The Kings of the World | Ending Explained

Publicado el por Carlos Mario Castro

Los Reyes del Mundo (International Title: The Kings of the World ), is a dense and heartbreaking portray of marginality and exclusion within the Latin American context, which can easily be extrapolated to any place in the world, but what is The Kings of the World about? 5 homeless boys from the streets of Medellin see a brighter future when one of them receives a letter stating that his property rights to a piece of land in a rural sector of Colombia have been restored. However as the film progresses it becomes clear that this dream could well turn into a nightmare, or even not be happening at all.

Now, if you really want to understand the end of the movie, if you want to know if the boys are alive or not, don’t worry, because now and without further ado, we we’ll take a closer look into The Kings of the World – specially the ending. Let’s start now!

1 ^ Who are the main characters in the film The Kings of the World?

The 5 boys who leave Medellín (Colombia) heading to Nechí to claim ownership of a piece of land are: Brayan (Carlos Andrés Castañeda), whom his friends call Rá (yes, like the Egyptian God); Winny (Brahian Estiven Acevedo), the youngest of the group who has great loyalty to Rá; Sere (Davinson Andrés Florez), also very close to Rá, although we rarely hear him speak. Nano (Cristian David Campaña), a young Afro-Colombian who is under the protection of Rá. And finally Culebro (Cristian Camilo David Mora), who is the least attached to the group, and therefore the most likely to betray them. The 5 guys in the lead of the movie are natural actors, not professional actors.

2 ^ What is the historical context of the film?

Since 1995, getting so much worse in 1998, Colombia suffered one of the most serious waves of violence in its entire history. The guerrillas armed and strengthened themselves using the peace processes and guarantees offered by the governments of Ernesto Samper and Andrés Pastrana as an excuse, and in order to cover more territory they expelled hundreds of thousands of peasants from their lands. The owners of extensions of land, and in general a part of the private sector grouped together and armed so-called self-defense groups, in response to the total lack of response from the State to the guerrilla takeover of the country. Of course, a war without norms or rules, where the purpose is to make the other disappear, led to a confrontation that left thousands dead, and civilians in the middle of the war,

Of course, many took advantage of the fact that thousands of acres of land were open to claim ownership. In the context of the film Gilma, Rá’s grandmother, left her land in the Nechí – Colombian Bajo Cauca – fleeing from the war and arrived in Medellín, with her grandson. Like many of those displaced by this conflict, Gilma and her grandson went from being peasants to joining the shantytowns of the large Colombian cities.

Now, in 2012, the Land Restitution Unit came into operation, a public entity that assessed the claims of the owners of these lands abandoned by the war exodus and presented the request before the courts of justice to repeal titles obtained fraudulently and deliver the lands to their rightful owners. Mrs. Gilma claimed her land in Nechí, but died before the court decision. Therefore her grandson Brayan (Rá) is the only one who can claim the land. And that’s why he prepares to travel with his 4 friends. That is the journey.

From Medellín to Nechí there are 346 kilometers (215 miles) of narrow road, which even by car can take between 8 and 15 hours, depending on traffic. The path basically consists of going up to the top of the western mountain range, and then going down to the valley of the Cauca river in Nechí. This area is widely known in Colombia for being a territory of permanent social disputes and criminal acts that almost always go unpunished.

The area of ​​Bajo Cauca Antioqueño, where Nechí is located, was a zone of wide control of the self-defense groups, which are known colloquially as paramilitares.

3 ^ Why couldn’t Rá get his land?

Because even land restitution processes can be appealed to a higher court, if any claimant feels that their rights have been violated. In fact, in Colombia is not uncommon that people who have sold their lands within all legal terms, and after a few years, they appear claiming the land that they themselves sold under no pressure. And furthermore, lawyers have been known to build artificial communities, to fabricate a fictitious narrative and thus claim extensive land holdings, under shared testimony. For this reason, even when the Land Restitution Unit has handed over land to a citizen, it may be the case that there are lawsuits over these rulings.

In Rá’s case, her grandmother’s land was returned to her, but the ruling was challenged by another claimant, who appealed to a higher court for a new ruling.

4 ^ Are the boys at the end alive or are they dead?

Short answer : Everyone is dead in the end. And now in the long answer we explain why.

