There’s no denying that people remember a film more for its plot twists than any other aspect, something that director M. Night Shyamalan knows all too well. But aside from the spectacular and bewildering nuances, the good scriptwriter has a dilemma to consider; does the twist or turn advanced in the plot fit into the narrative or does it aim at ‘disorientating the audience’? While some may view a movie and perhaps appreciate it and hardly look at its plot because of an overwhelming plot twist, it is almost predictable that in any film or screenplay, there is a dominating storyline.
The final scenes of the movie Unknowns can be said to fall into such a pattern—a last minute twist that has kept viewers both interested and annoyed. What director Andrew Haigh did not do was to explain the meaning of the message towards the end, although he tries a little to give the audience some sort of justification towards the end as well, but arguably, it is not for everyone.
This article contains spoilers for Unknowns. Please read at your own risk.
The works of Andrew Haigh of ‘Unknowns’
What seems to dominate the closing frames of Unknowns is the idea that only parents’ ghost of a child survives. His parents’ ghost is still there, and with these melancholy thoughts he moves to a different room only to find the body of his boyfriend once again. Adam is shown grievously weeping on the photo of Harry, once more close up on this ghost who pours his heart out and proclaims “I felt really alone that day”. In the last scenes of the movie, the camera slowly zooms out till the center of the focus, the two men becomes so far apart there as if they are two stars in the sky.
In a recent interview, Haigh said he did not want any readings to be invalidated as such but he did acknowledge the most straightforward one: Harry had died on the same night when he met Adam, after being refused entry by Adam. In other words, the only person Adam felt he had a bond with in his life is Harry who is actually dead and who never even thought of being with Adam.
The film had already put the viewers on notice that this was a possible scenario with viral plots such as Harry telling Adam that he had quite accidentally gone on a dry spell, Adam having night terrors with Harry always burying his head in the sand, and a look of horror etched on Harry’s face when being introduced to the spirits of Adam’s parents.
The Only Scene Where Harry Is Fully Alive
Contrary to what Haigh revealed in other interviews, in this case, they wanted to break away from the horror story structure that the original story had and tell a more engaging and relatable story. This is what the film was about for him:
“I mean, most parts of the film could have been summed up by the words Dear John, you have suffered enough, you can love again, yes you might lose it again, but you have a chance to find it again. Its a completely contradictory perspective, but its a conclusion worth having love encompass in itself even loss. That’s what is most important.”
An Unsatisfactory Resolution that Contradicts Everything Mary and Thomas Began To Build
To be honest, Unknowns had me hooked till the final twist. Some people liked Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal’s sentimental connection while others were for the family dimension, both were intriguing… until the final cut.
Why Do The Characters Have To Suffer?
In my opinion, the final twist completely subverts all the relationships that have been built. Family relationships began to resolve as soon as Adam made a decision to lay his parents’s memories to rest and confront the life ahead of him. But a few moments later, we see Adam still revering the memory of the lover he made only once, on that very night he met and would become Adam’s strong dislike.
This revelation does not assist in the development of the issue regarding Adam’s sexuality. Before, he said to his mother that it was not a problem for him to be lonely as a gay man because the times were different and he could enjoy a regular happy life. The sad truth the movie leaves is completely the opposite: Adam is alone destined to be looking for a ghost adding to the stereotype of the tragic fate of LGBTQ+ people in movies.
In spite of the underlying “shock factor” in the ending which may be predictable for some, it however does not sit well with the viewers’ tastes nor their feelings of how the movie was able to portray such sad but beautiful plot without making the actual story bad. Another opportunity squandered.