In this story, there are several doubts worth scrutinizing.
1. Why Carl hears Geraldine and Andrew singing and smells carbolic soap so much.
2. Why didn't Carl and Rebbeca's eldest sister Caroline bring her children back to the manor for her sister's engagement party? Although Rebbeca gave an explanation, it was too far-fetched.
3. Who is Ian?
The first and second questions can be answered together. At the end of the film, we learn what happened in this room of the manor. There was a Boy Scout party at the manor. Father Andrew tried to molest a boy named Philip, nicknamed Pip, under the pretext of teaching his child hygiene common sense and helping him take a bath, but failed to do so, the child violently resisted, and Pip's family called the police. The process was likely seen by Carl, Rebbeca and Caroline hiding in the closet. After that, as the film says, Andrew gave the family money to move far away, and the Pip family was never seen again, and the room was locked. That's why Carl said to Rebbeca, look where we are, and his eyes on the frosted glass in the bathroom are probably reminiscent of the scene.
It's obviously not the first time Dad Andrew has done something like this, and like Carl said, not all of us are so lucky. The one we use here is very subtle. We know that John is called Stinky John because he doesn't shower. And the reason why he didn't take a bath was because he was instructed by his father Andrew on hygiene habits when he was a child. Carl used also here, indicating that he may also be one of the children molested by his father. Carl is gay, but he doesn't like having sex with Stu, so the two are at odds. why? I think the answer is the shadow of my childhood.
Father Andrew once sang nursery rhymes while using carbolic soap in the name of bathing and molested at least John, Carl, and Pip. That's why John was scared when he saw Daddy, and Carl and John reflected a lot when Daddy sang the sardine song. I think Carl may have been molested by his father for a long time during his childhood, why? You see Carl saying to Rebbeca, I used to hide in different closets, but you never found it. Why isn't Rebecca looking? Can't find it? I think it's because Rebecca vaguely knew what her father was doing, and she didn't want to face it, so she avoided it on purpose.
Their sister Caroline, who didn't show up, must also know, which is why not only her sister herself, but even her two sons, she is reluctant to bring the manor.
It's a shame for the family, and Andrew is their father, it can't be exposed, it can only be hidden.
Answer the first and second questions. Come to the third question, who is Ian?
This self-proclaimed Ian, who has been brushing his presence before Mark appeared, but it's hard to remember. Jeremy, who knew him, never showed up with him, and Mark, who was the boss, didn't know him either. Of course in the end we know that the glasses man named Ian is not Ian, but a stranger. That's when Carl called him Pip. Is he Pip?
Pip moved out with the family after Andrew's attempted molestation and was never seen again. That is to say, this glasses man is not necessarily Pip, of course it can be Pip. If he were Pip, that would explain why he was hiding in the closet in this room in the first place, and that would tie the whole story together. But I don't think the writer will give the answer so easily.
I made three interpretations, 1. This glasses man is Pip, this is the easiest answer. 2. The glasses man may be Pip's family. We have seen from Carl and John that boys who have been molested in childhood will have a lot of shadows in their hearts. And Pip may have too much shadow and cause mental illness or even suicide. And Pip's family, possibly an older brother or younger brother, knew the truth of the matter, deliberately got to know the Andrew family and seized this opportunity to avenge them. 3. This glasses man is neither Pip nor Pip's family, he may be a boy who was molested by Andrew. When he grew up, he worked in IT and was a socially inept otaku. It is likely that he and Ian met through the Internet, accidentally learned about the party of Jeremy and Rebbeca, and realized that this was the place of his childhood nightmare, so his hatred ignited, planning and implementing this hidden revenge. He probably didn't think about burning everyone to death, after all Jeremy, Rachal, Lee, Stuart, Mark, Liz are all innocent, they are not members of this family. When everyone asked for a breath, they didn't come forward to stop them. When Mark told him to hide elsewhere, he immediately hid in the toilet. So if someone walks out of the closet and leaves the room during the period, he doesn't know either. Moreover, this plan is still a little hanging. If Mark doesn't let him go out, he can only find an excuse to go out, and there are two people under the bed. All I can say is that God is helping him. Everyone ends up stuck in the closet like sardines in a can. And whether he ignited or not, this revenge plan has been completed.
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