Long answer : 1) Nano was killed by the guys who kidnapped them at one of the stops on the road, and in fact the scene where we see Nano, along with other people walking through the jungle, is a representation of all the people who have been murdered in that area of ​​the country, which is a great many. 2) Culebro, who had already betrayed the boys, stealing their food, tried to steal the land papers from Rá, and in the confrontation suffered a wound with his own knife, which caused his death.

Now as for Rá, Winny and Sera, the three of them stole their belongings and money from some boys who were having a party near a circus, and then they went to spend the money in a bar, where everyone in town found out. There, in that scene, where Sera and Rá appear on the pavement, we hear some sounds, but we don’t see anything. There, at the hands of the villagers, at least Sera and Rá died. From then on all we see seems to be a supernatural vision of the souls of the dead boys (probably only Rá), to reach the peace they did not find in life.

Two facts support this theory: in the first place, the elderly who give him the information on the ground, are in a house where they cannot actually be living since it is abandoned. They are ghosts. And then, on the ground, a series of children appear, the same ones we have seen in other visions, as well as Nano and Culebro. The subject who is throwing them out is another soul in pain, who does not let the children he murdered rest. In addition, there it is clear that the subject defends the lands of his employer, but clearly the mine is a different enterprise. In the end, in the confrontation between the children and the subject, they all manage to get out of the land that binds them by the desire to possess it, which exceeds death, and finally finds the way, just as the old man said.

They say that water is the blood of the world, now it rains and with its tears, it cleans the earth. And with my blood I clean the earth. The flow that has formed floods this valley, taking with it the memory of my grandparents, theirs, theirs, ours, and the anxious sea awaits. The anxious sea awaits me. There is no longer any port.

The final scene where we see the five boys on a kind of island, in the flow of the river, has taken them with their death and with it their memory. There is no longer any port, because nobody will remember them.

5 ^ What does the horse that Rá sees mean?

The horse is simply the supernatural guide of the path that Rá must travel to reach the sea, to finish his stage on earth and finally rest in peace. The film itself is perhaps how Rá sees his time in the world and how his last days led to his death and he was never able to achieve the dream of recovering his land, but at least he was able to do his best to be with his friends. Now, the Horse wants Rá to rest in peace, but his earthly desire binds him to earthly existence, to seek revenge against the people who killed him, and to find his grandmother’s land. But he finally manages to overcome those desires and transcend, although no one on earth remembers it.

6 ^ What is the message of the film?

The film is a strong criticism of the marginalization of certain segments of the population in Colombia, and yet within its criticism it manages to see that the victimization of individuals and their deep self-pity may weigh more heavily on them than the infractions and crimes of the past. Rá is very explicit in saying that he wants to recover the land to «fight for what’s his».

It is very frequent in Colombia, especially in these segments of the population, to look for external culprits to their economic situation, their social situation, or the frustrations they have above them, however, very few take a step forward to overcome their problems and get ahead. In Colombia, minors can seek to remain in the custody of the State, which guarantees their basic education, and even higher education in some cases. However, guys like the ones in the movie are not looking to improve their quality of life, have a job, a place to live, or food, but are simply looking for a way to have more money to reign on the street, which is the only thing they need or even know.

The sequence with the mountain prostitutes confirms this. Winny, who is the youngest, tells them that they could stay there, perhaps working and have food and shelter, however, they cannot conceive that they have to work to get their things. Rá and her friends see the land as a lottery prize to which they are entitled, but if indeed Rá had obtained the land, he had not the remotest idea of ​​how to make it productive, he would end up selling it and return to Medellín to continue taking drugs, fighting and when the money finally ran out, he would go back to where he started. That is the sad story of hundreds of people who have had their land reintegrated and end up selling it at any price, to buy a motorcycle and hallucinogenic drugs, without worrying about anything else.

If there is any message in this film, it is that magical solutions do not exist, a piece of paper, whether it is from a lottery, or from a land, is not going to solve your life, if you have not first structured your mind, to stop feeling self-pity and keep going strong. That is the only way that your life is not simply a flow towards the sea of ​​oblivion, where no one ever thinks of you again.

