Your Film Professor

There is no point of view shot in this opening sequence but we do get Maisie’s emphasized gaze in this early moment, a moment that I think is important because it illustrates why Maisie does love her mother, because of tender moments such as this one. By the way, hearing the song “Rock-a-bye Baby” in the context of this moment and film has made me realize that this song is really kind of a strange song to be singing to one’s baby considering that it is about dangerously rocking your baby “on a tree top,” and how a wind “breaks” the “bough” sending the baby “down,” presumably to its doom?!? One could perhaps read this song metaphorically, where Maisie  is the “baby” “on the tree top” (e.g., put in danger by her dysfunctional parents) and who, due to her parents’ dysfunction (the “wind”), will be allowed to “fall,” not to her death of course but to a miserable life that will end with her also inevitably becoming just as dysfunctional as her parents.

Here we get the first point of view shot, Maisie’s point of view of her parents quarreling, her beginning to register their deeply dysfunctional relationship. Interesting too that her cat outfit punctuates that she is in a sense no more than a pet for her parents, though even that is being generous since they barely care for her as well as a pet owner cares for a pet!

Beale already exhibiting his lack of authentically caring about Maisie, in that he is using her to get closer to Margo.

In an almost haunting shot, McGehee and Siegel give us a lone swing, swinging without anyone on the swing. Throughout the film, McGehee and Siegel give us symbols that register expressionistically, e.g., registering the internal feelings of Maisie. In the case of this swing, the impression is of a feeling of loneliness, emptiness, loss.

Maisie’s point of view links the kite to her, signifying that its plight and existential existence is the same as her state of being.

While under the parentage of Susanna and Beale, Maisie seems happiest in this nurturing school space.

Even at such a young age, Maisie is forced to fend for herself, a kind of association of her being exposed to adult language and conflicts.

Like the lone empty swing signifier, this mise en scene of the singular turtle in the background hauntingly echoes Maisie’s lonely and neglected existence.

In another important point of view shot, McGehee and Siegel hyper-emphasize Maisie’s point of view, her seeing her parents fighting yet again though this time Maisie experiences her mother locking her father out and the pain that this whole situation causes her mother. In moments like this especially, the directors begin the process of establishing Maisie’s internalization of what she sees, which, in turn, begins to establish what she learns and “what she knows.”

Maisie and her classmates are taught how to keep their plants healthy, to give them exactly what they need to grow and thrive, a metaphor or mirroring of what Maisie lacks, nurturance and tender loving care.

This time in a public space, Maisie is forced to see her parents’ war (or predatory “game”) with each other embarrassingly played out in front of others. In this way, her point of view this time is part and parcel of how she begins to see her self centered parents through the eyes of others. Interesting too that Susanna is conspicuously wearing a leopard print jacket, a glaring sign of her predatory nature.

An interesting interjection, suggesting that perhaps part of the make-up of America is the color of green, e.g., money. As we get later — when Lincoln teaches Maisie that being “rich” does not mean being happy — the link of money to Maisie’s story is how her mother and father live a pretty high end lifestyle and at various points seem to put their desired lavish lifestyle before quality bonding with Maisie. That Maisie stresses the importance of being rich (more on this later) suggests that one or both parents covet or put a priority on being rich and have put that in her head, a poisonous influence.

Zoey instinctively senses that this atmosphere is not “normal,” an unhealthy, dysfunctional space, which especially comes though in her cry for help and desire to go home.

Here again we see how McGehee and Siegel emphasize Maisie’s point of view, of her education so to speak, of her seeing her mom’s crass reaction to Zoey going home, her utter lack of self awareness and thus her utter lack of seeing why Zoey was in distress and needed to go home. The really devastating implication of this situation is that it probably forecasts a future for Maisie where she may have difficulty making healthy friends.

Maisie has a healthy imagination, as we see with the toy animal (and real turtle!) motif in the film, perhaps not only a sign of her healthy imagination but an outlet for her dysfunctional environment, something she can control and a world that she can escape to, that gives her the warmth and companionship she so sorely lacks in real life.

A clear illustration of healthy parenting (e.g.. Margo) and unhealthy (controlling) parenting (e.g., Susanna).

