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Secret Window

 Secret Window
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TVTItem
 Secret Window
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Secret Window
 Secret Window
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Secret Window is a 2004 Psychological Thriller, starring Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Maria Bello, Charles S. Dutton, Timothy Hutton, and Len Cariou. It was written and directed by David Koepp, based on the novella Secret Window, Secret Garden by Stephen King, collected in Four Past Midnight.Mystery writer Mort Rainey is severely depressed and in the middle of a divorce. He’s been holed up in his cabin for weeks when one morning John Shooter from Mississippi arrives and accuses Mort of plagiarizing his short story "Sowing Season". Shooter demands retribution. Mort insists he wrote his story first, but makes futile attempts to prove it. He finally tells Shooter he’ll send for a copy of the Ellery Queen magazine issue in which Mort's story was published, and this will prove his was written first. Shooter agrees this will settle the matter, but while Shooter waits for the magazine to arrive, people begin turning up dead.Beware of spoilers! This movie has some major plot twists.
 Secret Window
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2023-10-30T16:00:48Z
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2023-10-30T16:00:48Z
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Dropped link to LineOfSightName: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Dropped link to Yandere: Not a Feature - ITEM
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DBTropes
 Secret Window / int_1869b4b1
type
Unreliable Narrator
 Secret Window / int_1869b4b1
comment
Unreliable Narrator: Mort is stalked by the psychopathic John Shooter who accuses him of plagiarizing his book, and who attempts to frame him for several heinous crimes. In the climax, it is revealed that Mort has been driven to madness over the numerous traumas he has undergone prior to the film, such as his wife having a miscarriage, his guilt over plagiarizing a story and getting away with it, and his wife cheating on him, and that Shooter is a Split Personality formed from Mort's repressed darker impulses and traumas (though the novella implies Shooter was real). It also applies to his ex-wife Amy. Amy claims that her and Mort's marriage was already dead, and he had become distant from her after she miscarried, which she claims justified her cheating on him. It’s heavily implied that said miscarriage traumatized Mort and severely fractured his mental state, and she just couldn’t be bothered to deal with it.
 Secret Window / int_1869b4b1
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 Secret Window / int_1ae27a74
type
Fridge Horror
 Secret Window / int_1ae27a74
comment
Often hits as Fridge Horror for first time watchers because they tend to forget the dog/cat in the rest of the chaos and then remember at the end that if Mort and Shooter are the same person, then Mort killed his own dog/cat.
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Secret Window / int_1ae27a74
 Secret Window / int_1f88a426
type
Psycho Ex-Girlfriend
 Secret Window / int_1f88a426
comment
Psycho Ex-Husband: Mort himself at the end.
 Secret Window / int_1f88a426
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Secret Window / int_1f88a426
 Secret Window / int_2764d432
type
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
 Secret Window / int_2764d432
comment
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Amy often acts as though she’s worried about Mort and seems like she regrets cheating on him and divorcing him. However, she refuses to take responsibility for her actions, acting like her infidelity was justified by their marriage being dead (according to her) and only checks in on Mort as a way to manipulate him into signing the divorce papers so she doesn’t have to deal with him. That said, her concern for Mort is somewhat genuine, though her desire to get him out of her life is greater, which likely helps Shooter take control of Mort.
 Secret Window / int_2764d432
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Secret Window / int_2764d432
 Secret Window / int_2a090d00
type
Lampshade Hanging
 Secret Window / int_2a090d00
comment
Lampshade Hanging: Watch the movie again after the Tomato in the Mirror ending, and you'll see it's all over the place.
 Secret Window / int_2a090d00
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Secret Window / int_2a090d00
 Secret Window / int_2d4fa515
type
Ax-Crazy
 Secret Window / int_2d4fa515
comment
Ax-Crazy: Mort when is in his John Shooter persona becomes a vicious and ruthless murderer. He kills his own dog with a screwdriver. He later does the same with Ken Karsch and Tom Greenleaf (also using an hatchet) and finally kills Amy and Ted with a shovel.