Questions? Annotations? More doubts? The comments section is open just below this post so feel free to use it. See you in the next installment of Ending Explained here at El Sabanero X.

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The Pale Blue Eye | Ending Explained

Publicado el por Carlos Mario Castro

One of the cadets of the most prestigious military academy in the early years of the United States is found hanged and his heart has been removed from his body. A renown detective is asked to investigate the case and searching for clues, he finds a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe who has his own theories about the murder. Who is the killer? Are more murders on the way? What would Edgar Allan Poe would find at the end? Who are the victims and who are the victimizers?

Netflix new original movie The Pale Blue Eye is a slow-burning thriller mixing drama, family secrets, macabre murders and of course, Christian Bale. But, without further ado, we we’ll take a closer look into The Pale Blue Eye – specially the ending. Let’s start now!

1 ^ Is the Academy Crimes based on a true story?

Although the story takes place in a real place, such as the West Point Military Academy, in New York, and includes the presence of cadet Edgar Allan Poe in 1830, which was also a checked fact, The Pale Blue Eye is not based on a true story. In fact, detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) is a totally fictional character invented by writer Louis Bayard.

Of course, the film is based on the homonymous book by Louis Bayard that makes a fictitious recapitulation of the permanence of the famous American writer Edgar Allan Poe in the military academy, incorporating an invented explanation of some of his poems and stories. Including the writer’s thematic relationship with death.

2 ^ Who is killed in The Pale Blue Eye?

During the film, two cadets are assassinated: the first, cadet Leroy Fry, who appears hanged, and heartless. And later, cadet Randolph Ballinger appears, under the same circumstances. The mystery of the first part of the film revolves around the death of Leroy Fry, and why he was killed. And in the second part the mystery is further developed, when a second cadet appears dead.

3 ^ Why was Augustus Landor hired to investigate the murders? What does Edgar Allan Poe have to do with these murders?

Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) was a renowned detective, famed for solving several high-profile murders in the East Coast area of ​​the United States. Now, when a cadet from the United States’ most prestigious military academy is found dead, the heads of the Academy turned to Landor in hopes that he could quickly solve the mystery and restore the institution’s pristine prestige.

Now, when Landor began to investigate the academy, he found that Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), one of his cadets, had a privileged position: 1) he had known the victim, 2) he knew the main suspects, his classmates in the academy, and 3) he was an intelligent and insightful subject, but at the same time innocent and impressionable. So Landor decided to bring him in as an assistant in his research.

4 ^ Who is the killer in The Pale Blue Eye? Who killed Leroy Fry and Randolph Ballinger?

The killer in The Academy Murders is Augustus Landor himself. The point is that Mattie – Landor’s teenage daughter – had committed suicide months before, unable to live with the shame and stain of having been raped by three guys, one night on the way back to her house. Although Mattie could see that there were three men, she could not identify them, except for a medal that she managed to wrest from one of the rapists.

To avoid embarrassment over the memory of his deceased daughter, Landor went for the first rapist he had identified: Leroy Fry. Landor faked a scene of an alleged suicide, to avoid suspicion, and attacked Fry, unable to extract the names of the other two rapists. For Landor it would have been the end of his plan, except for the fact that someone later ripped out the heart of Fry’s corpse and sought him out to investigate the murder he himself committed.

From there, Landor not only revealed the details that verified that Fry had been murdered, but also sought to identify the people who stole the heart, to blame them for the fact. With the investigation ongoing, Landor obtained Fry’s journal, which helped him identify the second rapist: Randolph Ballinger. To associate the deaths with a satanic cult, Landor slaughtered several animals and removed their hearts; later doing the same job with Ballinger, from whom he extracted the name of the third rapist: Cadet Stoddard.

5 ^ Did Landor kill Stoddard?

Although Landor told Edgar that he had not killed Stoddard, and that he only expected him to run for the rest of his life, it is most likely that he did indeed kill him. The person who claimed that Stoddard had fled, since he did not find his clothes in his room, was Landor himself, and we already know that he has the ample capacity to lie without any problem, specially related to the rapists of his daughter. Landor simply lied to Edgar because he wanted to prevent the young man from accusing him and ending up in jail.

6 ^ What’s the meaning of the final scene of the movie? Did Landor commit suicide?

