I think this *might* be the the actual intention of the film (as you explained).
Suddenly it turns from an incoherent jumble, to something way more eerie.

Though I don’t think ‘murdered’ his children. The ice bath was a fruitless attempt to bring down the boy’s fever, and since he ‘vanished’ into the water, it can be assumed, that’s when he died.

The girl however, I’m not so sure of.
Besides, if he really was crazy enough to kill his kids, he probably would’ve killed the store owner too for ‘infecting’ them.

Another explanation, weak I guess, but still, the figure in the window staring at the ambulance in the end, could be the spirit of his wife who tormented him; which is who *I* thought whose face was seen in the window; so, he hears her ‘speaking’ to him, saying how he couldn’t save her, or the kids…

Thanks for reading Sharon!! There are times I’m like that too. For example, I always tell everyone it was Apollo’s evil twin brother who died in Rocky IV. With horror movies, I’m not as sentimental – but with certain movies I get extremely upset. The worst is one of my favorite kids movies called Savannah Smiles. I love that film. I wont’ tell you anything but the basic plot. Two lovable criminals accidentally kidnap a little rich girl and hold her for ransom but slowly she changes them and they help her. It’s a sad ending and I cry all the time, but it’s bittersweet. It’s funny – sometimes I’ll put it on and my hubby will be like, “WHY are you doing this to yourself?” I just love the movie and always want it to end differently.

Good reviewing…I always want these movies to end on an upbeat and am a little let down when they don’t. I tell you, after reading your review I am feeling it’s time I grew up and discover the insight of a movie. Thanks, Sharon.

Also, Remember the set up of the fridge being on the fritz? Natural/propane absorbtion gas fired fridges are more common in cabin and camping application where the electric is spotty but they still need refrigeration. These units can and will produce carbon monoxide gas and the exhaust would backflow if the vent is blocked by say… snow.

The give away for me in watching the movie was that the pale chillins miraculously had cherry red looking cheeks toward the end. Because haemoglobin is a darker red when it is not bound to oxygen (deoxyhaemoglobin), as opposed to the rich red color that it has when bound to oxygen (oxyhaemoglobin), when seen through the skin it has an increased tendency to reflect blue light back to the eye. In cases where the oxygen is displaced by another molecule, such as carbon monoxide, the skin may appear ‘cherry red’ instead of cyanotic.

Hi Raf 🙂 Sorry about the delay to your response. It took me awhile to get back from the insanity of my 9-5 job. You could be right about the drug. They’re both benzodiazepines and in the same family of drugs so I think they work the same way though I’ve never been on Clonazepam so that may be stronger or weaker but I agree one should not just stop using those drugs and I 100% agree he was addicted and fell into it.

Please don’t apologize for your English skills. I wish I could speak a different language. I spent 4 years trying to learn Spanish and walked away with very little. I completely understood this.

I hope that someone does translate it into French as I believe this is a really good movie that should be shared.

Thanks for the awesome comments and have a great day!

You wrote “[…] he prescribes Lorazepam to. It just so happens he is taking the same medication […]” ; I disagree, he is on Clonazepam if I am not wrong, look again…

I liked your review which conforted my interpretation : his hallucinations and delusions.
You wrote : “Shade was having hallucinations because of his fever and due to the drugs he was taking for depression […]”, I think the fever played a big role, so did the cold and the improper way to drink and to feed himself during his delusions, his sleep deprivation, etc. But those events came after he took his drugs in combinaison with alcohol. Later, we can see that he panicked when he’s suddenly aware of the fact that he run out of his medication(s) – when he wrongly thought the guilty thief was his son, and during a flashback; so, he probably abused and took all his medication(s) and fell into a kind of “toxic psychosis” and then, later, him being more than probably addicted to his clonazepam, he fell into (those drugs should not be stopped abruptly…) an other kind of psychosis, a very strong one due to the abrupt stop of his drugs… And everything got worse… Until “the end”..?

I am quite okay with your interpretation : he was hallucinating (and still at the end, maybe and probably…) ; that’s what I have understood at the end of the film, although my english skills are not very very good (as you can see)…and the french subtitles of this film really are a Horror translation ! I have watched the OV with french subtitles (streaming) but as soon as the film begun, I quickly understood that the french subtitles are almost completly wrong – they even are an obstacle to a good and correct comprehension.

By the way, It would be very nice if someone (from Canada or someone who is bilingual..) could properly translate this film into french… I have been lucky enough to be able to understand it, but with difficulties.

I apologize for my weak english skills…

Regards