MovieChat Forums > Primal Fear (1996) Discussion > Roy/Aaron's motivation

Roy/Aaron's motivation

posted 9 years ago by Naughty-God
6 replies | jump to latest

So, we know that the pervy archbishop was no saint and in fact a certifiable criminal who was too high up the Chicago "machine" to see any justice handed down to him. This we see played out thru the discovery scenes with Martin's investigation. At the same time, we're led to believe that Aaron was nothing more than a damaged young man who was taken advantage of by the archbishop and acted in a state of frenzied psychosis followed by a desperate and losing attempt to flee the scene of his actions.

Fast forward to the end after we see the Roy/Aaron character conflict play out and we learn from Roy/Aaron that it was all an act leaving us to believe that he either didn't care about being filmed for sex acts or that he actually enjoyed it. His confession to murdering the girl makes me think he was in on it with the archbishop and probably wanted to expand their escapades but the archbishop would have nothing of it. We never find out, and that's what leaves me unsatisfied with the supposed "twist". All of the other subplots involving the land deals and the city whacking Steven Bauer's gangster character served nothing more than red herrings, but that didn't satisfy the overall plot involving the archbishop's dirty deeds. I may have been more satisfied if we learned that the judge was in on it too and rushed to declare a mistrial removing Roy/Aaron to a mental facility to help diffuse the corrupt city politics that Martin uncovered during his defense of Roy/Aaron, but that didn't happen either.

Anyone else not convinced by the motivation for the main plot?

[–] JCrusher723 9 years ago

Some Killers don't have motives...they simply do it for fun or the thrill. The ending is similar to the usual suspects where everything you have seen is fake and it leaves you wondering the real truth. Im fine with the ending because it makes me think about it which many movies don't do especially nowadays

[–] Totemkauf 9 years ago

It does make me wonder for how long he had been p p pretending to stutter and things like that, did he just invent 'aaron' after needing a way to get away with the murder? If they grilled the other alter boy they chased down more, was there a chance that he would have blown Aaron's cover by saying something like 'what do you mean stutter? He talks fast and is always cursin n sht' , or did he put on that ruse far earlier to help him get away with other things.

[–] JCrusher723 9 years ago

Alex assumed aaron murdered him so i think he created the stuttering aaron when he was arrested

[–] utahman1971 9 years ago

There was never an Aaron, and how hard is it to understand that? The whole thing was a sham about Aaron and it is told by Roy at the end. The was never a multiple personality disorder.

No more IMDB boards for me!

[–] JCrusher723 9 years ago

I think most know Aaron was faking it.

[–] Uneken 8 years ago

Yes I think too that the plot is very messy, not convincing at all. In a single personality, Roy would never have killed the bishop the way he did: he wouldn't hate him that much; being a strong and vicious character himself, he could not have been forced into a sex act that he didn't want to participate in. He wouldn't be an altar boy at all either.
The acting convinces us, and the screenplay. The story is very thin.