In “Villains” (2019), Dan Berk and Robert Olsen coordinate the elements of the much-acclaimed microgenre of the “lovers-on-the-run” but dispense with its sprawling setting. Instead, the film is endowed with a contained space that is variously colored, symbolizing the chasm of malaise that has suddenly opened up in the closed world. The lovers are trapped in a chic mansion with two other lovers who could be just about anything– average church-going non-violent Catholics or dyspeptic murderers whose calm demeanor is hanging by a thread.
Stressing on the theme of moral relativism, the contrast between our morally flabby young lovers and the respectable older couple displaying moral probity is very pointed. But it is not too long before we are allowed mental clarity on who the real villains are. Interestingly, the film uses two contemporary horror cinema warhorses, Bill Skarsgård, and Maika Monroe, to play the wacky lovers. Even Bill Skarsgård’s name in the movie–Mickey– is a nod to the ‘lovers on the run’ classic “Natural Born Killers.”
Villains (2019) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Love on the run: when morality meets desperation
The film starts with a foray by two young lovers on the run–Mickey and Jules– who plunder a local gas station store wearing pigeon and unicorn masks. Their only dream is to amass enough money to shift their base to Florida. The lovers’ escape represents a rebellious, carefree rejection of the constraints imposed by conventional American society. However, it is clear that they strive for some human and moral attachment, as murder is the last thing they have in mind. It is not too long before they have to renegotiate with this purified stance.
What dark secrets lurk behind the doors of the seemingly perfect manor?
As the gas hits the pan, their car breaks down in the middle of the forest, and they can no longer be on the road. Jules spots a brownstone manor off the highway. Mickey peeks inside the manor’s garage and is overjoyed to see a car. With the help of a crowbar, they prise open the door and announce themselves inside the empty house. Mickey decides to siphon the gas from the car parked inside the garage– just enough to get to the next gas station, as added by Jules– and be back on the road with their own car. It is part of the comic overture that the impeccably chic house does not lure them into wanting anything more than just the gas.
As the couple venture into the dark basement in search of a hose to draw out gas, the almost ghostly appearance of a little girl in white startles them. The girl is speechless, chained to plumbing pipes. Her white clothes are all soiled. The two climb upstairs into the kitchen, searching for a steak knife to free her. But a surprise awaits– the owners are right behind their backs as they ransack their kitchen! Mickey holds the husband and wife at the gunpoint. Jules confronts them about the child chained in their basement. George, the man, offers to settle the score over a glass of scotch.
What explanations do George and Gloria provide for the child locked in their basement?
The owners – George and Gloria – seem to be cast out of the mold of Little Goody Two-Shoes. Unlike the other couple in the room, they are not hot-headed and are typified by their extremely sardonic yet refined humor and their freshly laundered clothes. George explains that the child in the basement is their little Sweetiepie who is serving her punishment for misbehaving in school. This infuriates Jules, who demands that the child be set free so that Mickey can take her somewhere safe. Along with the child, Mickey demands the car parked in the garage.
George, wearing his devilishly double-dealing grin, explains that should the couple try to steal both their child and the car, they would call the police. George’s cold demeanor and his ability to read into the couple’s mind convince Mickey that he has psychopathic tendencies and has taken the little girl hostage. The four go back to the basement. George unlocks his Sweetiepie. However, the child does not budge. She bites Mickey and lets George take him down with a sudden, violent headbutt.
What is wrong with the creepy Gloria?
Mickey wakes up and finds himself handcuffed and strapped to the bed in Gloria’s room. The much older Gloria strips and tries to seduce Mickey. However, her act does not have any effect on Mickey, which agitates Gloria. The next time Gloria visits Mickey, who is fully clothed, she shows her the family photo albums. Mickey spots Gloria holding her infant, Ethan, in the photos from her younger days. However, Ethan’s face is not visible anywhere in the photographs. Upon asking what Ethan has been up to these days, Gloria replies that he is asleep in his crib.
What further baffles Mickey and convinces him of the psychopathic tendencies of the couple is Gloria’s forebodingly contradictory proclamation a few moments later. While recounting her courting days with George, she says that the couple’s dream of having children never really materialized. More nefariously, Mickey’s eyes chance upon what seems to be a man lying dead in the background of one of the photographs.