In one of many particularly interesting Maisie point of view shots, this point of view would seem to not have any particular pertinence. But I think it speaks to, well, the emphasis on Maisie’s point of view in general (e.g., just calling attention to this particular use of form), but also to her healthy awe and wonder of such a sight, a sign that her abuse has not turned her into a jaded and inwardly directed youth. In this way, Maisie is not participating in her mother’s scheming and is instead more interested in what she should be more interested in, the more transcendent sights of enrichment in her environment. Interesting too that this moment speaks to a space of power, reflecting Maisie’s utter lack of control or power in her fate, where Maisie is not only subject to her parents’ power but now to the power of the law to decide her fate.

This examination by a psych expert is of course for Maisie’s benefit, but it can also only confirm to Maisie that her mother is not healthy for her, furthering “what she knows.”

I LOVE this image of Maisie, the mesh gate signifying Maisie’s “imprisoned” state of being (e.g., trapped in an abusive situation).

Perhaps the most accentuated point of view shot in the film, where Maisie sees her father and Margo getting cozy with each other, Maisie’s lingering gaze at them suggesting she already knows on some level that there is something here beyond mere friendly chatter.

And here too we see Maisie’s deeper awareness than her age would suggest, her taking in at this point everything she sees and hears.

Without forewarning or apparently a connection to, Maisie is walked home by another parent, yet another signification for Maisie of her lack of a routine and being able to count on her parents for even the simplest, most minimal of responsibilities.

Here again McGehee and Siegel emphasize Maisie’s point of view and she again hears her parents quarreling in a hurtful way. In this instance, Maisie explicitly hears that they are fighting about who gets “custody” of her, which, for her child’s mind, can only cause confusion and distress, which neither of them ever try to ameliorate. Interesting that the last mise en scene of Maisie walking in on her parents fighting and McGehee and Siegel give us that three shot of them, Beale and Susanna are positioned by two “foreign” statues, perhaps signifying that they are becoming more and more “foreign” or Other to Maisie, her view of them evolving, Maisie beginning to see them as what they are, not good parents. Of course, this isn’t fully worked through or even conscious on Maisie’s part, but I think it is where her conscious rendition of her parents is going.

In an interesting shot, McGehee and Siegel spell out the nature of relationships via space and composition. Beale is positioned at some distance from Margo and Maisie, who are grouped together (it looks like Margo is helping Maisie with her homework), signifying their closeness. Further, the lines in the mise en scene accentuate separation (that line between Margo/Maisie and Beale) and fragmentation and the many square shapes in the frame enhance this feeling of disunity or Beale in his own isolated “box.” One could perhaps even read this composition expressionistically, where Beale compartmentalizes Maisie and Margo into object compartments (like his paintings!) instead of seeing them as intimate (connected) loved ones.

McGehee and Siegel again emphasize Maisie’s gaze: She witnesses her father insensitively throwing away flowers sent to her by her mother, a deeply hurtful thing to do.

In addition to the interesting — and conspicuous — number of horses (and how they correspond to the players in the film), here again we get the animal motif and how this both speaks to Maisie’s imaginary escape from her chaotic life and a reflection of her still intact nurturing character; that is, Maisie’s animal world often reflects her nurturing behavior to them, e.g., she is watering and feeding them, taking care of them. My sense here is that perhaps the film is playing on just how naturally empathetic Maisie is, in contrast to her parents. Empathy is one of the most important emotions we can have, not just for self but for a civilization. A civilization will destroy itself if it doesn’t have empathy, doesn’t relate to each other in a deeply connective, communal, personal, relational way. The loss of empathy, then, is more than just a tragedy for the self or a source of a dysfunctional state of being, it is also dangerous for society. In this context, the film may be upping the stakes of Maisie’s fate: Any child, whether it be Maisie or some other child, who loses their empathy is not just a crime against them, it is a crime against humanity. And in all likelihood if Maisie stays with her parents, she will eventually become like them, unempathetic.

Here we get another illustration of a deeper pattern of Margo — and later Lincoln — creating deeply contrasting parenting strategies, in this case, Margo thinking of Maisie’s feelings and finding a way to consider Maisie’s desire to keep this wonderful gift from her mother and deal with Beale’s allergy. In this way, Margo deepens our knowing that she is a much healthier choice of a parent figure for Maisie.

