Things Heard & Seen: Biggest Unanswered Questions After The Movie

Things Heard & Seen ends with the death of its two major characters, but the film leaves the audience with some unanswered questions. Currently streaming on Netflix, Things Heard & Seen, inspired by/based on Elizabeth Brundage’s 2017 novel All Things Cease to Appear, was written and directed by the husband and wife team of Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman (American Splendor). The horror film set in 1980 chronicles the toxic relationship between George and Catherine Claire  (James Norton and Amanda Seyfried), a young married couple who leave Manhattan with their daughter Franny when George is offered a teaching position at a small college in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York. Their marital woes quickly escalate after they move into an old farmhouse with a gruesome past.

Cracks in George and Claire’s marriage begin to emerge as quickly as the supernatural occurrences. The majority of the movie involves Catherine trying to uncover the truth surrounding her house’s history and the ones her husband has been keeping from her. Things Heard & Seen differentiates itself from many haunted house stories because the biggest threat isn’t from the dead but the living. As the film progresses, George is exposed as a pathological liar, narcissist, misogynist, and philanderer who uses his wife’s insecurities and eating disorder to gaslight her at every turn. The tragic stories of the home’s former female inhabitants mirror Catherine’s experiences: women mistreated, maligned, and misunderstood by their domineering husbands.

The film’s final act enters into familiar territory reminiscent of The Shining and The Amityville Horror, with George becoming the murderous vessel of the malignant spirit inhabiting his house. Things Heard & Seen’s ending has become the topic of much debate and even confusion, and Things Heard & Seen ending explanations abound regarding George’s fate. While the filmmakers prefer to let the audience draw their own conclusions, Berman told Decider that she views the scene as a metaphor for female empowerment. No matter how horror fans choose to interpret the circumstances surrounding George’s doomed boat trip, the outcome is definitive. However, the movie leaves other questions unanswered.

Did George Murder His Cousin?

During a sailing trip with his department chair Floyd DeBeers (F. Murray Abraham), George reveals his cousin drowned. It’s unclear if the drowning was accidental or if the young man who George described as a tortured artist committed suicide. George inherited his cousin’s sailboat Lost Horizon, and he confesses to DeBeers that he stole his journals as well. Later in the film, Catherine discovers George also absconded with a series of his cousin’s paintings, passing them off as his own. Did Geoge pull a Tom Ripley and assume aspects of his cousin’s identity that benefitted him, or was it a coincidence? When Catherine confronts George with her suspicions regarding Justine’s accident and DeBeer’s death, she also mentions his cousin. Is she referring to the paintings or that she believes George had something to do with his death?

During the seance at George and Catherine’s house, a woman says, “An evil spirit will only commune with an evil-doer.” While lying, stealing, and adultery are acts of betrayal, it’s a stretch to consider these moral failings as evil. So was Calvin Vayle able to gain a foothold in this world because the ghost sensed a kinship: a man capable of murder or because George had already committed one?

Is Catherine’s Grim Fate A Foregone Conclusion?

Ella Vayle makes her presence known in various ways, and there are clues that she’s trying to save Catherine. A curling iron falls off the bathroom sink smashing the scale on the floor (George uses Catherine’s eating disorder to manipulate her, and he ultimately drugs her by pushing her into drinking a protein drink.) Ella slams a door in his face and locks it during an argument between the couple. Even before the seance, when Ella warns Catherine to “beware” when “evil comes to light,” Catherine tells Floyd she feels comforted by Ella’s presence.

Despite what appears to be Ella’s attempts to protect Catherine, in the final moments before Catherine’s death, when she asks for Ella’s help, Ella says, “Fate.” They are essentially united by what’s to come. As Catherine’s “guardian angel,” Ella’s purpose is to guide her into the afterlife, not to save her, even though she desperately wants to. If this is the case, why did she attempt to communicate with Catherine before her death?

Why Does George Leave In The Boat?

After learning Justine Sokolov (Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn) is alive, George hears Calvin’s voice in his head telling him to “Go,” but where is George going? Is he simply trying to escape, or does he plan to try and silence Justine before it’s too late? Why the boat and not a car? What is his motivation other than fear? Does he have one? Why doesn’t he take Franny? He fights until the end, so it doesn’t seem as if dying is his intention.

What Really Happened Between George And His Academic Advisor?

When George runs into his former academic advisor Shelby Warren, the reunion is tense, and it’s apparent that Warren doesn’t like George. A snide remark reveals he wasn’t impressed by George’s dissertation, and he suspects George isn’t telling the truth about being a temporary professor. George tells Floyd he was ostracized for reporting sexual misconduct. There may be some truth to the story, but if there is, it isn’t the part where George is the whistleblower. Given how quickly he approaches Willis and the devotion he instills in his female students, he was likely the one guilty of inappropriate behavior. Whatever George did, it was enough to affect his career prospects and motivate him to seek refuge at a small out-of-the-way college.

Where Is Reverend Smit’s Wife?

The wife of the Calvinist minister is an integral part of the story but never makes an actual appearance. Ella tells Catherine the woman guided her to the afterlife, but what happened to her? How did she pass along the ring? Why did Ella remain after Catherine’s death, but the Reverend’s wife didn’t remain with Ella? It seems as if Catherine and Ella are tied to her, and the film ends on her image, so why doesn’t the audience see her other than in a photograph?

How Much Of George’s Actions Are Dictated By The Ghost?

While Catherine is cognizant of Ella’s presence and comforted by it, Ella doesn’t dictate Catherine’s behavior. Calvin Vayle appears to have much more influence over George’s actions (a notable difference from the book). As Catherine fights for her life, Ella says she can’t control someone else’s free will which would mean George’s decision to kill Catherine has nothing to do with Calvin, but it’s his ghostly whispers that urge George to free himself and continue to haunt George beyond the confines of the farm. George’s behavior becomes more aggressive and violent throughout the film, but he maintains he’s a non-believer. How much of the evil that resides in George in Things Heard & Seen is just his nature, and how much, if any, is Calvin?

NEXT: Jupiter’s Legacy: Biggest Unanswered Questions After Season 1

About The Author