MovieChat Forums > The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) Discussion > The Clues to the Twist (spoilers)

The Clues to the Twist (spoilers)

posted 13 years ago by dramaclub01
6 replies | jump to latest

So, in my mind, here are the clues that I saw that hinted at Diana being the one who died, and the future just being an imagination.

-The professor looks the same age in both eras

-There isn't much of a sense that these are different times/eras- both Evan's scenes and Uma's scenes feel very much like circa 2007. I thought it was just them being lazy and either not wanting to imagine what 2022 would be like, or depict a realistic 1992, but when I realized that it's really 2007 and Uma's life never happened, it made great sense

-Emma references the Magic School Bus, which is a childhood reference more appropriate to someone Diana's age(if Diana was a 17-year old in 2007)

-The rotting food and dead bird imagery

-"She's Not There" by the Zombies being played

What else hints at the twist?

[–] aimless-46 13 years ago

A huge clue is the tendency of daughter Emma to hide from her mother and to run away. Emma is not just imaginary, she is elusive. Deep down Diana realizes that if she sacrifices herself to save Maureen, there will be no Emma. So the imaginary Emma is living a precarious (or fleeting) existence throughout the story which they illustrate through her behavior.

[–] speedo58 12 years ago

Remember that Emma was the name she had chosen for her baby when she was pregnant before she had the abortion. That is why they had the scene in the churchyard cemetary with the tiny crosses and the remark, "They are all children."

Even the title reveals the plot. It's been said that when you drown, your whole life flashes before your eyes, and there was water rising very rapidly.

[–] Tracey73 12 years ago

I've watched this movie several times. Every time I watch it, I catch another clue to the twist. Like you said, the dead bird that is lying on the ground. The science teacher tells Diana that a bird needs 3 things in order to fly (one was it's wings, can't remember the other 2 things lol). Then he tells Diana that she has the wings ...

Some hurt, some love, some shout. I fought the world and I lost that bout. ~ Blue October

[–] imagestic-1 11 years ago

The most obvious one, is near the end when Diana as an adult is entering the school there is someone who asks her: "Are you one of the survivors" to which she replies "No"

[–] narrnia-1 11 years ago

Many things. Actually how perfect was her life. In movies like these people who are loosers tend to have a perfect life. he was a teacher of arts , she has a beautiful house , daughter , husband..and then something goes wrong and she comes back in the reality..

the fact that her daughter had the same name with the name that her friend said that was a beautiful name and she agreed. I mean who remembers things like this 15 years later..

the fact that she had an accident and she had blood in places that she should not.

The fact that she had an abortion so she needed to have a child in order to change the past..

the fact that the whole life she was about a school while the only thing she wanted was to go away of all this.But she did not know any other realistic enviroment for a job.so her job was a teacher so was her husband s.

The fact that even so many years later she was considered a (slut) by the nuns as her boyfriend called her.. it was a bit too much for a good woman ith a kid. Obviously the ideas of a seventeen years old who made everything huge..

The fact that her house was big in a beautiful area for rich people as she and her friend wanted when they were teens.

The fact that she was trying to save her students as her teachers wanted to do with her..she wanted to prove to herself that she was not the problematic ine any more..

[–] ryanna-595-521893 10 years ago

First off, I wasn't "really" paying attention when I first saw the movie, so yes, I'm going to have to view it again. (I watched it while I was sewing)...so at the end, yes, my jaw dropped...I was totally expecting it to be her friend that died. ONLY ONCE did I have a feeling there was a deeper meaning, and got a fleeting thought that something else was going on... during her lecture to a class of students, when she was desperately asking them to LOOK DEEPER into the artwork... to find it's meaning. The artist name also was one that had me thinking, okay wait, I've heard that name before, where? etc...but again, I was distracted.