The strongest evidence that Landor did murder Stoddard is that at the end, on the precipice where his daughter committed suicide, he let go of the lace on her dress, ending his revenge. And the fact that he didn’t confess to Edgar, and that he had occasional relationships with Patsy, indicates that although he was hurt, he wasn’t affected to the level of wanting to end his life. He wanted justice and he got it, now it was time to move on. It would be interesting to see a sequel to this movie, with Landor investigating new murders.

7 ^ And what did the Marquis Family – Lea, Artemus, Daniel and Julia – have to do with these murders?

Oddly enough, the Marquis did not murder anyone during the course of the movie. If they are guilty of anything, it is desecration of corpses and the attempted murder of Edgar Allan Poe.

Lea (Lucy Boynton) was pursued by several of her brother’s friends, including Fry and Ballinger. In fact, it was Fry’s interest in Lea that Landor took advantage of to lure him to the place where he murdered him, forging a note on her part. Upon seeing Fry’s hanged corpse, Artemus (Harry Lawtey) and Lea, with the help of Julia (Gillian Anderson), removed the cadet’s heart and saved it for a specific ritual, in order to cure Lea’s epilepsy.

In fact, Doctor Marquis (Toby Jones), had diagnosed his daughter, and had tried every possible treatment to cure her, without any success. So when Lea claimed to have contacted Henri Leclerc, her great-great-grandfather, and pointed out the existence of the Discours du Diable, a treatise on demonic rites, and actually began to feel better by sacrificing animals, he decided to just turn a blind eye. and let his wife and kids do whatever to help her.

With Fry’s heart, the only thing missing was a human sacrifice, someone who sincerely loved Lea, and the one was Edgar Allan Poe. Had it not been for Landor’s intervention, the Marquis would have murdered Edgar.

8 ^ What happened to the Marquis Family?

Lea and Artemus died in the fire that Lea accidentally started when the ritual was interrupted by Landor. Justice determined that Julia and Daniel had enough punishment with the death of their two children and that public ridicule would be enough for them. In the end, the murders of Fry and Ballinger ended up being charged to Lea and Artemus, who, being dead, could not refute any of the above. And finally Julia was unaware of everything that her two children had done in their entirety to achieve her purpose, so she couldn’t refute either.

9 ^ What does the original title of the film mean? What is the message of The Pale Blue Eye?

Down, Down, Down

Came the hot threshing flurry

Ill at heart, I beseeched to hurry

«Lenore» She forebore the reply

Endless night caught her then in its slurry

Shrouding all, but her pale blue eye

Darkest night, black with hell

Charneled fury

Leaving only that deathly blue eye

The title of the film refers to this poem, which is completely fictional, and which appears in the book as well. The pale blue eye, in the poem, refers to the moon, the only flimsy hope in the midst of a fierce storm. Edgar assumed that Lea needed help, and that he could be that pale blue eye. And Lea took it literally, choosing Edgar as her final sacrifice.

In the book, Landor is depicted as a man with cold, piercing blue eyes, but in the movie that is not the case, as Christian Bale has hazel brown eyes. Now, if there is any message that this film has, it is that having the willingness to go to the last consequences to achieve a goal has precisely that: consequences. Landor risked his career, and his reputation, on the will of Edgar Allan Poe, to get revenge on the rapists of his daughter. The Marquis Family lost everything, wanting to pact with the devil for Lea’s health. And Edgar was about to lose his life, for trying to get Lea’s love.

Although having an objective and a goal in life is important, obsession, not leaving the past behind, and wanting to go against what logic indicates, always brings disastrous consequences, which even lead to losing control of your own destiny.

Questions? Annotations? More doubts? The comments section is open just below this post so feel free to use it. See you in the next installment of Ending Explained here at El Sabanero X.

7 Women and a Murder | Ending Explained

Publicado el por Carlos Mario Castro

After all the buzz around Glass Onion – Knives Out 2 – suddenly Murder Misteries are definitely trending, and Netflix is more that eager to monetize on that. So, just a week after the second Benoit Blanc’s adventure, another mistery is new on Netflix, this time coming from Italy. And the name cannot be more descriptive: 7 Women and Mistery.

