What I think happened


Ok I read quite a few interpretations of the events in the movie (which I just saw for the first time) and here is mine.
I agree about what most of the people around here have said in regard to the hidden meanings of the movie- loneliness and the mirroring of Felix's life in Claudia's house. That was more or less obvious.
In regard to the events that happened here is how I believe the puzzles stick together.
Felix and Vera separate. She moves out, but they are both feeling lonely without each other. She keeps her boxes at his place only because thus she has a reason to come back there. When she finally has to take them away she loses her reason so she turns into a "lurker". In the very beginning of the movie, I believe it is the first night, the camera seems to be following someone throughout the house while Felix is sleeping. We can hear breathing and it clearly looks like we are viewing it from first POV of a character. This is Vera. We then see through her eyes Martin peeking through the window.
Meanwhile, in the neighbours' house Martin and Claudia live an unhappy life. She has had an accident and he feels trapped in this life. Later on we learn he is someone who likes to travel and move around so he is probably a very active person. Living with her in this state, limits him greatly. Later on we learn how he spent a lot of time in the basement. Perhaps by accident he discovered there is a hidden tunnel to Felix's house. He then decides to use this to his advantage. At some point in the movie, Claudia mentions "I thought he was digging my grave down there". That's exactly what he was doing. He was planning to kill his wife and making it look like an accident. Ironically she dies the same way that she was supposed to in the end- by falling off the broken stairs. The purpose of the tunnel was so that Martin would stay under them, perhaps call for Claudia and then collapse the stairs and escape through the tunnel. In the end Felix sees all the maps and drawings on the board under the stairs and probably realizes what he was trying to do.
In his preparation Martin needs to learn more about his exit- Felix's house. Originally he goes there, by faking the need to do a phone call so that he can see the house from the inside and learn whether there is a basement. That's why he turns into a "lurker". We know he spent at least 1 night into the house by the fact that Felix's razor was used and the smell of the towel and the bed sheets. Perhaps in his loneliness Martin discovered what Felix discovers later as he lurks around Claudia or perhaps his curiosity was peeked or perhaps he just wanted to be around someone who is not his wife. We don't know. Nevertheless he decides to go through with his plan so he sneaks back into his own house and goes to dig the tunnel fully. Just as he starts though he has a diabetic attack (or whatever his condition was) and he dies.
Meanwhile the noises Felix hears around his house are caused by Vera lurking around. Unknown to us and him she is pregnant. In the night he heard her talking in the kitchen she was talking to the baby. From then on things are more or less clear. One night she sneaks into the house, Felix shoots her thinking it is Martin, locks her in, runs away and hides into Claudia's house, turning into a lurker himself, beginning to get obsessed with her etc.
In the end things end bad for all of them as we have seen. Claudia dies the way she was supposed to in the first place and Vera and the baby die in the attic with Felix putting all the pieces together and realizing what he has done.

Very interesting and chilling movie. One can see it just a mystery, but there are a lot of subtexts and hidden meanings, which I am not gonna get into now as I think most of us have managed to identify them.
I hope this has made the movie a bit clearer though. It makes sense and explains everything plot-wise, at least to me.

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That is very helpful.
Your interpretation affirmed what I thought had happened.
There was so much room for error with this film, that I
was afraid to trust my own way of thinking. At any rate,
the story is terribly poignant and disturbing. If that
makes the story-telling successful, then I'll buy it.
Thanks!

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Bobby, thank you so much. I watch a TON of movies and would like to think that I get most plots, but this one escaped me on my first viewing, so thanks for filling in the holes and providing such a thorough explanation. The only part I was confused by was that the actress played both Vera and Claudia. For awhile I thought that Felix had schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, and once I saw the same actress I guess I made the mistake of following that thought all the way through the film, and then at the end was very confused. What I think threw me was the same actress playing both female roles and also the fact that it is classified as a "horror" even though it really is a mystery/thriller; Great film but I'd never place this in the horror category. Your explanation seems spot on, and you're right, there are plenty of hidden meanings: relationship complications, loneliness, coping with tragedy, loss, voyeurism, etc. It is a great and complex film, and even though I didn't get it at first (until I read your explanation) I still enjoyed it, and now I think I enjoyed it even more, and am looking forward to a second viewing. Thanks again for taking the time to post this!

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Thanks for reminding me about this one...it had escaped my mind.

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firstly, i would like to thank for the inclusive review of the film, i really got confused by the end of the last seen, but you comment and explanation made it more clear. but i just remain confused about one thing, which is: martin discovered a hidden tunnel to Felix‘s house, are the two houses near by so he can escape to Felix‘s house ?!

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Spot on, Bobby.

"Stalingrad. . . The fall of Stalingrad was the end of Europe. There's been a cataclysm."

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Thanks Bob! Well explained!

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Why was Claudia and Vera played by the same actress?

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most likely to cut down on cost...




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Or it was meant to have symbolic meaning. David Lynch pulls this crap a lot in his films. Maybe it was the director's way of comparing/contrasting Vera and Claudia? Sure, they're slightly different. But both are lonely and both become the fixation of Felix.

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or cost cutting. surprisingly what most people think has some kind
of meaning in films are mistakes, cost cutting, and coincidence.
I am always amazed by super long winded posts about how "this is this"
when it really just a glitch in the story/movie/script.

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