 Secret Window / int_2d4fa515
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 Secret Window / int_2e8441c9
type
The Bad Guy Wins
 Secret Window / int_2e8441c9
comment
The Bad Guy Wins: In stark contrast to the novel, the movie ends with the evil personality not only taking over the protagonist near the end, but succesfully murdering his ex-wife and her lover. He buries them in his backyard and grows a corn field over it. The police can't prove anything without any bodies and Mort consequently remains a free man. The movie chillingly ends the way Mort's own story does, with the murderous main character savouring some cooked corn cobs fertilized by his victims' corpses.
 Secret Window / int_2e8441c9
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Secret Window / int_2e8441c9
 Secret Window / int_2f329e3c
type
Tomato in the Mirror
 Secret Window / int_2f329e3c
comment
Tomato in the Mirror: Mort is Shooter.
 Secret Window / int_2f329e3c
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Secret Window / int_2f329e3c
 Secret Window / int_2fd62e54
type
The Killer in Me
 Secret Window / int_2fd62e54
comment
The Killer in Me: John Shooter does not exist; he is a schizophrenic hallucination undergone by Mort Rainey to commit acts (murder, arson) Mort could never consciously bring himself to do.
 Secret Window / int_2fd62e54
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Secret Window / int_2fd62e54
 Secret Window / int_3036294e
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Scary Black Man
 Secret Window / int_3036294e
comment
Scary Black Man: Ken promises to adopt this persona to intimidate Shooter.
 Secret Window / int_3036294e
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Secret Window / int_3036294e
 Secret Window / int_34dcfc96
type
Kick the Dog
 Secret Window / int_34dcfc96
comment
Kick the Dog: Poor Chico. In the novel, poor Bump. Often hits as Fridge Horror for first time watchers because they tend to forget the dog/cat in the rest of the chaos and then remember at the end that if Mort and Shooter are the same person, then Mort killed his own dog/cat.
 Secret Window / int_34dcfc96
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Secret Window / int_34dcfc96
 Secret Window / int_34f1b472
type
Mad Artist
 Secret Window / int_34f1b472
comment
Mad Artist: Mort turns out to be a mad artist (of the 'mystery writer who acts out his own story' type) with Split Personality.
 Secret Window / int_34f1b472
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Secret Window / int_34f1b472
 Secret Window / int_370aad9
type
Split Personality
 Secret Window / int_370aad9
comment
Split Personality: Mort. The story ends in Split-Personality Takeover and The Killer in Me.
 Secret Window / int_370aad9
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Secret Window / int_370aad9
 Secret Window / int_392372f9
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Actor Allusion
 Secret Window / int_392372f9
comment
Actor Allusion: In the end Mort tries to stab Amy with scissors. If it's intentional or not it's unknown.
 Secret Window / int_392372f9
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Secret Window / int_392372f9
 Secret Window / int_423f5a19
type
Killed Offscreen
 Secret Window / int_423f5a19
comment
Killed Offscreen: Ken Karsch and Tom Greenleaf are both found dead by Mort after he oversleeps the day of their meeting.
 Secret Window / int_423f5a19
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Secret Window / int_423f5a19
 Secret Window / int_4304666a
type
Meta Fiction
 Secret Window / int_4304666a
comment
Metafiction: Not a particularly extreme example: it's a film (originally novella) about someone writing a short story. More meta: Mort's split personality may be yet another reference to Stephen King's pen name "alter ego" Richard Bachman.
 Secret Window / int_4304666a
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 Secret Window / int_4304666a
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Secret Window / int_4304666a
 Secret Window / int_4394b4be
type
Messy Hair
 Secret Window / int_4394b4be
comment
Messy Hair: Mort Rainey's hair was described in one review as looking as though it was combed with an eggbeater.
