Was there some kind of symbolism behind Will killing the coyote? (Or putting it out of its misery?) I don't see it having any bearing on the events at the party - his disorientation, discomfort, and later panic trying to save himself and his girlfriend. Was it supposed to give some insight into his character?
shareputting it out of its misery
This ^
But I also felt that they recreated that scene later, when Will and Kira find Sadie dying on the sofa: she was covered in blood, immobile and even breathing like the coyote, but they just leave her there to slowly die, showing that some don't deserve 'a mercy kill'.
Like Arya and The Hound on GoT... but we all know how that turned out!
👍
shareWow. Thank you for that. Your response made me like the movie a bit more.
shareGood point. Especially because he had the implement to put her out of her misery.
shareIf one of the cult members had killed the coyote then your comparison would work. But we're talking about Will and Kira here, and neither wished for suicide.
shareIf one of the cult members had killed the coyote then your comparison would work. But we're talking about Will and Kira here, and neither wished for suicide.
Will actually stated that he has 'been waiting to die' ever since his son did. So, he had been wanting to be put out of his misery.
share**spoiler**
I thought it was sort of mirrored in a later scene wherein the protagonist's significant other was forced to bludgeon a character, effectively putting him out of his misery. She was put off by the animal's mercy killing, but the 'final girl' character arc had its way with her. Maybe not though.
No your spot on. I caught that to. Not sure if it fits into the overall theme but it definetly shows what people are capable of when pushed to the brink. This movies got layers.
shareI completely agree with you, Nick!
sharethat wasn't a "mercy" killing, though -- the man in question (the ex-con, Pruitt) was in the process of strangling Will when Kira stepped in to save her BF.
I think you're right that the scene is intended to echo the opening, though, even in a distorted fashion
I thought it was a red herring. Somewhere along the line I started thinking they turned Choi into a coyote (it wasn't clear yet what kind of cult/movie this was) and that that was the coyote Will killed. But I probably just watch too much horror.
shareUp until the moment Choi walked in I was sure they had eaten him for dinner.
share*SPOILERS ENSUE*
I felt the opening scene was foreshadowing events later in the film.
A. Will did what had to be done to the coyote - he later told Kira they would do whatever they had to in order to survive.
B. Kira watched Will club the coyote with a look that it was clearly something she couldn't do herself. Yet, later she was forced to club Pruitt to death in order to survive, so she found she could do something like that.
That makes more sense. I didn't see it tying to the others putting themselves out of their own misery as someone indicated above since neither Will nor Kira had a death wish. I forgot about Kira pulling it out in the end to save Will.
shareYou guys it's not that complicated. It was foreshadowing. That being said, it's up to the viewer to decide how the shoe fits, as the analogy of the euthanized coyote could be applied to various characters in numerous ways
shareObviously it was foreshadowing. But the movie was very clear in other ways, so I doubt this one scene was meant to be as unclear as I found it. Other posters clarified it for me, and, to use your words, it's not that complicated.
shareThe way I read it (the coyote scene) was that they were teasing the notion of death being a better option for someone who is suffering.
There are various ironies in the way things unfold.
The biggest one for me was that the main character seemed to get the fight back in him.. the will to survive... whereas initially he seemed to be haunted, traumatized, even stating "I've been waiting to die since the moment it happened." Nice character arc there.
When you said you were unsure what the point of the opening scene was - I thought maybe you didn't understand the foreshadowing.
Anyways I thought that first scene was brilliant. It set the tone for the rest of the film perfectly. It established a sense of dread and discomfort. When you watch the film a second time the scene is especially heartbreaking because you know Will's history and the analogy is stunningly clear. He does for the coyote what he cannot do for himself.
Yes! You summed up just about all of my thoughts in one post. This is exactly as I felt too regarding the symbolism of the opening scene. Brilliant layers in this movie
share**Spoiler ahead**
As indicated by others, I think there are many factors to it. But I think it also was to show us how "hidden" the Cultist's true motives were at the dinner. When Will and his wife first arrived at the dinner party, the energy of the entire room was repulsion towards the idea that Will would kill an animal to put it out of it's misery.
This repulsion gives the overall impression that perhaps the people there are merely a bit crazy, and just some hippies trying to deny their pain through a New age sort of thinking. This makes the later revelation of their hidden motives all the more disturbing and macabre.
"On their way to the party, Will and Kira accidentally hit a coyote on the road. Will euthanizes the dying coyote, and at the end where Eden is dying from the injury, Will would probably do the similar action to his ex-wife. But then subverted when dying Eden asked him a favor to move her to the same place her son passed away and dies alone. She then tells him she missed her son a lot as well. However, it was a mercy kill with the wolf, foreshadowing that Will is willing to help Eden, even after all she's done."
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/TheInvitation
Great responses in this thread, but there was also a more obvious connection as David's approval of the wolf slaying segways into him showing the video of the dying woman. The cultists suggest that death is nothing to be feared.
Also interesting -- after the video of the woman dying, one of the characters (I think one of the boyfriends) says something about the woman being surrounded by people she loves. There is a great quote from David:
David: Each one of us is on a journey and we feel it's important to be on this journey with the people you love.
Which goes a long way to explain why these people were selected to attend the party. Eden cared about them, and in a twisted way saw what she was doing as freeing them from their misery (or more selfishly her own). Will fights back because he thinks this mentality renders their son's death as insignificant.
In retrospect the killing of the wolf is symbolic of everything the cult seemed to want to achieve. Lots of symbolism here.
In retrospect the killing of the wolf is symbolic of everything the cult seemed to want to achieve. Lots of symbolism here.
beside what the other guys said, it was a brilliant move to make us doubt the sanity of will from the beginning of the movie, he was too calm about it.
shareDidn´t Will also said that his son was killed "while playing" with a friend - with a bat? Doesn´t that add another layer to the killing of the coyote + Kira killing the cult friend + they not killing Sadie?
share