But now, if in the middle of the seven women, the faceless dead body, the numerous secrets, and the not that surprising twist you got kind of confused, do not worry. Without further ado, we we’ll take a closer look into 7 Women and Mistery – specially the ending. Let’s start now!

1 ^ Who are the seven women? What are their names? How are they connected to each other?

The seven women are all connected through their relationship with Marcello, the head of the family, and owner of the beautiful italian mannor where all the action takes place. Now, let’s see who the women are.

Margherita (Margherita Buy): Margherita is Marcello’s wife and mother to Sussana and Caterina. She’s also Agostina’s sister and Rachele’s daughter.

Rachele (Ornella Vanoni): Rachele is Marcello’s mother-in-law. She’s mother to Margherita and Agostina. Also, she’s Susanna and Caterina’s grandmother.

Maria (Luisa Ranieri): Maria is the housemaid and later revealed to be Marcello’s secret lover.

Susanna (Diana del Buffalo): Susanna is Marcello and Margherita’s oldest daughter. She’s Caterina’s sister and Rachele’s granddaughter. She is single.

Agostina (Sabrina Impracciatore): Agostina is Marcello’s sister-in-law. She’s Rachele’s daughter, Margherita’s sister and aunt to Susanna and Caterina.

Caterina (Benedetta Porcaroli): Caterina is Marcello and Margherita’s youngest daughter. She’s Susanna’s sister and Rachele’s granddaughter. She’s single too.

Veronica (Micaela Ramazzoti): Veronica is Marcello’s friend. Veronica’s grandmother sold the house where Marcello raised his family.

2 ^ Who killed Marcello?

None killed Marcello, he was pretending to be dead so he could actually see how the women in his life would react to the news of his passing. Thing is, Marcello was about to change his will, and he needed to be sure how to distribute his money and goods fairly. That’s why he conviced Caterina to help him to fake his death, so he could hear what the women were saying.

3 ^ What were the secrets of the 7 women? What were the reasons to kill him?

Margherita‘s secret is that she was leaving the house and his husband to find a happier life with her lover. Since she wanted to be free, she was a suspect of his husband’s death, but later it was revealed that she did not want Marcello’s money.

Rachele‘s secrets were two actually. 1) She could actually walk, and 2) She refused to give up her business shares to Marcello. She was a suspect precisely because Marcello wanted those shares, and Rachele could react badly to this.

Maria‘s secret was that she was Marcello’s secret lover. She was a suspect because she was the new person in the house and later, because of his clandestine relationship with Marcello, and that maybe she was not taking well the fact Marcello did not included her name in his will.

Susanna‘s secret is that she was pregnant an since she was single. She was a suspect because maybe she wanted a bigger cut of his father wealth, because there was no man to support her. And that’s the same reason why she would want him alive.

Agostina‘s secret and main reason to be a suspect of Marcello’s death was the nature of her feelings towards tha man. Agostina was in love with Marcello, and since he was always pushing her away, that might have caused to feel angry enough to kill him.

Caterina‘s secret was that she was actually helping Marcello to fake his death. Caterina was the most obvious suspect of his father’s murder, because she might have felt pushed back in the will intentions of his father by literally everyone. For instance, she would have lose a nice cut because of Susanna’s baby, and because of Veronica and Maria’s influence on him.

Veronica‘s secret was that she needed money to come back to Paris, and that she actually have asked Marcello this money. She was a clear suspect, because she was the last one to show up in the house, and later because her interest in Marcello’s money.

4 ^ What happened to Marcello at the end of the film? Did he kill himself?

At the end of the film, Marcello was found dead outside, under the balcony of his bedroom. And no, none killed him, he killed himself. To summarize, Maria have taken a look at Marcello in his bedroom when they were outside trying to leave the state. When they all got inside, Margherita and Veronica were making out, and the other women were gathering. Now, you might think Maria could actually, very quickly, go upstairs and kill Marcello, but we have to remember Caterina had the only key with her.

Two things could happen at the end, Marcello could slip when he was taking some fresh air. Or he simply couldn’t stand his financial failure while so many people, the seven women, were depending on him.

What do you think about Marcello’s real death? Accidental or Perpetrated?

Questions? Annotations? More doubts? The comments section is open just below this post so feel free to use it. See you in the next installment of Ending Explained here at El Sabanero X.

