@Phasmophobia said:

I kept waiting for the ending to be revealed to be a dream...

In reality, the children should have stayed with the grandparents (especially Rellian). Having them all sneak back on the bus and then dig up the mom's body was quite ridiculous. Bodevan should've gone to college, not on a trip to Africa.

it was sort of happy ending, children loved their father and he was willing to settle down to compromise, to be closer to mainstream but still kinda hippie, i am sure the younger boy can now enjoy more of normal social interactions and gadgets

as for older boy, my impression was he just took gap year and sure enough won't have trouble to start uni next year after returning from Africa

@Phasmophobia said:

I kept waiting for the ending to be revealed to be a dream...

In reality, the children should have stayed with the grandparents (especially Rellian). Having them all sneak back on the bus and then dig up the mom's body was quite ridiculous. Bodevan should've gone to college, not on a trip to Africa.

I thought the ending was great. would have been disappointed if the kids ended up staying with the grandparents. Showed how much they really cared for their dad and how he raised them.

@Phasmophobia said:

I kept waiting for the ending to be revealed to be a dream...

In reality, the children should have stayed with the grandparents (especially Rellian). Having them all sneak back on the bus and then dig up the mom's body was quite ridiculous. Bodevan should've gone to college, not on a trip to Africa.

I also loved the ending. It's a film with a very classical structure in the sense of thesis, antithesis and sythesis. The Thesis is the kids being raised in the wilderness, the antithesis is children being raised in american civilization. The film is so intriguing because the antithesis is the watcher's norm. And in the end they find a compromise between the two world views, the sythesis. It would have been weird if the ending had been as you described, because then it would have been a film just to show us how wrong/crazy the father was.

i liked the ending as well. also i think it is realistic. kids really bond with their parents even if they are alot worse than the father. he wasn't even that bad. the kids were as healthy and well adjusted as most kids. other than the fact they were totally clueless about the society that 99.9% of people live in, they hadn't missed out on much.

I'm happy with the ending. Would've been disappointed had the children stayed with their grandparents, especially without a fight. The compromise Ben made gives the children the balance they need.

Why Bodevan would even go to the college? He needed to learn about the world (everything that is not in a book).

yes i couldn't stand it. especially digging up the mother

@noveltylibrary said:

yes i couldn't stand it. especially digging up the mother

She shouldn't have been buried in the first place. Yes, it is disgusting, but someone had to stand up for her values and wishes. It would have been wrong to leave her buried there. If they left her there it would have been an injustice, and endings are usually all about setting the wrong things right and returning balance to the world.

The only thing I didn't like about it was when they sang Sweet Child of Mine. It made no sense. It's part of the mainstream that they've been trying so desperately to avoid. Why would the mother appreciate that and how would they even know the words?

@JustinJackFlash said:

The only thing I didn't like about it was when they sang Sweet Child of Mine. It made no sense. It's part of the mainstream that they've been trying so desperately to avoid. Why would the mother appreciate that and how would they even know the words?

I would have preferred if they sang "Rocket Queen" instead

I think Vigo was dying to sing some Backstreet Boys. You just know he'd been practicing the dance in secret.

I'm fine with the kids going back with dad, but digging up mom was just dumb. Isn't that a felony? Having the kids there would surely have gotten CPS's attention.

@rolanddoobie said: I'm fine with the kids going back with dad, but digging up mom was just dumb. Isn't that a felony? They did take the time to return the earth to the grave so it looked like it was undisturbed. It was a fresh grave anyway. Most likely no one would ever know the body was missing. It bothered me that they were using several lanterns out there though, they should have worked in the dark as much as possible. Even if cemeteries don't have security, police will usually check them on their routes.

The main part that bugged me is once the kids returned to society, what happened to grandpa's lawsuit to take custody of them? He didn't seem like the kind of guy who would just let bygones be bygones and forget about it. Maybe he realized how much those kids were going to cost him and dropped it, and maybe the grandmother convinced him to let it go also.

I agree with some posters who said the guy was a bit of a pompous jackass. I understand wanting to follow his wife's wishes, but there's no reason to ridicule a church full of people for their beliefs. If he wants his beliefs respected, he should give that same respect to others.

Finally, did anyone else think there were similarities between this story and the TV show Alaskan Bush People?

I'd also like to add that Ben's daughter, Vespyr, gives the best review of the novel Lolita that I've ever heard.

@Phasmophobia said:

I kept waiting for the ending to be revealed to be a dream...

In reality, the children should have stayed with the grandparents (especially Rellian). Having them all sneak back on the bus and then dig up the mom's body was quite ridiculous. Bodevan should've gone to college, not on a trip to Africa.

It was. There was a split and it showed two sides to the ending. I think it represented a mental break from reality. He goes off alone and his kids just appear?? No. And the way the ending in the idyllic little cabin was bathed in glowing white light? Come on.

They stayed with the grandparents and he had a mental break down. He probably did actually dig up his wife though.

The tonal and imagery shift is too significant to be coincidental.