In a very interesting series of shots, we can see just how aware Maisie is of her mother using Maisie’s information against her father. To get that information, Susanna in effect manipulated Maisie, which Maisie probably didn’t fully comprehend in the moment but in this latter moment above, it becomes clear to her what her mother is doing. McGehee and Siegel unpack these issues via some interesting uses of form, Susanna walking away from Maisie through a doorway punctuating her walking away from Maisie (in this moment specifically and in general) psychologically, accentuating how the two of them are already moving in different directions. Further, in addition to Maisie’s all important gaze of her mother as she moves away from her and then Maisie moving away from her in turn, Maisie then enters into a silhouette, signalling the very dark place she is going into less some intervention happens.

In the face of going with what amounts to a stranger, Maisie’s body language says it all, especially in terms of latching on to Margo, making Margo her lifeline in this moment. When she loses her lifeline, her very real trauma is magnified.

As Maisie’s parents pull further and further from her, her life becomes all the more precarious, and her feelings of insecurity get manifested more and more.

In a very interesting moment, Maisie becomes in effect the adult in this situation and Lincoln is the child. The deeper implications of this are telling, in that this moment too speaks to Maisie’s premature maturity and just the general fact that she is more responsible than the adults in her life (with the exception of Margo). In terms of Lincoln, though he is good-hearted and well intentioned, he still needs some work in terms of becoming a parent!

In another disturbing moment, Maisie’s point of view is of a half naked Lincoln taking drinks into her mother’s room. A child seeing her “father” or “mother” half naked going into a bedroom with the other parent isn’t just what makes this moment disturbing — though that they didn’t take more care to create a less salacious scenario is pretty irresponsible of them — it is that Lincoln is still a “stranger” to her and hasn’t been properly — and slowly — brought into Maisie’s life. In other words, Maisie just isn’t ready for this level of intimacy with a stranger!

Lincoln is a natural with children; like Margo, he finds a way to include Maisie in the activity, make it a bonding experience.

Interesting that this line of dialogue is cut on an image of Susanna! And then….

…we get more conspicuous signifiers of predatory behavior, symbolically speaking of Susanna. That she is wearing a leopard print jacket only adds to this association.

Susanna sees in Lincoln and Maisie’s interaction everything she is not, Lincoln deeply bonding with Maisie by engaging with her on her terms not his, entering her make believe world and letting her dictate his role and participation. Further, Susanna is jealous but more than that her deep insecurities entail her beginning to see Lincoln as a threat to her dominance and place of importance in Maisie’s life, which is actually something she should fear, just because she is already beginning to drive Maisie away.

Lincoln’s interaction with Maisie is genuine, in the sense that he wants to interact with her instead of just making her an object of disconnected (unearned) affection. Most interesting here is that Lincoln seems to have a genuine “inner child” in him, where he seems to genuinely enjoy childish activities and play. I would contend that individuals who have an “inner child” are individuals who (A) do not fear the judgement of others, instead living for the moment and free of the constraints of expected societal decorum, and (B) are more interested in innocently (meaningfully) playing and bonding with others instead of being more occupied with self-interested (adult) desires such as wealth accumulation, image and status symbols, material possessions, and stimulation fixes (drugs, sex, consumerist activities, etc.).

Maisie is on her way back to her father’s for ten days; we get a cut to her sitting alone again on a long bench, against a metal or concrete wall, hyper-emphasizing her aloneness and her present life being one of living in a cold and hard-hearted environment.

Maisie’s focus on “being rich” speaks to her parents’ influence, who live materialistic (status and image oriented)  lifestyles and apparently believe that being rich is a measurement of one’s (successful) self. By contrast, in this moment, Lincoln gives Maisie a powerful positive influence, teaching her that the real source of happiness comes via doing what makes her happy and not what makes her rich. In this way, we see another way for Maisie’s life to take an unhappy turn, e.g., become her “rich” but miserable parents, or take a happy turn, become the not “rich” but happy Lincoln.

Maisie’s growing love and affection for Lincoln can be seen in this moment, her wanting to share her newfound “father” to her class.