1899: A Character Guide (and their Nationalities)

Publicado el por Carlos Mario Castro

Netflix brand new original series 1899 is on, and just like its sister series Dark (Same writers and producers) was flooded with characters, this one is no exception, with an additional trick – lots of different languages, and different nationalities. Well, that is what was expected in a trasatlantic ship from Europe to America by the end of the 19th Century. So, just to keep in mind who is who, and where they are from, here is a quick guide for 1899’s characters and their nationalities.

United Kindom

British Empire in 1899

Two characters come from the United Kingdom, or rather from the British Empire, which was the official name of that country in 1899: Maura Franklin (Emily Beechman), the doctor with the marks on her wrists, and Virgina Wilson (Rosalie Craig), the mysterious woman who is related to the two Chinese women inside the ship.

Germany

German Empire in 1899

The entire main crew of the Kerberos ship is german, its captain Eyk Larsen (Andreas Pietschmann, The Stranger from Dark ) and his helpers. It should be noted that, like the British Empire, the official name of Germany in 1899 was the German Empire, and since Poland was annexed within Germany and Russia, there is a 50% chance that Olek (Maciej Musiał), the Polish boy, is also a citizen of the German Empire.

Spain and Portugal

Spanish Empire and Kingdom of Portugal en 1899

We know Ramiro (José Pimentão) is a false priest, who curiously speaks Portuguese, and his brother Ángel (Miguel Bernardeau) is Spanish. Let’s assume, for now, that they’re both from the Iberian Peninsula, and then as we delve deeper into the series’ mysteries we’ll reveal exactly where they’re from. Ah, in 1899 Spain was still known as the Spanish Empire. Portugal, curiously, began its phase as a constitutional monarchy and was known as the Kingdom of Portugal.

France

Third French Republic in 1899

By 1899 France had already stopped calling itself the French Empire, and was known as the French Third Republic, which included, of course, colonies on all continents. In the Kerberos, of the main characters, we have three French citizens, the spouses Clémence (Mathilde Ollivier), and Lucien (Jonas Bloquet), and the stowaway Jérôme (Yann Gael).

China

Great Qing Empire in 1899

Although they pretend to be Japanese, at least initially Ling Yi (Isabella Wei), and her assitant Yuk Je (Gabby Wong), speak Cantonese, so it is assumed they are from southern China, perhaps near Hong Kong, or perhaps part of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. And remember that in 1899, what is now China was known as the Great Qing Empire. So cool how everything changes.

Denmark

Kingdom of Denmark in 1899

The Danes on the ship are those in the Economy Class zone, and there we have Krester (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen), his pregnant sister Tove (Clara Rosager), and their parents Anker (Alexandre Willaume) and Iben (Maria Erwolter). Krester and Tove have a younger sister, Ada.

And of course we have other characters like Daniel Solace and the boy, who we’ll talk about later. For now, if you want to know everything about 1899, stay tuned this week at El Sabanero X.

The Chalk Line, Ending Explained

Publicado el por Carlos Mario Castro

The Chalk Line – one of the 2022 Halloween Season additions to Netflix’ library – is surprisingly a very refreshing film. Mixing terror and some psychological suspense in a very unexplored way for today’s standards, it truly keeps the viewer on the edge. Now if you really want to explore what was behind all the crimes that are knitted in this movie, don’t worry, we we’ll explain this movie and its ending in really good detail starting right now.

What is Paula injecting herself in the bathroom? Why doesn’t she want Simón to know?

Paula (Elena Anaya) injects herself with a hormonal treatment to be able to get pregnant. Paula does not want Simón (Pablo Molinero) to know that she is following this treatment, because for years they both underwent strong rounds of treatment to be able to conceive a child together, however, the stress and anxiety for the treatment to work caused strong conflicts in the couple, who finally decided to take a break before deciding whether or not they would try again.

Paula did not want to wait for the deadline to decide, and she took the risk of continuing with the treatment on her own, hiding from Simón, so as not to generate an additional conflict for not meeting the deadline.

Who are Clara’s parents? Did Eduardo kidnap her?