 Secret Window / int_4394b4be
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Secret Window / int_4394b4be
 Secret Window / int_45b850b7
type
Dead Animal Warning
 Secret Window / int_45b850b7
comment
Dead Animal Warning: Mort's dog is killed with a screwdriver and left as a warning by his Stalker Without A Crush. John Shooter is revealed to be in Mort's head the whole time. Mort killed his own dog.
 Secret Window / int_45b850b7
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Secret Window / int_45b850b7
 Secret Window / int_4783acfa
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Bait the Dog
 Secret Window / int_4783acfa
comment
Bait the Dog: Done deliberately with the film version - according to the director, by the time our protagonist finally snaps completely and kills his ex-wife and her boyfriend, we were meant to be too involved with him to stop cheering him on.
 Secret Window / int_4783acfa
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Secret Window / int_4783acfa
 Secret Window / int_48081842
type
The Stinger
 Secret Window / int_48081842
comment
The Stinger: Johnny Depp singing in a quite disturbing little voice "mama's little baby loves shortbread, shortbread..."
 Secret Window / int_48081842
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 Secret Window / int_48081842
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Secret Window / int_48081842
 Secret Window / int_48c99e19
type
Death by Adaptation
 Secret Window / int_48c99e19
comment
Death by Adaptation: Amy and Ted. In the novella, Mort died instead.
 Secret Window / int_48c99e19
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Secret Window / int_48c99e19
 Secret Window / int_49f20c6a
type
Gory Discretion Shot
 Secret Window / int_49f20c6a
comment
Gory Discretion Shot: Ted being stabbed repeatedly by Shooter with a shovel is left offscreen. Played with by Amy's death. While her being beaten by Shooter/Mort, having her head slammed with a rock, and being stabbed with a screwdriver are all shown onscreen, how she is ultimately murdered is never shown.
 Secret Window / int_49f20c6a
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Secret Window / int_49f20c6a
 Secret Window / int_49f6a9e4
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Most Writers Are Writers
 Secret Window / int_49f6a9e4
comment
Most Writers Are Writers: Mort is a successful author suffering from writer's block. As with many King works he is a loose stand-in for King himself.
 Secret Window / int_49f6a9e4
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Secret Window / int_49f6a9e4
 Secret Window / int_4a3e547f
type
Leaning on the Fourth Wall
 Secret Window / int_4a3e547f
comment
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Mort's closing monologue to the police sheriff.
 Secret Window / int_4a3e547f
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Secret Window / int_4a3e547f
 Secret Window / int_4a5fcde
type
Adaptational Alternate Ending
 Secret Window / int_4a5fcde
comment
Adaptational Alternate Ending: The ending of the film is completely changed from the novella, despite both keeping the reveal that Mort Rainey is suffering from multiple personality disorder and is in fact his own tormentor John Shooter. However, it then diverges when in the film Mort kills his wife and her new husband and buries them in his garden, the same ending as the novel he was writing in-universe. In the novella, Mort does attempt to kill his wife after his Split-Personality Takeover but ends up getting killed instead when someone else arrives to save her. An epilogue shows her discussing Mort's mental break with her husband and hints that Shooter might be Real After All.
 Secret Window / int_4a5fcde
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Secret Window / int_4a5fcde
 Secret Window / int_4e7c4536
type
Wham Line
 Secret Window / int_4e7c4536
comment
Wham Line: "There is no John Shooter"
 Secret Window / int_4e7c4536
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Secret Window / int_4e7c4536
 Secret Window / int_4f84cdef
type
Smug Snake
 Secret Window / int_4f84cdef
comment
Smug Snake: Karsch is a rare non-villainous example. He's overly confident that he'll be able to scare off Shooter with ease and never really regards him as a threat, which proves to be his undoing.
 Secret Window / int_4f84cdef
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Secret Window / int_4f84cdef
 Secret Window / int_50b9b3d0
type
Crazy Jealous Guy
 Secret Window / int_50b9b3d0
comment
Crazy Jealous Guy: The Reveal of who the killer is and what his motive truly is.
