Animas is a 2019 Netflix psychological Spanish horror film that may leave some viewers scratching their heads. There is a lot to unpack from the ending of the film, so to try and clear things up, I’ve put together my thoughts on the film as well as the events that happened in it.
There will be heavy spoilers here, so if you don’t want to know anything about the movie then I highly suggest that you turn off now.
For everyone else, I’m Deffinition and Welcome to the channel where I ruin it so you dont have to.
Animas: Ending Explained
In order to fully understand the ending of the film we must uncover the identity of Alex. Whilst I’ve seen many people wondering whether Alex was a Ghost, Spirit or even Guardian Angel, I think that it’s pretty apparent that Alex is none of these. Instead, Alex is an imaginary friend or rather a separate personality that Bram invented in order to deal with the abuse that he suffered from his father as a child.
Those with split personalities are often victims of trauma and this is a film that is very much about the invention of another personality in order to deal with events that may cause pain. For example, In recent pop culture, the film SPLIT dealt with a boy who was so badly abused as a child that he invented several personalities in order to allow them to take the brunt of the punishment without effecting his own psyche too much.
Similar to this, Batman has been said to be a personality that Bruce Wayne invented in order to show that he was more than a traumatised boy that watched his parents murdered infront of him. Traumatic experiences often split the psyche so that the brain can dissassociate with things and this is what Bram had to do to handle the abuse that was dealt to him.
Split Personalities
In the film Alex pretty much becomes real due to the psychosis of Bram and this is what gives the film it’s more supernatural elements.
We see hints towards this second personality throughout the film, most notably the Psycho poster. Psycho was of course centred around the character, Norman Bates, who too had a split personality. In that film, Norman murders several people under the belief that it is actually his mother doing the deed and this allows him to distance himself mentally from the crime.
Similar to this, in the Animas, the other personality supressing certain aspects of a scenario happens in the case of Bram’s father’s death. We learn that it was in fact Bram’s mother that killed his father and he only managed to end up with the car keys because Alex picked them up, put them in his pocket and then supressed this memory so that there was confusion over the event.
The film asks the question of ‘what defines a real person and if so does Alex fit under that definition?’ If you define a real person as someone that has their own personality and is able to operate and do things then yes, Alex is a real person. However, and this is a big however, she only exists in Bram’s mind and the two have to share a body.
Throughout the film, we also see different colours used to portray different emotions and these traffic light share symbolism with their real world counterpart with Green meaning Bram is safe, Yellow meaning that Alex is and Red meaning that they are in danger.
It’s a nice subtle touch that I think adds a wealth of depth to the work and does elevate it quite a bit.
A Confusing Mess
Whilst I’ve seen many say that Animas is a confusing mess, to me it does at least make some sense though it definitely requires a few rewatches to see how things come together. The film isn’t necessarily cut and dry nor should it be. There are lots of elements in there that are put in deliberately to confuse the viewer and make them second guess their assumptions.
Whilst Animas isn’t necessarily for everyone I still did enjoy the reveal and though I wouldn’t recommend it it still poses some deep questions in regards to it’s ending.
Your Thoughts
So, what are your thoughts on Animas and what did you take from it’s ending. I’m completely open to being told I’m wrong about things in it so if you disagree or agree, make sure you leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.