The plot of the film begins when Paula and her husband Simón find Clara (Eva Tennear). Clara is the daughter of Ingrid Morand and Eduardo Olivares (Carlos Santos), the neighbor and friend of Paula and Simón. And no, Eduardo did not kidnap Clara. Eduardo kidnapped Clara’s mother, Ingrid.

Who is Ingrid Morand?

Ingrid Morand was a teenager who spent vacations with her parents Klara and Christian Morand in Spain, in June 2011. There, in an oversight of her parents, she was kidnapped by Eduardo Olivares, who transported her to the outskirts of Madrid, where he not only kept her captive , but subjected her to cruel torture, sexual abuse, hunger and thirst. What Eduardo did not count on was that Ingrid was going to get pregnant, Eduardo allowed Ingrid to have her daughter, and to accompany her, not out of pity for her, but as one more way to control her.

However, shortly before the events with which the film begins, Ingrid dies in Eduardo’s basement, as a result of the terrible mistreatment to which he subjected her, and to a failure of her organs, specifically her kidneys. Clara remained alone in the basement.

Where did Eduardo leave Ingrid’s corpse?

Eduardo left Ingrid’s body in Bayonne, in France, so he had to have crossed the border with the body. Probably to prevent the local police from intervening, and to keep himself safe.

What was Eduardo doing in the basement?

With Ingrid, we already know that Eduardo subjected her to cruel treatment, including torture and sexual abuse. As for Clara, it is evident that she had a different approach. Basically, with Clara, he maintained a strict relationship of control, which when it failed, triggered strong physical punishment. According to the medical opinion, Clara indeed has serious physical problems, but she was not sexually abused.

Why can’t Clara get out of the chalk? How was she able to run away from the house?

Burrhus Frederick Skinner carried out experiments that proved that humans can also be operantly conditioned, in the same way that dogs sit or stand if they are given a kibble, and hear a whistle, or a code word. Eduardo surely did experiments to reach those results with Clara. The conditioning was simple, if she stayed inside the chalk she received rewards, if she got out,she suffered monstrous punishments.

Now, Eduardo knew very well how to get her out from the chalk without driving her mad, he would simply cover her eyes, thus mantaining the conditioning and taking her out without any problems. Paula herself did something similar when he took her to her house, using a blanket so she wouldn’t see.

Why did Clara have kidney problems?

As happened with her mother, the subjection to cruel treatment (blows, burns, and mechanical suffocation) takes the body to a critical limit that triggers a drop in blood pressure, which eventually triggers organ failure, where kidneys are the first to fail.

In Clara’s case, being so young and being exposed to Eduardo’s torture for so long, her body began to develop those problems. However, apparently, Clara’s problems were not irreversible, because shortly after she stayed with Paula and Simón, she began to improve remarkably.

Why did Eduardo leave Clara on the highway?

Eduardo left Clara on the highway because Clara was showing the same signs of kidney failure that took the life of her mother, Ingrid. Eduardo, knowing how much control he had over Clara, considered it convenient for the girl to receive medical help, without him being suspicious, so he organized everything about so someone would find her on the road. Surely Eduardo knew that Paula and Simón were crossing that point at that time and he tried to get someone he knew to find her to keep informed of her and eventually get the girl back. For her peace of mind, not only did she obtain information about Clara’s whereabouts, but Paula and Simón took her to live with him.

Did Maite betray Eduardo? Why didn’t she give him up when he was in the basement?

Maité betrayed Eduardo because basically it was the only way to get rid of his control and mistreatment, but even more so to protect her own children from their father’s cruelty. Now, the reason why Maite simply did not allow Eduardo to stay in the basement until the police arrived is that there had to be sufficient proof, through Eduardo, that he committed the crimes, and that the prosecution would be overwhelming.

What happened to Paula and Clara at the end?

At the end of the film we see that after Clara and Paula were rescued, Clara was taken with her grandmother Klara to Hamburg, Germany, where she was finally able to lead a normal life, physically healed and now clearly far from the trauma of her birth, and especially the chalk. Paula, despite having received a horrible wound to her collarbone, did not have fatal consequences to the point that she was finally able to get pregnant and start a new life in Madrid together with Simón.

Questions? Annotations? More doubts? The comments section is open just below this post so feel free to use it. See you in the next installment of Ending Explained here at El Sabanero X.