Following months of theorizing, Justine Triet - the director behind the Oscar-winning Anatomy of a Fall - confirmed what many assumed about the film's head-scratching ending.
The French courtroom drama has gripped audiences since its release in late October, with moviegoers wondering if Sandra Hüller's Sandra Voyter did, in fact, push her husband out a window.
The movie - which is set to stream on Hulu in the U.S. - leads viewers to believe Voyter was responsible for the death of her husband but leaves things ambiguous, leading many to question who exactly was responsible.
Justine Triet Speaks on Anatomy of a Fall Ending
Anatomy of a Fall Director Justine Triet addressed the film's cryptic ending, confirming what fans had suspected about where the Oscar-winning drama leaves its characters.
After fervent theorizing about who could have been responsible for the murder, Treit revealed a definitive answer was not supposed to matter, and it was left intentionally ambiguous as many had assumed.
Talking with Jake's Takes, the French filmmaker said - like real life - the movie is supposed to leave audiences with "different... theories" and "doubts:"
"We have to to live in all this with all these different... theories about the movie. But you know, actually I think the movie is talking about... we have
to live with doubts."
She called the end of her film "a fake happy ending," putting a particular emphasis on having not to get all the answers:
"And the end for me is, yes, it's a fake happy ending... I think as a spectator when I'm watching a lot of crime stories, I think it's so interesting to not know and it's so real, in a way. So, all the movie is about this. So, I understand perfectly why people want to know... Maybe in ten years, I will say the truth."
This intentional crypticness has been brought up by fans since the movie was first released, with many believing the movie's ending was left open with no conclusive answer to who the guilty party was.
Sandra Hüller - who led the movie as Sandra Voyter - offered similar thoughts on Anatomy of a Fall's ending.
In the same interview, she chimed in to say, it's been fun seeing audiences "looking for little signs of what the truth could be:"
"Well, not only the end. People are really looking for little signs of what the truth could be. I was surprised that even the closest members of my family were doubting the innocence of Sandra, also according to little signs that they saw."
She pointed to a theory from someone close to her that involved her character's reaction to a phone call in the film:
"For example, somebody really close to me said that when she is released from the trial when they win, she says on the phone, 'It's unbelievable.' And this close person said, 'Why does she think it's unbelievable?' So these little things. Or the dog doesn't close his eyes in the end. That means he's still aware of what could really... No idea!"
Hüller lamented, "We knew that when we made the film" that people would "read their own story into it," drawing their own conclusions:
"But people were so focused on little things that they found these details and made their own stories about it. So I learned, of course, a lot about the people and their reception and...I mean, we knew that when we made the film that the film would reflect back on people so much and everybody would read their own story into it. We would just make the canvas for the stories of everybody else, so this really paid off."
Who Is To Blame for the Anatomy of a Fall Murder?
Even though Justine Triet was not focused on who ultimately committed the murder at the center of Anatomy of a Fall, that will not stop audiences from their impassioned speculating on the subject.
Even Triet says that, while who did it was not the movie's focus, she knows "the truth" behind what sent Samuel Theis' Samuel Maleski careening out a second-story window and may reveal it someday.
Of course, the most prevalent theory is that Sandra Hüller's Sandra Voyter was the one behind her husband's death.
Throughout the film, evidence seems to be mounting against Sandra, but it is a recording of a fight between her and her husband that feels like the last straw.
With it looking more and more like Sandra may be facing jail time for the death of her husband, it is testimony from her son, Daniel, that seemingly clears her name. The young boy told the court he could not see his mother kill his father but sadly could envision a world in which his father committed suicide.
This ends the case (and the film) with no definitive answer as to who did it and no concrete evidence it was not Sandra.
Another popular theory concerns the family dog, Snoop (played by an adorable border collie named Messi).
Snoop's footsteps are the first thing audiences hear in the movie, and he is assumed to be the last person (or animal) who sees Samuel before his death. So he could have accidentally pushed his owner out the window during a game of in-house fetch.
But could such a good boy commit such a heinous act? Or did he just happen to be present for Samuel to either commit suicide or Sandra to push him out the window?
Anatomy of a Fall comes to Hulu on Friday, March 22.
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