“Melinda, what took place this night?” Officer Liu asks after pulling her to protection and calling for an ambulance. It is the ultimate line of the movie, and the credit roll earlier than audience can pay attention her reaction. What may her reaction also be, regardless that? That she used to be Billy’s keen companion within the theft? That she used to be not directly serious about Sheila’s demise? That she tied Billy up and tried to sexually attack him? That the shop is burning as a result of she poured gas over the entirety to duvet her tracks? Prior to her ultimate disagreement with Billy, Melinda appeared keen and able to confess the entirety to Officer Liu, however now, sitting in his prowler and basking within the glow of his undivided consideration, the reality would possibly now not pop out so simply.
Self-preservation is a great sufficient explanation why to stay her mouth close, however there may be any other part, too. The occasions of the night time have obviously woke up one thing inside Melinda, a stressful and sadistic streak that led her to now not best meet the violence of the instant — knocking out Billy, pulling a gun at the bikers — however to take it to uncomfortable new lengths.
Cobham-Hervey noticed the nature as a “naive, blameless dreamer” and anyone who’s all the time in search of “sure connections,” even though her strategies are, to put it evenly, questionable. Protecting the reality from Officer Liu would possibly stay Melinda out of jail, but it surely creates a distance between them, as Liu will best ever see her as a struggling sufferer. It is imaginable that Melinda will inform the reality in an effort to now not simply attach together with her longtime overwhelm, however to revel within the darkness that used to be inside her all alongside.
