This is an open-ended film with a small plot, meaning that it leaves a large area of imagination for the viewer, and leaves enough clues for these spaces to meet the needs of various interpretations.
First of all, with regard to the meaning of the title of "preferred animals", I personally understand it directly as "people with genetic advantages, such as people with wealthy families or superior IQs". There are two "pedigree animals" in this story. The first one is Amanda who has no feeling. The second is the domineering president Mark.
And Lily, she is actually just an ordinary person who wants to be a "pedigreed animal". Look at Amanda first. Amanda and Lily have been riding horses since they were young, but there are not so many medals on the wall of Lily's house.
We can see from this wall that there is nothing in Amanda's life except the horse. This may also be the reason for her special personality. In the final photo of the movie, it can also be seen that Amanda never laughed since she was a child, or that she never liked horse riding. But this is the case, she still won so many medals.
It is very reasonable for a girl who is occupied by horses to kill her own horse by herself.
For a personality that is more vague than deep depression, it must be lonely, after all, Amanda's personality is still a bit annoying. This can be reflected in the discussions in young people's parties. Amanda has no feeling for everything, so Amanda is proficient in "imitation", she tries to get the "feel" of others through imitation.
Here, she hopes the persistence of "feeling" in friendship.
And the second "preferred animal" is Mark. At the beginning of the film, the lens showed us the photos of Mark and the lion, the photos of kendo, and the swords hanging on the wall all embody Mark's "breed", and it also intuitively expresses that Mark is a "ruler in power".
Every appearance of Mark shows his rights.
Mark dominates everything in the family, and at the same time he has a very high IQ and can instantly see the weaknesses of others.
The other protagonist, Lily, is not a "pedigreed animal". She is just an ordinary person. She was dropped out of school, copied other people's compositions, and so on. And she was extremely reconciled in her heart, and she tried her best to act as a "pedigree animal". But in reality, she is just a person dominated by improved animals. The mother's pleasing behavior further exaggerated this feeling of being controlled.
And Lily is full of sadness and hatred for this kind of "dominated".
Lily is also lonely. It can be seen that she is not a sociable girl when she attends the party with a restrained posture and speechlessness, as well as when she retires halfway through the venue.
So Lily and Amanda, the two lonely souls collided with different sparks. I don't agree with "Lily's conspiracy theory". At the beginning of the film, Lily didn't know that Amanda killed her horse. Therefore, there is no motive for using her "animal cruelty" status to increase the possibility of her killing. Lily's reason for contacting Amanda is that Amanda is the only "pedigreed animal" Lily knows, and Lily is fascinated by the free and easy nature of Amanda.
So in the first meeting, Amanda tried her best to act as a "pedigreed animal", but she was obviously not suitable for acting, and her clumsy acting skills were nakedly displayed.
And Amanda's motive from beginning to end is only one, that is, she wants to awaken "feeling" through "friendship". Amanda showed apathy at first because she learned about Lily's deal with her mother. When Amanda asked Lily "how do you charge?" Lily denied it.
But Amanda didn't mind Lily's lies, she still told her everything about herself unsuspectingly, such as her personality more vague than depression, and the tendency to antisocial schizophrenia. This is actually Amanda doing an exchange. She hopes that her frankness can be exchanged for Lily's frankness. However, Lily was still protecting herself.
So Amanda exposed her lie, "I have read your and my mother's emails. Don't say you don't charge next time."
Even though Lily is not a sincere friend, Amanda's desire for friends still decides to continue to meet her. When we met for the second time, Amanda directly asked Lily, "Did you make an appointment by phone? I didn't find my mother's new email this time." And when Lily said "I don't need money this time." Later, Amanda's The eyes lit up clearly.
But Lily still didn't get Amanda's trust. Because in Amanda's experience, no one really wants to be friends with themselves. So she suspected that Lily had other purposes.
Lily replied, I just want to see you. At this time, this sentence is obviously not persuasive. Next is the first appearance of stepfather Mark. Mark was very surprised at Amanda's arrival, he walked over and looked at Amanda for a long time.
