The Woman in Black movie is a challenging movie to analyze. We don't intend to revise the movie plot with our interpretations. However, The Woman in Black movie is clearly a spiritual movie with metaphysics playing a factor between living and the afterlife.
The Woman in Black will be explained using our interpretation rather than make conclusions to the screenwriter's plot intentions. If you haven't watched The Woman in Black movie yet, please beware that we will discuss important movie spoilers that can ruin your future viewing experience. Continue on at your own risk. Press the spoiler button to reveal The Woman in Black spoiler.
***Movie Spoilers***
The Woman in Black movie reveals the woman in black curse. This evil female spirit previously lived in a mansion outside of the town, along the distant marsh. She lost her young son in a carriage accident on the way to the marsh. The mother blamed everyone for allowing her son to die. She expresses her hatred in multiple cards that convey hate and resentment.
The woman in black hypnotizes young children to commit suicide. These children unknowingly react to the woman in black's curse. Hence, the woman in black is on a revenge mission to take young lives. Every time the woman in black appears, her presence brainwashes children to react to the curse.
Arthur is a young lawyer attempting to redeem himself. After Arthur's wife passed away during childbirth, he essentially let his life fall into the dumps. His mind drifts in and out of reality, reflecting on his wife Stella as an Angel being and in her previous human form.
We sense Arthur is still mourning the death of his wife, which has impaired his existence. His little son Joseph loves him. He draws pictures of them playing together. Joseph realizes his mother is no longer with them since she passed away while giving birth to him.
The setup establishes that there an evil woman placed a curse on the local town. Her hate manifested into an evil curse soon after she hung herself. She committed suicide because her son meant the world to her. Arthur's wife Stella passed away moments after giving birth to Joseph.
Arthur meets Mr. Daily on the train. Mr. Daily is a rich financier who enjoys traveling with his dog. The town is not happy to see Arthur, realizing his journey to the mansion past the marsh will awaken the woman in black. The children look at Arthur as if they know what is going to happen.
The turning point in the movie is when Arthur visits the police station to file a report. Two young children are holding a young girl who is obviously pale and sick. It is discovered the girl ingested poison. She dies in Arthur's arms while he is yelling for help. The two is distraught since they probably blame Arthur for awakening the woman in black.
Arthur makes a decision to investigate the woman in black claim even further. He has lunch with Mr. Daily and his wife, a woman whose mental condition seemed to taken a dive after his son had passed many years ago in a freak water accident. The truth to the death is the woman in black murdered the son.
Arthur stays another night in the mansion. He has one of those awful haunted experiences that tests his fate in ghosts and curses. The paperwork reveals a pattern of the woman writing resentful letters to blame her son's caretakers for his death.
Back in the town, Arthur watches a young girl burn alive in a home while the woman in black is standing in their presence. Witnessing the woman in black again jeopardizes Joseph's safety. Mr. Daily and Arthur decide to reunite the woman with her son. The son's body is trapped underneath the muddy marsh.
Arthur ties himself to the car. Mr. Daily carefully guides Arthur to the carriage. The young boy's body remains in the carriage, fully intact and preserved. The entire scene is dramatic since Arthur almost loses the child because Mr. Daily's car engine is close to blowing up.
Mr. Daily and Arthur rush back to the mansion to reunite the woman in black with her son. Normally superstitious, Mr. Daily sees his son's spirit inside the home. Arthur winds up all the child's toys to attract the woman in black to the room. The hallway becomes to go dark as the woman in black's spirit approaches.
The woman in black swoops down and takes her son's spirit. We believe the curse has now ended.
At the train station, Arthur reunited with his son. He is happy to see Joseph. We go back to the mansion again, hearing the woman in black echoing that she will never forgive. Arthur tells his housekeeper to purchase three train tickets to go back home. He doesn't want to stay in the town anymore, especially after the preceding events.
Arthur introduces Joseph to Mr. Daily. Mr. Daily invited Arthur to stay at his home. Arthur is eager to take his son back home. The moviegoers figure out that they're going to experience a major twist ending.
The woman in black's spirit arrives at the train station. She hypnotizes Joseph. He releases his father's hand to walk toward the train tracks. Arthur doesn't realize his son is gone.
Arthur quickly learns that Joseph is walking on the train tracks with an oncoming train powering down his way. He rushes over to rescue his son in the nick of time. Mr. Daily watches the train pass, noticing young spirits of the deceased children and the woman in black projecting off the train windows. He is now a 100 percent believer - a new member to the superstitious world.
Arthur and Joseph remain at the train station. Nonetheless, we see the twist ending unfolding. The father and son are in an alternate dimension to the physical world. As a result, the darkness around and quietness around them is a motif to show the afterlife.
A glowing motherly figure is pacing down the track. Joseph asks his father who the woman is. Arthur tells his son the woman is his mother. Joseph smiles with a grin unlike any other. Stella is reunited with the family she misses and loves dearly.
The woman in black watches the display unfold in plain sight. This evil spirt seems to show compassion to help Arthur and his son reunite with the mother. Nevertheless, the twist ending is ambiguous. Moments prior to leading Joseph on the train tracks, the woman echoed she will never forgive.
Should we think the woman wanted to claim Joseph's soul to make Arthur suffer? There is a notion the woman in black plotted Arthur and Joseph's death to repay the favor. In analyzing the "never forgive" scene, it is unlikely the woman sought after reuniting Arthur and Joseph.
Arthur is distraught in the movie. He misses his wife very much. We don't see Arthur trying to commit suicide, not even on the train tracks. Could it be possible that discovering supernatural elements enabled him to believe the afterlife existed? Therefore, Arthur would take a risk to save his son while also using the event as a possible escape? There are a number of interpretations to consider in this movie.
In out opinion, Arthur saved his son like any responsible parent would do in a dangerous situation. The end-result happened to be death, an outcome Arthur never anticipated but accepted once Stella appeared. We can analyze the movie ending many times to come up with multiple interpretations. The woman in black uttered out that she would never forgive, so that indicated her evil curse continued on.
In the twist ending, the woman in black killed Arthur through using Joseph as bait - the curse seems to only affect children. Arthur and Joseph ended up reuniting with Stella, a moment the woman in black probably never expected after her malevolent act. We reject the notion the woman in black is returning the favor to help Arthur and his son go to the afterlife.
Arthur is eager to go back home. He makes a valid attempt to save his son on the tracks. The twist ending is open for discussion. What do you think of The Woman in Black movie ending? Have another interpretation you want to share in the comment section below?
I agree and would add two more observations:
ReplyDeleteone, the black woman shrieking sound when the train hits father and son gives away that the black woman is not all pleased with arthur's rescue.
two, those children "killed" may not enter the afterlife/heaven but are trapped with the black woman in the metaphysical plane. I am guessing she means to further punishes the town's parents who, like her, will (never) be able to reunite with their children. Concerning the boy Joseph I suggest that either Stella's good spirit or Arthur's sacrifice - or both - saved Joseph from falling under the curse of the confused evil spirit of the black woman.
The uneasy fealing you're left with at the end would then make sense: Arthur failed to stop the curse and the black woman succeeded in killing his son as well(as him). On the upside he could save Joseph from the curse and both are reunited with Stella whose death Arthur still couldn't get over.