And this moment also captures the way that young children express adult situations, the “dead” comment perhaps speaking to Tyler’s mother’s feelings about one of her ex-husbands. Here too this moment speaks to Maisie and all children’s awareness of their environment– kids are more aware than we give them credit for!

Setting aside the dark “they would be killed” part (probably just a child not understanding the import of such a sentiment though perhaps a symptom of Susanna and Beale’s abusive influence), this story suggests the power of Lincoln’s progressive influence. That Maisie even included giving “bread to the homeless” suggests that perhaps she has expanded on Lincoln’s thoughts to begin making connections of what it means to put not just self but people before being rich.

Lincoln gives Maisie her much needed positive reinforcement, something all kids need to develop a strong sense of self-worth.

But of course Susanna can only reflect her deep insecurities and self-centeredness and lash out, which amounts to a rejection of Maisie’s work, which we see when Maisie immediately buries her notebook in her dresser.

For me, this sequence is yet another moment where McGehee and Siegel gives us a sympathetic Susanna, and more signs, at least for me, that Susanna does love her daughter. In addition to acknowledging her own failings — her “pettiness” in her behavior — in her own inadequate way, she attempts to make amends for not giving Maisie appraisal for her work…

…and she tries to reach out to get Maisie to express her feelings in this moment.

What is so disturbing here is how Susanna reverts to her dysfunctional self and begins to talk to Maisie as if she is an adult; Maisie attempts to escape into her imaginary world but clearly she can’t help but listen to her mother’s angst ridden — and damaging — sentiments.

Susanna shows real signs of distress, a distress that is not so much her frustration at Beale having showed up out of the blue, but her feelings of an out of control life that only makes her feel angry and distressed all the time, which is of her own making but that she can’t see that  and thus can’t address it, she can only add to her turmoil, a miserable state of being. McGehee and Siegel give us Susanna’s distress not only in terms of Susanna’s reactions and expressions of emotions, but in this last shot of Maisie’s gaze, whose look reveals her concern for her mother, another sign of Maisie’s growing awareness of her mother not being right and her own growing (forced) maturity.

In another very interesting mise en scene, we get the sectioning (into boxes–suggesting disconnection) emphasis again: The way the lines of the windows and walls suggest fragmentation and segmentation creates a general feeling of fragmentation and segmentation, which is then attached to the family, emphasizing the disunity of this family. But we also get that very interesting painting next to the “family,” giving the space a strange optical illusion effect, where it almost seems as if next to the “family” is a hallway to another room. Interesting too that this “hallway” — and the painting itself — frames Margo and Maisie, perhaps suggesting that they need to find a way out of this space — Beale’s space (e.g., get away from having a relationship with Beale) — and escape to another space/reality where they can be happy. This optical illusion painting shows up again later in the film but with a much different context and reading (see below for more).

In this specific shot immediately above, we get another pronounced point of view shot, where Maisie is watching a watching Margo (the blurring of Margo hyper-accentuating that this is Maisie’s point of view), signifying yet again the importance of this recurring Maisie point of view and also signifying the importance of this moment. Intersecting with this register, we get the swing symbolism: Earlier in the film (see above), McGehee and Siegel gave us a lone lonely swing swinging emptily by itself. Here we get Maisie joyfully swinging, a vigilant and invested Margo watching on, as a good “parent” should be, signifying just how contented Maisie is in this moment, in contrast to her previous life with non-entity parenting, signified by the empty (of life) swing.

And yet another recurring motif/symbolism is these recurring reflection/mirror images of Maisie. The meaning here seems clear, since Maisie is on two potential tracks, the dysfunctional track of her dysfunctional biological parents (suggesting a translucent or not fully realized Maisie) and the healthy track of her possible surrogate parents Margo and Lincoln. The deeper implications of this are profound and telling but I’ll come back to that.

The boat symbolism would seem to suggest something quite meaningful for Maisie, since going on a boat ride becomes very important to Maisie. In this context, the toy boats seem to speak to her desire for a freedom from her chaotic life, the boats in the water perhaps suggesting a kind of carefree sensibility, free from the turmoil and barrage of difficulties of the real world. Escaping to the sea and from the world has always been the appeal of sail boating. Of course, that these boats are contained in this pond and that the traffic of many boats is so heavy suggests to us perhaps that Maisie is not unlike the “blue boat,” not free, contained within a sphere of control and powerlessness (from escaping) and living in a state of chaos. Of course, the idea of a “boat ride” has been planted in her head, making this love of boats more than a passing fancy (see below for more).