Here is an interesting scene where the stepfather Mark made a "great" gesture to Lily when he was leaving.
I guess the meaning of Mark's gesture is because Lily has never brought a friend home. I mentioned earlier that she is actually a single person like Amanda. Therefore, with the identity of "stepfather", Mark had to show a gesture of encouragement. For rights holders like Mark, this action also represents "allowing."
After Mark left, Lily, who turned around again, was obviously happy that could not be concealed. There is not only the peace of mind that is allowed, but also the pride of being a friend who is showing a "pedigree animal" to others. But Amanda showed her IQ as a "pedigreed animal" at this time. She saw the subtle power imbalance between Lily and Mark at a glance, so she came to the conclusion of her own problem: "You invite a terrible friend over to make him angry." Amanda and Mark seem to know everything. Lily's "pedigree animal" style has annoyed Lily. After all, no one likes to be seen through by others. After the runaway, Lily began to personally attack: "If you think so, why don't you ask your mother to buy you a new friend?"
From here, the two lonely souls finally met naked.
Amanda finally got the "frankness" she wanted, which is very moving in her perception of "special personality". And Lily finally admitted the real reason for approaching Amanda, "You are maddeningly disgusting, but you fascinate me."
What fascinates Lily is Amanda's unfettered freedom. In her opinion, this is the privilege of "pedigreed animals". So Amanda put down her guard, she thought she had gotten a close friendship, so she rushed to hug Lily, but Lily was shocked and avoided.
This shows that the two people's perceptions of this friendship are misplaced. In Lily's eyes, the other party is still an inaccessible "preferred animal". This is reflected in the distance between the two people on the sofa.
Amanda had obviously opened her heart, so when she talked, she faced Lily head-on.
And Lily always uses profile, which is an evasive attitude.
But the last hug meant a lot for Amanda.
When I went home to take a bath, I was still embracing aftertaste.
I also have to look like Lily to show myself.
In the next meeting, the inner contradiction between Lily and Mark began to show up.
Mark wanted Lily to go to his room and talk about it. It was an order. But Lily refused to obey, and had the wit of Amanda to help out, and Mark was defeated for the first time. Whether it is the fast pace of the camera or the intense background music, this dialogue shows a strong smell of gunpowder. When Lily disobeyed Mark's order, Mark clearly showed a dangerous look.
So Lily expressed her disgust towards her stepfather to Amanda. But the only resistance to disgust is just a curse.
The next two people went to find a drink, and Amanda asked this question. "Have you thought of killing him?"
After a moment of silence, Lily appeared in a shadow. Although she said no, the dark shadow on her face concealed her true heart.
Through the wall, Amanda persuaded her to try. At this time, the camera slid to Lily's side. This oblique angle and cold tone indicated that Amanda had already hit the deepest corner of Lily.
Amanda opened the dark door deep in Lily's heart. But at this time Lily was still full of fear for the darkness in her heart, so she chose to stand on the opposite side of Amanda and drove away Amanda.
Then Lily learned at the party that Amanda had killed her horse and met this man who had been in prison.
Since that night, Lily has not returned information from Amanda. Because she has been evading the suggestion made by Amanda, which is to kill.
Until the night, Lily finally compromised to her darkness and decided to implement the murder plan. If there is a "Lily's conspiracy", it is also very likely to be born at this moment.
Lily took the initiative to approach Amanda, and this time the distance between the two was closer.
If Lily had already thought of sacrificing Amanda at this moment, her approach was deliberate. But my understanding is different. At this moment, Lily's deliberate approach is actually seeking "accomplices." Lily nearly drowned herself when the two girls were holding their breath during the match.
Amanda rescued her. This fragment symbolizes Amanda's rescue of Lily from her suffocation.
According to the conspiracy theory, Lily is testing whether Amanda will come forward to save herself. Then Lily took the initiative to talk about the topic of "father killing". The lens is still a profile face, a front face.