 Secret Window / int_50b9b3d0
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Secret Window / int_50b9b3d0
 Secret Window / int_567ae714
type
Imaginary Enemy
 Secret Window / int_567ae714
comment
Imaginary Enemy: It turns out that the killer is a cross between this and a Split Personality of the main character.
 Secret Window / int_567ae714
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Secret Window / int_567ae714
 Secret Window / int_5d5cc3fd
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Through the Eyes of Madness
 Secret Window / int_5d5cc3fd
comment
Through the Eyes of Madness: John Shooter doesn't exist outside of Mort's imagination: Mort set Amy's house on fire, and killed Ken Karsch, Tom Greenleaf and Chico. The bruises on Mort's wrist where Shooter grabbed him are imaginary.
 Secret Window / int_5d5cc3fd
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Secret Window / int_5d5cc3fd
 Secret Window / int_615fdb1f
type
Dream Sequence
 Secret Window / int_615fdb1f
comment
Dream Sequence: Mort has one where he, while laying in his couch, finds that it is now atop a cliff leading into a river, Foreshadowing how he disposed of the bodies of Ken Karsch and Tom Greenleaf.
 Secret Window / int_615fdb1f
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Secret Window / int_615fdb1f
 Secret Window / int_6941e30b
type
Room Full of Crazy
 Secret Window / int_6941e30b
comment
Room Full of Crazy: "SHOOTER ... SHOOTER ... SHOOTER ... SHOOT HER"
 Secret Window / int_6941e30b
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Secret Window / int_6941e30b
 Secret Window / int_6bda9a30
type
Meaningful Name
 Secret Window / int_6bda9a30
comment
Meaningful Name: Shooter's Shoot Her. Additionally, "mort" is French for "death", although this may have been unintentional as his full name is "Morton".
 Secret Window / int_6bda9a30
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Secret Window / int_6bda9a30
 Secret Window / int_71152dd
type
One Dialogue, Two Conversations
 Secret Window / int_71152dd
comment
One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Mort and Ted's at the gas station.
 Secret Window / int_71152dd
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Secret Window / int_71152dd
 Secret Window / int_7374ab13
type
Once More, with Clarity
 Secret Window / int_7374ab13
comment
Once More, with Clarity: Shooter and Mort continually quote the closing lines of Shooter's original version of the story, the meaning of which only becomes apparent at the end. Additionally, Mort continually has flashbacks to when he discovered his wife was cheating on him; only the last of these revealed he threatened her and her boyfriend with a gun.
 Secret Window / int_7374ab13
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Secret Window / int_7374ab13
 Secret Window / int_7453bc5b
type
Spared by the Adaptation
 Secret Window / int_7453bc5b
comment
Spared by the Adaptation: In the novella, Mort is gunned down when he tries to kill Amy. In the film, he succeeds in killing her (and Ted) and survives.
 Secret Window / int_7453bc5b
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Secret Window / int_7453bc5b
 Secret Window / int_7ec94d53
type
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
 Secret Window / int_7ec94d53
comment
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Mort Rainey becomes one when it turns out that John Shooter's crimes is of his own doing. Although Mort finally ends up killing his ex-wife and her lover, and his killings stopped.
 Secret Window / int_7ec94d53
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Secret Window / int_7ec94d53
 Secret Window / int_7eebe99c
type
The Alcoholic
 Secret Window / int_7eebe99c
comment
The Alcoholic: Mort is implied to be a recovering alcoholic; at one point, Amy pointedly comments that Mort's chief inspiration for the short story "Sowing Season" was drinking Jack Daniel's. When she comes to visit Mort's cabin near the end of the film there's a nearly-empty bottle of bourbon on the coffee table, implying that Mort has fallen Off the Wagon, if indeed he was ever on it.
