Based on the play by the author David Lindsey-Ebeira, the wonderful director John Cameron Mitchell created a touching and psychologically stressful picture of human awareness of death, the loss of loved ones. Bright and pleasing to the eye landscapes, interesting framing contrast with the storyline of the characters. The question of the realities of human existence is presented philosophically and leaves the viewer space for reflection.
In the center of the event, Becca and Howie are a married couple going through a difficult time. Their son Danny dies in an accident. And it seems that this, even after 8 months, leaves a mark not only in loving parental hearts, but also in the souls of their friends and relatives.
1. The specifics of building the characters of the heroes of the film.
Becca and Howie are two extremes, showing the ways of a person’s behavior when faced with the pain of loss. A woman closes in herself, tries to abstract herself from the world around her and sets a certain point for herself on a psychological level, which means the end of her future life. For her, as well as for her husband, the environment becomes a solid reminder of what happened. However, the spouse worries openly and, admitting his mental pain, is looking for ways to get rid of. The support club they attend is proof of their different approach to the problem.
In the picture, the secondary characters are also of great importance. Becky’s family has already experienced loss, her brother dying of an overdose, which is mentioned in passing during a quarrel. But the essence lies not in the cause and circumstances of death, but in the similarity of feelings that she and her mother experience. The departure from the life of a child, in the end, becomes the equator of the relationship of women.
In addition, the sister, leading a wild life, finds herself in a position that for the four main characters is not a joyful event, but another unpleasant reminder.
Another hero is the guy Jason, who, in the course of an accident, hit Danny in a car. This is a visualization of the fate that took their child. The main characters, due to the human nature of feelings, change the responsibility of acceptance to blind hatred towards a particular person. Which unfortunately does not save them from blaming themselves.
And do not lose sight of the couple who have been going to the support club for 8 years and have not come to terms with the loss. This, as conceived by the director, is a vivid picture of the future that awaits the main characters.
But it is the meeting with these people that becomes the trigger for the advancement of the plot.
2. Intentionally created hopelessness of the life of the main characters.
This is a special directorial move that helps to emphasize the closeness of history to real human life. Thus, the problem being disclosed becomes the object of a joint reflection with the author about its depth and relevance. In addition, the shooting style with its major note only reinforces the oppressive feeling of despair. The marriage is destroyed, the main characters are in pain, and the neighbors are having fun in the backyard of the neighboring house, the world around lives and does not even think of stopping.
This decision surprisingly reflects the professionalism of the author, his understanding of the topic and global experience that helps to reveal it. But, despite this, there are two moments in the film that tell the viewer how events will unfold in the future. We are shown how people can heal each other, how close we really are to each other, and how the feelings of others in our eyes are reduced to a small point. In the film, Becca overcomes herself, her fears and hatreds and decides to talk to Jason, which paves the way for her to accept. The same thing happens to Howie when he spends time with Gabby, the woman who lost her baby with her husband 8 years ago. On the verge of accomplishing this complex act, each character seems to be jumping into the unknown, into the dark and unknown, into the rabbit hole.
3. Rabbit hole or the role of Jason comics in the fate of heroes.
Jason is just as devastated by what happened as Becca, although their perceptions are different, they are united by the same feeling. In his free time, the guy draws his comics, in which he unconsciously seeks solace. The mention of parallel worlds in his works is a key detail. This is where the idea of the author lies. He conveys it in the words of the main character Becky: “There are other us, and everything is different with them. “. The subtle philosophy of this phrase so deeply embraces all the unknown of our life, its unpredictability, at the same time its charming splendor. The rabbit hole is a world full of incredible events, in which there is both pain and happiness, and we take risks by daring to climb into it. Our whole existence turns into a riddle, a rebus that is so sweet, but so hard to solve.
The meaning of the ending of the movie “Rabbit Hole” (2010)
The end is open, which creates an opportunity for the viewer to think not about what will happen to the main characters, it becomes unimportant, but about the essence of human existence. It is this complex knot of life events that arouses such interest. Life and death, beginning and end coexist in this film as closely as possible. Thus leaving the viewer on the path to his awareness of himself, his feelings and the world around him.