But the topic has ended, and it has not continued to go deep. Lily was still not sure whether Amanda would help herself. And he was no longer swaying from side to side.
It was this incident that really irritated Lily to the end. Mark threw her to the boarding school, and there was no room for return.
This incident aroused Lily's anger, but the only revenge she could do was to fiddle with Mark's bike.
But the effect is obviously not ideal, it can only make Mark break his nose. And Mark's expression looking in the direction of Lily shows that he already knew that Lily did a good job.
Lily went to Amanda to find out the details of her killing the horse, and was shocked by Amanda's calmness, so she made up her mind to announce that she would kill her stepfather, and Amanda was the most suitable candidate. At this moment Lily covered her heart with black sunglasses.
And Amanda turned around and left, because she has always been able to perceive other people's hearts. She saw that Lily wanted to "help her kill people." This makes Amanda very uncomfortable. Because Amanda is awaiting trial for animal cruelty, any violent behavior around her will make the police think of her for the first time. I think this is the time when Lily first thought of "sacrificing Amanda". Amanda reminded her of it. Amanda also pointed out the disparity in this friendship, because Lily never talked about her life with her. Although this friendship was completely unequal, Amanda still compromised with the friendship. Put forward another plan with an alibi, which is to buy homicide.
They found the man at the party and made a detailed battle plan.
But this man is a coward, he doesn't want to risk a hundred thousand dollars. Amanda had to use the recording to threaten, so there was the next dispute. Amanda stunned the man with a lamp, and resolved this small crisis.
After arranging everything, Amanda offered to give her a hug. In her understanding, just now they had the same hatred together, it seems that it should be an experience that can warm up emotions. But Lily refused, because the worry and fear that Lily was enduring at the moment made her feel no sense of friendship at all.
Sure enough, the plan failed, and the man escaped. What really frightened Lily was that the one hidden in the barbecue was missing, which meant that the man had been there, and it is likely that Mark already knew. From here, she has no retreat.
The failure of this operation made Lily very anxious, she began to swear and smoke. She was determined to do it herself.
And Amanda analyzed the undesirability of doing it herself, such an overly rational thinking obviously couldn't relieve Lily's anxiety.
Amanda revealed at this time that she already knew that Lily was dropped out of school. Lily was there, her expression seemed to have been severely damaged.
Being dropped out of school is Lily's hidden tail. This is the only flaw in her role as a "pedigreed animal". But at this moment, it was easily revealed. At this time Mark came back, and Amanda turned around and found Lily with a knife. But at this time, the killing intent was not at Mark or Amanda. Because Amanda has become someone who knows her own cards like Mark.
Amanda stopped Lily's impulse and heard their conversation behind the wall.
Mark's arrogant accusation that Lily is a selfish ghost, this somewhat touched Lily's heart.
Amanda comforts Lily that you are not as bad as he said. But Amanda is too honest and obviously not capable of comforting others.
Because of the lack of empathy for normal people, Amanda thought that Lily's cry of collapse was a "crying technique."
Lily asked Amanda, was it your technique to cry when we held our heads in the sixth grade? Amanda replied, yes. This moment was when Lily decided to sacrifice Amanda.
In the final kill, the distance between the two returned to the initial state.
Lily persuaded herself to sacrifice Amanda for a simple reason, that is, "You don't feel anything, so your life is meaningless." Lily, who was hesitant in her heart, confirmed her thoughts to Amanda.
So Amanda changed from a front face to a profile face, and everyone had a subconscious concealment. This is the first time Lily has said the secret of Amanda's heart, that is, her desire for "feeling".
And Amanda's long silence made Lily aware of Amanda's mood swings for the first time. So she immediately stopped Amanda from drinking juice, and frank her plan.
Following the rule of "personal distance equals psychological distance", Lily took the initiative to come over and admit her mistake.
