SPOILER DISCUSSION

1.The scene of Officer Mackey feeding the kids ice pops on his law felt almost like a confirmation that he was most likely the serial killer. No member of the main cast was watching him at the time which means the decision to show him feels like a confirmation that he’s problematic. Every other moment in the movie takes place in the presence of someone else, so the camera being focused on Mackey is a choice of the protagonists which keeps the mystery up because obviously their intuitions might be wrong. That’s why it felt like such a big give-away to me.

2. I love Davey and Nikki’s relationship and how deep and developed it is. I expected Nikki to be one of those former nice girls who turns out to be moody and insufferable in the present. I definitely thought that’d be the case when it’s mentioned that her parents are getting a divorce because the situation would give her the perfect excuse for acting “off”. Thankfully, the movie circumvents the boring cliche entirely and demonstrates how wholesome the relationship between her and Davey is. I also like that even though she’s sexualized she’s not a”prize” for the main character to get at the end of the movie. She’s her own person with her own sense of self who can’t help how others interpolate characteristics on her.

3.Coming at the movie from the point of view that we know Mackey’s the killer and the story is just Davey and co’s attempts at unmasking him gives the ending alot more heft. The real horror of being a kid is no one trusting in you even when your life is on the line. The whole time Davey puts together clues that would normally draw suspicion but the politics of being unassuming and accepting things on face value keeps him in a precarious position because none of his clues generate enough belief from others. His parents berate and punish him, going so far as to make him ADMIT his crimes to a KILLER to save face and teach “lessons” about civility. Thinking about how the action is the reason Davey suffered and Woody died. Who knows if Mackey would’ve known about their suspicions otherwise.

4. Mackey’s speech at the end to Davey gave me genuine chills and is the reason I don’t mind the ending despite feeling let down by the reveal that Mackey is actually the killer. Mackey is a genuine psycho-path and watching him blame Davey for fighting for the latter’s life is telling enough of the mental gymnastics that serial killers go through to justify their twisted actions. It’s also horrifying to imagine that an ex-cop that managed to kidnap you in your own house while an APB was out on him, is waiting out there to kill you in the most painful way possible. Woody’s death was hard to watch but the understanding of what Davey has to live with is horrifying.