Mickey sees this as an opportunity to seduce Gloria and lure her into uncuffing him. When she indeed uncuffs him, Mickey pushes her aside and bolts out of the room. He prepares to run out of the main door. George, however, catches up with him and shoots him in the leg. Mickey is thrown into the basement and chained to a water pipe with Jules.
What is the reality about Gloria’s son?
As they are tied with their backs facing each other, Mickey realizes that it is time for Jules’ tongue piercing to come in handy. Jules manages to unlock herself using her tongue ring. But as she picks on Mickey’s cuff, the pin lodges itself deep inside the keyhole. Sweetiepie, who has been noticing their struggle for a while, directs their attention to a laundry chute. Jules climbs up the chute and lands directly on the floor where Ethan’s nursery is located.
Then, she sneaks into the nursery and picks up the baby from the crib. It is not a human baby but a porcelain doll. Jules hides inside the cupboard but realizes that Gloria is moments away from discovering her. In fact, Gloria can sense someone’s presence in the closet. However, her discovery is interceded by the commotion between George and Mickey.
Mickey has convinced George that Jules has escaped to their predetermined meet-up spot. The deal is if Mickey does not show up to the point in an hour, cops will be called in. However, Jules unknowingly spoils his escape plan by showing up at the top of the staircase, dangling the porcelain doll by its arm. Gloria is horrified and tries to save Ethan by aiming at Jules. She, however, misses her target, causing Jules to crouch in fear and let loose of the doll. The doll crashes down and breaks into pieces.
Who is the girl in the basement?
The next we know, Jules and Mickey are tied with duct tape and secured tightly around the dining table with a sumptuous banquet in view. George explains cooking calms the tightly wound Gloria. The size of the dish that she serves is directly proportional to the size of the trauma that she is inflicted with, says George.
George finally addresses the elephant in the room– the child in the basement. Devoid of the bliss of parenthood, George kidnapped the little girl in an attempt to make Gloria happy. However, after a little while, the child’s presence grated on her nerves. Gloria wanted the child to be dead, so instead of killing her, the ‘merciful’ George allowed her to stay alive in their basement.
George proclaims that he has decided against killing the couple. Their rampage around the house has ensured that their traces are left behind every corner, which is practically impossible to scrub away. So, the husband and wife will tip off the police and allow them to pick them up. On the other hand, the little girl will be sent to a nice orphanage. Mickey and Jules realize too late that the lavish spread was bait. They are now under a drug overdose. As they fall into a deep slumber, George says he would inject them with the hard drugs that the lovers carry around in their bags.
Villains (2019) Movie Ending Explained:
A narrow escape: when desperation fuels a high-stakes rescue
A police officer appears at their front door searching for robbers, and their description exactly fits Jules and Mickey’s description. As he goes to the basement, George and Gloria plan to kill him, too, but he gets spared by a patrol call. Jules, on the other hand, regains her senses and crawls to her bag to retrieve some of the cocaine. She snorts it to quell the effects of the sedatives and makes Mickey snort it, too.
Mickey and Jules leave the room without making a noise. When George and Gloria return, they think they have escaped and rush out of the house and towards the highway. Unbeknownst to them, Mickey and Jules never left the house in the first place. They save Sweetiepie, place her in the backseat of George’s car, and prepare to wheeze away.
Will escaping the past lead to a new beginning?
On the other hand, after going some distance in the forest, Gloria reminds George of his promise made during their youthful romance. She expresses her desire to forget about chasing the lovers, leave everything behind—including Sweetiepie—and start anew in a distant land. George agrees. As the two return, George finds his car key gone. He proceeds to kill Sweetiepie before leaving the place forever, finding the basement empty.
Mickey, Jules, and Sweetiepie wait for the garage shutter to lift so that they can drive away. However, as the shutter lifts, they are greeted by George holding a gun and demanding that Sweetiepie be left behind. Mickey, who has decided to mow George down with the car, asks the two to duck to avoid getting shot.
George is trampled under the wheels but somehow avoids getting killed. It is Mickey who is dead. George pulls Jules out of the car and tries to strangle her. Sweetiepie comes to Jules’ rescue and blows off his head. The two men die, and it is only the women who stand. George’s death makes Gloria look unworldly in her rejection of reality. She embraces George’s still body and reminds him of the promises of adventure he made during their courtship. The other two, Jules and Sweetiepie, leave Gloria to her fate and leave the house. As they walk down the highway, they ask for a lift from a passing vehicle, and Jules asks the lady driver to drive them to Florida.
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