MovieChat Forums > Mysterious Skin (2005) Discussion > Final monologue from the film vs final s...

Final monologue from the film vs final scene from the novel

posted 9 years ago by InsecureNeuroticControlFreak
2 replies | jump to latest

Which do you like better?

Neil's monologue in the film or Neil's last lines in the book?

Both are absolutely perfect ways to end the story, and I think both are completely honest in how they're basically saying this is just the beginning for them. The healing has only just begun. And things won't be okay for a while, but there's hope.

I think both deal with the brutal honesty of them coming to terms with their abuse very bluntly, but I really have to give the edge to the novel. It was even more blunt.

Troll the respawn, Jeremy.

[–] InsecureNeuroticControlFreak 9 years ago

Upon rewatching the film and reading the last four chapters of the novel, I change my mind.

The film wins.

Troll the respawn, Jeremy.

[–] muteme 8 years ago

I preferred the ending of the book, it seemed more in character for Neil. It also worked better with the new occupants of Coach's house walking in on them. It showed that what they shared wasn't something that could safely exist in the light, that it'd probably continue to be a source of shame for them, something they wouldn't want anyone intruding on. It dismissed the idea that they had experienced anything transfigurative by sharing their past, they weren't 'angels', and it wasn't a happy ending. They were now just more aware, in their own ways, of how awful it was that had happened to them.