This moment is crucial for it gives us an indication of the depth of Maisie’s awareness and internalization of what she is exposed to. Of course, in this case, the promise of going on a boat with her father and Margo has a special appeal, though whether that stems from a special desire to go on a boat or whether that stems from spending real quality time with he father (or a combination of the two) I can’t be certain, but which ever it is, that desire then created her intense desire to ride on a boat. This desire to ride on a boat will be finally enacted at the end of the film, a moment that also becomes like a kind of baptism that punctuates her newfound future. I’ll come back to this final moment.

I love this moment! Here again we get an illustration of Maisie’s keen sense of awareness, though I would say that here we begin to already get “what Maisie knew, ” in this case, her better sense of Margo’s relationship with Beale than Margo’s, a “pretend” — or inauthentic — “marriage.”

Lincoln finally arrives to pick Maisie up, but she is too sick to go with him. Maisie comes to Lincoln and, unlike Beale just a moment before this, when he was on the phone with Maisie and apparently didn’t offer much if anything in the way of comfort for sick Maisie, Lincoln is so good with her, treating her in a way that actually suggests that he cares that she is sick! When told by Margo that Maisie can’t go back with him, he panics a bit because of how furious Susanna is going to be at him for coming back without her, suggesting that her sickness is not a good reason not to bring her, another indication of her self-centeredness. But Lincoln puts Maisie’s well being ahead of Susanna’s desire and his own impending subjection to her abusive fury, further giving us an indication of his love for Maisie and yet another positive experiential moment, where Maisie actually sees a “parent” putting others (in this case, Maisie) before self.

In a telling moment, unlike her parents, Lincoln is hyper-aware of Maisie’s surroundings. When he hears the adult talk next to Maisie and especially notices that Maisie is aware of it too (perhaps because she has become attuned to adult talk!), he quickly acts to move her to a safer space.

I love this moment of play between Lincoln — who, as I say above, has an inner child in him — and Maisie. On some sort of overpass, Maisie pantomimes and play acts with Lincoln. The pure display of joy reflects Maisie’s intact innocence — or perhaps a better way to put it: a return to a state of innocence, where she is doing what she should be doing at her age, live a carefree life of play and imagination. Interesting too to think of that reflection and the overpass/bridge; with the overpass/bridge (often symbolizing moving from one state of being to another), the reflection seems like less of an indication of a split or fragmented Maisie than a Maisie who is transitioning to a different self, a happier, healthier, better self.

McGehee and Siegel again hyper-emphasize Maisie’s gaze on the suffering Margo, which translates into her coming to a better understanding of her louse of a father (which I believe informs her latter reaction to him, a key sequence I’ll come back to) and our seeing just how empathetic Maisie is, her reaction to Margo’s suffering one of concern and then comfort, speaking to her innate empathetic self staying intact despite being raised by self-centered parents. Interesting too that Margo is finally realizing just how “pretend” her marriage is!

And here we begin to see the formation of this alternative “family” unit, where Maisie begins to choose her “parents,” her “love” of Lincoln becoming a de facto desire for him to be her “father.”

An amusing line and moment but telling in that here too we see how much Maisie observes goings on around her!

There are two meanings here: In symbolic terms, the “Little Red Riding Hood” story adds to the “predator” motif in the film (think about the moat!), a story about a predatory wolf who wants to devour a young girl. In the context of this film, the parents are the “predators” and though they don’t literally want to devour Maisie, they are nonetheless “feeding” their own needs at the expense of her well being. The other point of this moment is more contextual, especially as is spelled out by that last shot of Margo, Maisie, and Lincoln, forming a family unit who are doing family outings, signifying a major shift in Maisie’s future. That Little Red Riding Hood seems to be getting the best of the “wolf” kind of brings these two meanings together, where this Little Red Riding Hood symbolism speaks to Maisie taking control of her future and resisting the “wolf” and embracing her newfound surrogate “parents.”

