My interpretation

I really liked this movie. I think many movies like this were sort of made for each person to take from them what they will, and this is sort of what I got from it. Not necessarily saying this is the "correct" interpretation.

Of course it's a very strong maternal instinct to want to have children, yet after having a child there can obviously be a feeling of being sort of suffocated by the child in that the mother never gets any time for herself anymore and all that. It is very much a sort of dirty little secret in society isn't it? We're all sort of trained to just adore these babies, women especially, but if people's true feelings were actually on display, I think there would be a lot more disdain toward small children than society let's on. Postpartum depression would be the severe case of this of course. This is what I think the film was getting at; the disparity between the behaviors we actually see in society, and how people want to behave with respect to their children.

Notice in the movie Elena has actually left her son behind in Romania to "make a better life for him", and buy an apartment. Isn't this one of the most obvious and biggest rationalizations in life; that you're leaving your child for the sake of your child. It makes it easier for society to accept why you're leaving when you say this is your reason, but the truth is I would think people leave in situations like this for selfish reasons.

And notice the doctor visits seem to have this very strange feeling like Elena is obviously having some pretty severe and out of the ordinary reactions, and the doctor just acts like everything is perfect. Again, how we are behaving around children and childbirth being markedly different from how we should actually act or want to be acting. We're so triained to just say "oh everything is perfect with our baby" in life, aren't we? Yet, how often is this actually the truth?

That's the message I felt the film was conveying about Shelley. Every person in the baby's life just sort of wanted to get the hell away from it with every fiber of their being. I thought that's what was being said at the end with mother seeing Elena, it was sort of the start of the process of the mother wanting to be away from the baby as well, as she was starting to see things she found very distasteful as a result of the aura the baby had.

Notice that Shelley didn't like water at all, but the parents live on a lake and there was even a scene with the women swimming. And more than that water is obviously such an important part of everyone's life in terms of bathing and cleanliness. The question is almost "how can you not like water" and I find it interesting that we could so easily hear a very similar question "how could you not like a baby". They are sort of similar questions and to answer them would be similarly awkward, and I see this awkwardness as the point the director was getting at.

Well, that's my take. Not saying it's the most satisfying or correct interpretation, but that's what I saw.