of the criminals and their methods change.
Here, unfortunately, we see a banal robbery, which slowly turns into a fairly typical, albeit interestingly played out drama. There are no intricate mysteries in this film that require searching for answers – the director simply tells the story of an “unhappy family in its own way” and shows the problems of a seemingly prosperous unit of society. Despite the life-affirming ending, in which traditional values are glorified, he makes a disappointing conclusion: you cannot trust anyone – not only strangers, but also loved ones.
However, the essence of the film lies not only in this. Almost each of us, in one way or another, hides something from our loved ones. At the same time, we do not think about the fact that lies have a double-edged sting. At any moment it can turn against us or become a catalyst for a real tragedy…
Schumacher’s film opened in limited release and was released on digital media. Only 18 days passed from release to digital release – a kind of (anti)record. However, one cannot say that this is a bad movie. It really does not pretend to have deep meaning or an original idea, but it makes you think about your words and actions – and at the same time it entertains well. This is a really interesting, dynamic thriller and therefore I don’t want to criticize it too much.
Similar films
Here are several films that are somewhat similar to the film “Trespass” in meaning and plot:
- “Panic Room” (USA, 2002). Meg and her daughter Sarah live in a house that is securely protected from thieves. Soon the intruders get inside.
- “Hostage” (USA, Germany, 2005). Tough special agent Jeff Talley tries to save a family taken hostage.
- “The Purge” (USA, France, 2013). Once a year, ordinary people are allowed everything – including killing with impunity.
- “Wall of Fire” (USA, 2006). Jack Stanfield, a major security systems specialist, is challenged by a seasoned thief.