In a really striking opening shot to a sequence, McGehee and Siegel first give us a blurry mirror image of Maisie getting up from bed, another part of the reflection motif in the film. In this case, the split meaning signifies that since she is back to being in the clutches of her thoroughly dysfunctional father, she is still in her split identity/role, between her biological parents (dysfunction) and her surrogate “parents” (happiness). The blurriness almost accentuates this reading where the Maisie we have seen blossoming with Margo and Lincoln now seems to be blurry, e.g., losing its definition, losing self.

This is one of my favorite images in the film, Beale having been justifiably abandoned by Margo, standing slightly askew of that optical illusion (disorienting) painting, which, like before, at first glance, almost seems to suggest the entrance to another room or…another reality. However, because of the different context, I think the meaning is different: That is, the alternative “reality” that this painting suggests, speaks less to an alternative space but rather a hidden or Real “reality,” the point being that two “realities” exist, the seeming one that Margo is living – which is a lie – and the Real one that Beale is creating, a “reality” where he is using both Margo and Maisie for his own needs. This painting also depicts an “empty” space, which I think speaks to the “emptiness” of Margo’s relationship with Beale – which I would extend to how this painting in this moment speaks to him as an utterly “empty” vessel. Finally, in the way that it is disorienting, it specifically reflects Beale himself whose predatory nature is not as obvious as Susanna’s, e.g., he uses his charm and humor to manipulate people, meaning that like the “disorienting” painting Beale too is “disorienting” in how he seems like a wonderful individual but in reality is “crooked,” not honest.

In effect, Beale admits here that he wants to go back to England for a “couple of…business opportunities,” leaving Maisie not because he has to but because it serves his monetary interests.

Like the opening moment with Susanna, here we get the Beale that could be, though could never be: In the abstract, Beale can talk about bonding with loved ones — go boating with them in Italy, search for coins — but for him this is only possible with empty rhetoric and not with any authenticity. The tragic thing here is that for a moment, such a prospect does seem to bring out the human in Beale’s otherwise narcissistic self, e.g., there is a glimpse of what could have been if whatever had damaged Beale had not damaged him. The tragic thing is that Maisie is fooled again by her father’s enthusiasm, only to be let down yet again, an abusive and traumatic way of being for a child, though in this moment, as we see with her lack of responding to Beale’s playfulness with her, she is done letting him off the hook for his duplicity.

Of course, when the complicated gets interjected into the mix — e.g., Maisie doesn’t understand geography and the distance involved and doesn’t like the idea of leaving her mother — Beale does what he probably would have done anyway, he backs off from such an idea, where he would have to actually be a father to Maisie, who is no painting he can just put up and ignore and enjoy when he chooses but a complicated human being he would have to engage with on a continual basis.

Here, Beale does what he does best, try to manipulate the situation to his advantage, use his charm to get him out of a potential situation that might not benefit him.

This moment — e.g., Maisie’s sorrowful gaze at her father and her not going along with her father’s playful gesture– is just so crucial, a signifying of how far she has come, “what she knows” in this moment, that her father is a phony who manipulates people with his charm for his own self-interest. She doesn’t react because she sees through him now, a symptom of her own premature scarring by her selfish and perhaps narcissistic father.

For me, when he drops Maisie off, I see perhaps for the first time, Beale’s humanity; that is, he genuinely looks upset at leaving Maisie. To my mind, here too, this reveals the power of the film; that is, even though Beale is an awful father, he may have some shred of humanity in him, that he can at the very least have some remorse for abandoning his daughter. Mixed into this pain of his real loss is perhaps some inkling at just perhaps some shred of self-awareness, at his literal inability to be a father for Maisie, the moment before perhaps reaching something in him than even he can’t fully acknowledge. Of course, it doesn’t matter, for I’m sure moments after this, he is back on the phone doing his thing and this brief moment of clarity and humanity is gone.

Here too we get McGehee and Siegel emphasizing Maisie’s gaze, this time on the union of Lincoln and Margo, her happy gaze already suggesting that she “knows” what is brewing between the two of them and that this is what she wants.

For me, this image of Maisie, Lincoln, and Margo emerging out of the subway tunnel into the light of the day has something like a birth feel to it, which works, since this is the first time where the three of them come together as a potential family.

