Just watched this for the first time. The description didn't do the movie justice. It advertised as a thriller, and yes, I thought it was going to take that turn more than a few times. First time was when Maggie's thug of a son showed up. The second was right after she was "befriended" at the welfare by the woman sitting next to her. The third and final time was when her waste of a husband Archie got his feet back in her door. I didn't get Margaret or her story until the end of the movie. The finale explained the beginning. We see her back at the dole office in need of money. We see her back at the free reading room warming her foot on the heater pipe. We see her back at the church service singing hymns. The last scene finds her making her tea and reading her paper. When did she start to collect papers and reading materials to "study?" Was it during her marriage or after? Remember how Archie got so upset when he came home after a day of "looking for a job" (placing bets at the sporting office) and there was no paper from the morning for him to "study?" She returned from hospital to find her flat spic-n-span and then Archie comes home; a new start? I think she felt it was. Notice how she kept up the house; found order. It wasn't about happiness or love or even companionship. He hurt her and that wasn't forgotten, but it could be lived with. It was about his physical presence. This was about some lifting of the loneliness, and the lesser need for fantasy. The idea that there would be someone within the walls filled the space the voices used to take up. I wish my thoughts were more clear and I was better at explaining, but I really want to see this movie again, or should I say, I want to watch the character of Margeret again. This is a character that's going to be hard to forget.
Review of The Whisperers
