I have just finished watching this movie, and I must say that I would have loved it despite it not being an intense thriller or gore-filled horror. That's not what the makers were going for anyway. The movie is meant to be emotional, perhaps slightly brooding and dreamy, which makes for a different kind of attempt at telling a serial killer story. This will not suit everyone, and those viewers expecting something violent or frightening will be disappointed. I personally wasn't expecting anything at all and, because I immediately cared about the protagonists, enjoyed watching it almost from the outset. But why, oh why did they botch the ending like that???
On the plus side, there are a few things to mention. First of all, the fact that the family in question is a Christian one makes all the more believable. Statistically, whenever serial killers do not come from a violent and traumatizing environment, they tend to grow up in loving homes where everything is just too "perfect" and (from their perspective) bland. They have desires and needs that those around them do not and could not understand. And they learn to keep their violent inner (and outer) life a secret from their loved ones. In time, this becomes an "art" and they lead a double life: a "normal" family life for the world to see, and a secret one that only they know about. In their innocence, their family members could never suspect anything. And neither does the son in this movie, and when he does become suspicious and begins to realize that his own dad might well be the clovehitch killer, it is something that he isn't prepared for, simply because neither his upbringing/environment nor his own identity (as a Christian, etc.) could ever enable him to digest such a realization. This brings me to the second positive, namely the performances. The dazed, almost spaced-out expression one sees on the son's face is entirely intentional, because that's the look one would expect to see when faced with an innocent Christian teenage boy. Definitely well-acted. And the chemistry between the two young leads is, in my view, quite palpable, which adds to the intended emotional experience and makes you care about the characters. Once the son finds all that evidence and his father blames someone else (won't spoil this bit), most of us will say: I would not have bought my father's story if he had told me such a thing. None of us, however, are as innocent-minded as the main protagonist, and seeing things from his perspective, it makes perfect sense that he was both gullible enough and so very eager to believe his dad, as such abhorrent behavior wasn't something he was willing to connect to his own family, and if so, not to his immediate one, including his father.
As I have already written more than I originally planned, I'll be as precise and concise as I can about why I dislike the ending. Supposing that I were ready to accept the fact that the son was immensely selfish, only cared about his own kin and decided that closure for the victims' families did not matter at all. This would still not resolve the plot holes and illogicality. The first issue is that the girl, Kassi, would have dialed 911 BEFORE joining Tyler (the son), who already held his father in check and at gunpoint. In the event that she had chosen not to do so for some obscure reason, she would not have allowed Tyler to stop her once his dad was knocked out. After all, her own mother was among the victims and she would never have gone against her own character (in both meanings of the word) and accepted a lack of punishment and closure! Secondly, if I put myself in Tyler's shoes, how is the shame of having a serial killer dad behind bars or sentenced to death worse than killing him yourself and having your mother, sister etc. suffer as a result? Not to mention the fact that instead of being seen for what he really was, the father would be remembered as a good, kind and loving husband, parent, neighbor and member of the community. However, the thing that bothers me most about the ending is the intended final victim: I know that the movie states she had not seen the perpetrator's face, but seriously, she would have reported the events to the police! Or are we to believe that Tyler and Kassi left her tied up there so that she would have no idea who the people in her house were? Tyler even calls his father "dad" in front of her, so she would really have to be in the dark about all of them, wouldn't she. Last but not least, did Tyler's dad also strike himself in the head twice before "shooting himself"? I mean, he was bleeding from a wound to the head caused by those two blows. How could the police miss that? And don't even get me started on the forensics issue!
In short, the movie could have been great for what it set out to be, but the ending is completely preposterous. This is no longer a matter of suspending your disbelief, but one of suspending any thinking and analysis.
On the plus side, there are a few things to mention. First of all, the fact that the family in question is a Christian one makes all the more believable. Statistically, whenever serial killers do not come from a violent and traumatizing environment, they tend to grow up in loving homes where everything is just too "perfect" and (from their perspective) bland. They have desires and needs that those around them do not and could not understand. And they learn to keep their violent inner (and outer) life a secret from their loved ones. In time, this becomes an "art" and they lead a double life: a "normal" family life for the world to see, and a secret one that only they know about. In their innocence, their family members could never suspect anything. And neither does the son in this movie, and when he does become suspicious and begins to realize that his own dad might well be the clovehitch killer, it is something that he isn't prepared for, simply because neither his upbringing/environment nor his own identity (as a Christian, etc.) could ever enable him to digest such a realization. This brings me to the second positive, namely the performances. The dazed, almost spaced-out expression one sees on the son's face is entirely intentional, because that's the look one would expect to see when faced with an innocent Christian teenage boy. Definitely well-acted. And the chemistry between the two young leads is, in my view, quite palpable, which adds to the intended emotional experience and makes you care about the characters. Once the son finds all that evidence and his father blames someone else (won't spoil this bit), most of us will say: I would not have bought my father's story if he had told me such a thing. None of us, however, are as innocent-minded as the main protagonist, and seeing things from his perspective, it makes perfect sense that he was both gullible enough and so very eager to believe his dad, as such abhorrent behavior wasn't something he was willing to connect to his own family, and if so, not to his immediate one, including his father.
As I have already written more than I originally planned, I'll be as precise and concise as I can about why I dislike the ending. Supposing that I were ready to accept the fact that the son was immensely selfish, only cared about his own kin and decided that closure for the victims' families did not matter at all. This would still not resolve the plot holes and illogicality. The first issue is that the girl, Kassi, would have dialed 911 BEFORE joining Tyler (the son), who already held his father in check and at gunpoint. In the event that she had chosen not to do so for some obscure reason, she would not have allowed Tyler to stop her once his dad was knocked out. After all, her own mother was among the victims and she would never have gone against her own character (in both meanings of the word) and accepted a lack of punishment and closure! Secondly, if I put myself in Tyler's shoes, how is the shame of having a serial killer dad behind bars or sentenced to death worse than killing him yourself and having your mother, sister etc. suffer as a result? Not to mention the fact that instead of being seen for what he really was, the father would be remembered as a good, kind and loving husband, parent, neighbor and member of the community. However, the thing that bothers me most about the ending is the intended final victim: I know that the movie states she had not seen the perpetrator's face, but seriously, she would have reported the events to the police! Or are we to believe that Tyler and Kassi left her tied up there so that she would have no idea who the people in her house were? Tyler even calls his father "dad" in front of her, so she would really have to be in the dark about all of them, wouldn't she. Last but not least, did Tyler's dad also strike himself in the head twice before "shooting himself"? I mean, he was bleeding from a wound to the head caused by those two blows. How could the police miss that? And don't even get me started on the forensics issue!
In short, the movie could have been great for what it set out to be, but the ending is completely preposterous. This is no longer a matter of suspending your disbelief, but one of suspending any thinking and analysis.