There is a lot going on in this moment, Lincoln’s shock and disgust and anger less about Susanna being with another man (though I suspect that is at least a little bit in the mix), than it is about the mind blowing reality that Susanna is back in town but instead of being with her daughter, she is with some other man feeding her own appetites, revealing an even deeper layer of self-absorption! Moreover, that Susanna immediately demands her parental rights just makes this whole investment of emotion into Maisie for Lincoln so frustrating because she can be just yanked away from him and Margo at any moment, a kind of traumatic way of being for Lincoln and Margo as well as Maisie.

In addition to the turtle that Maisie gets fitting into the animal motif in general — her desire to “take care” of those she perceives as “vulnerable,” a kind of projection of her own state of being, her desire to be “taken care of” and nurtured — in this moment, the turtle signifies just how vulnerable Maisie is (just like it is) and how she has been a pawn in a kind of psychological game between Susanna and Beale, a game that Lincoln and Margo are not going to play.

McGehee and Siegel use many expressionistic devices (e.g., creating mise en scenes that speak to Maisie’s interior self or exterior way of being); in this key piece of imagery, the darkness, the cold, hard surfaces and material, the long shot of Maisie alone and looking especially “small,” all speak to this sense of “abandonment” and the overwhelming feeling of the aloneness and fragility of Maisie, and, indeed, speaks to the very real danger that Maisie is in, not only in this specific moment but from parents who never really protect her and in fact abuse her.

For the first time in the film, Maisie seems like she is in real danger and distress. This images evokes homelessness, which, in essence, because her father and mother are gone, she is!

The dark surroundings and strange faces and Maisie’s distressed gaze all suggest a deeply traumatic experience for Maisie. Thankfully, the strangers who take charge of her of are kind and good people but via the dark tones of this scene, one can imagine a nightmare scenario where she could have just as easily fallen into the hands of predators.

It is Margo who is there for Maisie in her moment of most trauma.

Margo realizes how much importance Maisie places on her charge, her turtle, and thus places as much priority on it that Maisie does, furthering Maisie’s investment in Margo as someone who she can put her faith into.

Another reflection of Maisie. In effect, by going into her new home, she is leaving her past life behind her and beginning a new one, beginning the process of ending her fragmented state of being.

Important moments of bonding between Maisie and Margo, signifying that these moments are long coming moments for Maisie, to be bonded with a “parent” figure who shows her unconditional love.

The boat motif comes back into focus here, a motif that speaks to Maisie’s need to have this burgeoned desire to ride on a boat fulfilled, a desire that also projects her unconscious need for a feeling of being free; that is, throughout the film, we get signs of Maisie creating imaginative worlds (castles, animal kingdoms) and focusing on symbolic objects (boats, kites) that speak to her unconscious desire to be free of the constant anxiety of being exposed to traumatizing adult dysfunction.

And the kite motif also coming back, though here the kite signifies something more “freeing” as the kite is flying free and unconstrained, though still held on by protective custodians of its (her) well being.

And creating a sand castle with Margo, the castle motif back in play though instead of a castle signifier that speaks to Maisie’s desire to protect her from a hostile world, as it was previously, here this castle signifier becomes something “freeing” in that it is opened up to include loved ones, the beginning of letting others she can trust into her personal space.

What is just SO striking in these images is not just the healthy and heartening images of Margo and Maisie bonding (into a surrogate “mother”/”daughter” relationship) but also that this all happens at the beach, a space that is just so symbolic of the eternal, the spiritual, the harmonious, renewal, all of which speaks to the burgeoning relationship between “mother” and “daughter.” More pointedly, the beach house and the beach setting are a deeply felt contrast to Maisie’s previous environment, punctuating her newfound renewal, the beach house exuding the kind of warmth and peace and harmony that her previous (materialistic, cold, empty) residences did not, which is reinforced by the beach itself, a space that is often used to convey tranquility and peace of mind, a punctuation of Maisie’s newfound state of being where, due to being out of the abrasive influence of her parents and under the care of her loving and nurturing surrogate parents, Maisie can now be at peace with her self.

In graphic matches, we get two images of loved ones expressing their love for each other, so deeply contrasting to the really hate filled antagonisms between Susanna and Beale we have seen up until now.

