We discuss the ending of the Netflix film The Lost Patient which will contain spoilers.
When Thomas awakens after being in a coma for three years, he realizes that his family has been brutally murdered and his sister is missing. With the aid of his psychiatrist Anna (Clotilde Hesme), Thomas (Txomin Vergez) tries to put together the lost events that led up to the horrific events that his family encountered. The mystery at the heart of The Lost Patient is the reason to stick around and see what actually happened, but does the end justify the means, or was it all a bit of damp squib? This incredibly spoiler-laden ending explained should help clear things up, a little.
Through a series of flashbacks, we finally get to a rather contrived ending that explains who the killer of Thomas’ family actually was, and where his sister Laura has disappeared to.
In the lead-up to the fateful night, Cousin Dylan had moved into the Grimaud family home, while his mother received treatment at hospital. It is revealed that Thomas and Laura’s father had acquired a gun, and it was hidden in the empty room upstairs. Laura states that she felt the gun had been obtained by her father so he could commit suicide, or perhaps kill his wife due to her infidelity.
Thomas in the hospital has been receiving physiotherapy due to muscle wastage in his legs due to his coma. He has become increasingly paranoid and feels his psychiatrist Anna, and the nurses on duty, have been conspiring against him.
Anna tries to explain to Thomas that his sister Laura had mental health issues, and his parent’s complete disinterest in Thomas has led to him becoming violent and disruptive. Thomas also had delusions that his missing sister was watching him through a crack in his hospital room wall. Another flashback reveals Thomas’ parents papering a nursery room wall, while Thomas as a baby is crying in a crib, annoying his mother.
Another flashback reveals to the viewer that Laura had in fact died when she was only four years old, and Thomas remembers visiting her grave. Laura’s death led to the parents having difficulty showing affection to Thomas, and this in turn made him violent towards his parents as he grew older.
The Lost Patient ending explained – what did Thomas do?
Thomas’ mental health continued to get worse, and we learn that he has begun to imagine that Laura is still alive, with him acting out actions that he believes to be her. When his parents announce that Dylan is moving in, it is the last straw for Thomas. He takes his father’s hidden gun and begins the rampage that kills his family.
He stabs himself and as he bleeds out, he watches a pop video on TV, and the singer on the screen is the persona he uses for the imaginary grown-up Laura, in his deranged mind. Psychiatrist Anna was aware of Thomas’ situation and was trying to get him to face the truth about Laura and the murders, despite the duty nurses who felt that Thomas should know exactly what he had done.
The twist ending, that Thomas committed the murders believing himself to also be his dead sister, was just a little bit too contrived and the unlikable nature of the cast made it difficult for me to empathize with the characters. For me, this was a lifeless and hollow production that seemed to rely a little too much on its ending to convince the viewer of its own cleverness.
What did you think of the ending of the Netflix film The Lost Patient? Comment below.