Amanda voluntarily drank the drugged juice. Many film critics felt that this was Lily's last disguise, and she took advantage of Amanda's "no desire to survive". But I think this is sincere. Because it is too risky to "bet" Amanda will drink the juice.
There are two possibilities why Amanda drank the juice. First, when Amanda learned that she was betrayed by a friend, she still had no "feel" in her heart, no sadness, no other emotions, so she decided that her life was meaningless. Second, Oman finally had a "feel" in these just a few seconds. She felt the sadness of being betrayed by her friend, and she also felt the joy of her friend's honesty towards her. She is a "pedigree animal" with a high IQ. She knows that her mental problems can prevent her from being executed. Instead, she lives in a sanatorium for treatment. She felt that this was a seamless plan, so she decided to drink the juice. But for the next sentence of Amanda, the first one may be even greater.
As for why the awakening of friendship still did not let Lily put down the butcher knife? I think this is Amanda's choice. After Lily persuaded her not to drink, and after drinking it all, she persuaded her to vomit, and told her that the dosage was large, and after a series of persuasion, Amanda still decided "just so." This is Amanda's affirmation and support for Lily.
Before Lily went upstairs to kill someone, there was a long shot left blank, but the shot always avoided Lily's face. This is the "imagination space" left by the director to the audience. Is Lily calmly preparing to kill, or hesitating to fight between heaven and man. This is the meaning of "blank".
Regardless of whether Lily's heart is too dark to cure, the sadness after the murder is real. I think it is too inexplicable for other film critics to say that "this paragraph is a fake cry". What happened to a girl who sacrificed her friend in exchange for her freedom and cried?
In the end, it is an open ending that makes all the "Lily Conspiracy Theory" firmly convictions. In the ending, Lily met the previous "counseling boy". He is the only outsider who knows the inside story, but he showed a different gentlemanly demeanor than before. The two went over and avoided talking. But Bao Nan asked about the murder case.
Lily seemed to be completely reborn, and she behaved like a real "preferred animal" at the moment. This self-confidence that showed through the screen was not at all the anxious and weak Lily before. She elegantly gave an official answer. Even if she knew the man in front of her knew a lot of inside information.
So Bao Nan showed this expression.
Many viewers misunderstood this expression, thinking it was an emotion conveyed by the director on behalf of the audience. In the eyes of all ordinary people, Lily's "it has nothing to do with herself" at the moment seemed too unfeeling. And this kind of unfeeling is very consistent with the "Lily conspiracy theory." But in fact, Bao Nan’s expression is just a kind of suspicion. This suspicion is: "I don’t believe you are innocent." From the perspective of the character story, Bao Nan doesn’t know their second plan, so “do "Good disguise" is the duty of a murderer. The colder, the safer. So Lily next said to Bao Nan, "I'm very happy that you didn't show up. I want to forget all of them, but she doesn't think so." It means, I'm glad you didn't come forward to expose us at the time. I let go of my hatred after that, but Amanda didn't, so she killed Mark. This is a further disguise. Then she persuaded Bao Nan to ask her, have you ever talked to her? Lily said no, then mentioned the letter, and finally threw it away without reading it. Note here that Lily took the initiative to bring up the narrative. She took the initiative to mention the letter, and the purpose was to tell Bao Nan that I didn't even read her letter. In order to completely erase the suspicion of counseling Bao Nan. So I think this is obviously a lie. And before Lily said "I threw the letter". The camera skipped the content of the letter, and finally returned to Lily's face. This obviously implies that she has actually read the letter.
The so-called open ending means that there will not be a correct answer waiting for you to discover. The director will use all vague methods to prevent the plot from closing. That's why the audience's choice is what Lily really looks like. It depends on whether you want to have a "conspiracy" Lily, or you want to have an "ordinary person" Lily. Regarding Amanda's settlement, there is no doubt. She is very comfortable with life in prison. On her wall are pictures of her and Lily when they were young.
Amanda looked at the photo for a long time, showing the only smile in the whole movie.
She finally got the friendship she wanted.
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