Here again McGehee and Siegel give us Maisie’s point of view, this time though it being of her FINALLY seeing some healthy love and affection between surrogate parent figures, so healthy for her forming her own healthy notions of what coupling entails.

As I say above, this is just such a special moment, where Maisie probably experiences something she has never experienced before, a parent figure who shows so much investment in her experiential and imaginary world, another way of bonding and showing love, so important for a child who has gotten so little of either, especially in terms of Beale’s utter lack of investment in his daughter’s life.

Maisie’s desire to finally go on a boat ride is created by Margo and Lincoln, a desire finally fulfilled.

Though this moment offers us yet another bonding moment between Maisie, Lincoln, and Margo — where they truly begin to become a family — intriguingly, McGehee and Siegel sneak in two core contrasting world views, one that speaks to a belief in “every man for himself,” e.g., a dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, cutthroat competitive, power seeking, dominating, hierarchical (patriarchal) ideology and an ideology of which Lincoln speaks, a cooperative (versus competitive), pacifist world view, which I would extend to include a more sensitive, nurturing, empathetic, sympathetic way of being. In this context, we can see how these two world views are played out in the film, with Susanna and Beale more fitting in the former category and Lincoln and Margo (even though she was apparently brought up in the former world view!) fitting in the latter world view. In this way, the film may be taking its own position on which world view is healthier in general and certainly healthier in terms of raising a child. By the way, though playing monopoly, a capitalistic game that would squarely fit it into the former (Darwinian) world view, the way they are playing it, for fun and not seriously, would seem to drain it of its cutthroat “competitive” sensibility.

I love that even the turtle is part of this family bonding moment!

Squeezed in this bracket of the window, and within this warm glow of the light (the darkness around them making this yellow glow seem warmer), we get a sense of a glowing moment for this blossoming “family.”

Using a handheld camera to enhance the intensity of the movement, Susanna turns on Maisie and approaches her as if she is going to attack her.

Maisie backs up a step, her face registering obvious fear of her mother.

Maisie and Susanna just look at each other but so much is being said in this exchange. Here we get in stark clarity “what Maisie knew,” that her mother is predatory, is a danger to her, her fear and anxiety of her mother not just a manifestation of this specific moment but as this moment becomes the climax of an accumulation of what she has seen and heard, e.g., knows what her mother is and has done, what she is capable of, as I’ve explored in depth above. In short, though Maisie clearly still loves her mother, she also “knows” that she should not go with her but rather should stay with Margo and Lincoln, a sophisticated judgement for a six year old! McGehee and Siegel use high and low camera angles as a way to accentuate the power discrepancy between Maisie and Susanna, the last two shots above of Maisie especially creating a feeling that Susanna is towering over Maisie. Because we have taken on Maisie’s point of view throughout the film, we can feel what it is like to be a six year old confronting an aggressive (predatory) adult. Ironically, though, Maisie’s steady gaze — revealing her fear and anxiety — ultimately gives her the power in this moment because Susanna does love her daughter and her gaze in this moment reveals to Susanna how she is hurting her daughter, Susanna finally understanding in this moment that she is instilling in Maisie damaging feelings that a six year old should not be experiencing.

Susanna is most certainly a deeply selfish, self-absorbed, (self) destructive human being and thus probably 100% of the time acts in her own self-interest. That’s why this moment is so powerful because it is probably only Maisie who could reach her, who could force her into some semblance of self-awareness (and in her saying that she was once Maisie is, in this regard, a pretty profound breakthrough of self-awareness for Susanna), get her to see herself even just a tiny bit for who she really is and that she isn’t a healthy parent for Maisie.

A melancholy Maisie; though she has done what is best for her — rejected her mother — it is a painful loss for her nonetheless.

The boat motif fully realizes itself in this moment, where the boat now comes to signify Maisie’s “freedom” in that as Maisie will ride the boat with her surrogate parent figures – instead of observing boats from a distance or imagining a boat ride with her father – she finally gets the opportunity to actualize her self, begin to flourish under the loving and nurturing presence of Margo and Lincoln.

A joyful Maisie, running to her future happiness, free from the crippling trauma of her past life.