 Secret Window / int_7eebe99c
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Secret Window / int_7eebe99c
 Secret Window / int_80a7d3e2
type
Convicted by Public Opinion
 Secret Window / int_80a7d3e2
comment
Convicted by Public Opinion: When Mort is eventually revealed to be the killer, Sheriff Newsome interrupts his nonchalant casual conversation and bluntly says in a matter of fact tone that while he can't find the bodies, he knows Mort killed Amy and Ted. And of course, since he's a split personality murderer, Mort is completely confused by the sheriff's out-of-nowhere comment. Also, Mort is told to stop coming into town at certain parts of the day since the locals are freaked out by him. The implications are strong, granted, but the authorities still never find the bodies.
 Secret Window / int_80a7d3e2
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Secret Window / int_80a7d3e2
 Secret Window / int_89b8822f
type
Go Mad from the Revelation
 Secret Window / int_89b8822f
comment
Go Mad from the Revelation: Mort when he finds out that Shooter isn't a real person, and was his split personality.
 Secret Window / int_89b8822f
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Secret Window / int_89b8822f
 Secret Window / int_8a16409a
type
Shovel Strike
 Secret Window / int_8a16409a
comment
Shovel Strike: Mort at the end kills both Ted and Amy by viciously smashing'em with a shovel.
 Secret Window / int_8a16409a
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Secret Window / int_8a16409a
 Secret Window / int_8c78872
type
Writer's Block
 Secret Window / int_8c78872
comment
Writer's Block: Mort Rainey suffers from this at the film's opening. By the end of the film it's resolved and he's in a creative streak.
 Secret Window / int_8c78872
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Secret Window / int_8c78872
 Secret Window / int_8e20b0f7
type
Private Detective
 Secret Window / int_8e20b0f7
comment
Private Detective: Karsch is a private investigator who Mort hires to help scare off Shooter, though the two gradually shift gears to trying to collect enough evidence against him to get him arrested.
 Secret Window / int_8e20b0f7
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Secret Window / int_8e20b0f7
 Secret Window / int_8ed5c6e4
type
Asshole Victim
 Secret Window / int_8ed5c6e4
comment
Asshole Victim: Ted is such an unlikable Jerkass that it’s weirdly satisfying to see Mort/Shooter beat him to death with a shovel. To a mildly lesser extent, Amy, a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who refuses to take responsibility for her own actions, but seemed to care about Mort’s wellbeing to some extent.
 Secret Window / int_8ed5c6e4
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Secret Window / int_8ed5c6e4
 Secret Window / int_90a1fbd4
type
Split-Personality Takeover
 Secret Window / int_90a1fbd4
comment
Split-Personality Takeover: Shooter takes over Mort at the end to murder Ted and Amy, and claims Mort had destroyed his own personality so he wouldn’t have to live with the guilt. The ending leaves it ambiguous if Shooter was telling the truth, since Mort speaks without Shooter's trademark accent and acts unaware he committed the murders, but his conversation with the sheriff hints that it might be a case of Split-Personality Merge.
 Secret Window / int_90a1fbd4
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 Secret Window / int_973d220f
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Never My Fault
 Secret Window / int_973d220f
comment
Never My Fault: Amy and Ted claim that their affair was justified because Amy and Mort's marriage was dead and that he's in the wrong for being angry about it.
 Secret Window / int_973d220f
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Secret Window / int_973d220f
 Secret Window / int_9788e2b1
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Black Dude Dies First
 Secret Window / int_9788e2b1
comment
Black Dude Dies First: Ken Karsch is the first person that Shooter kills, though a flashback shows Tom Greenleaf died only a few seconds after.
 Secret Window / int_9788e2b1
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Secret Window / int_9788e2b1
 Secret Window / int_9ae8eea9
type
Character Tics
 Secret Window / int_9ae8eea9
comment
Character Tics: Mort's habit of opening his mouth and clicking his jaw, which occurs more and more often as he becomes more and more unhinged. This is an actual symptom of schizophrenia.
 Secret Window / int_9ae8eea9
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Secret Window / int_9ae8eea9
 Secret Window / int_9fbe86a9
type
Writing About Your Crime
 Secret Window / int_9fbe86a9
comment
Writing About Your Crime: Inverted. Mort murders two people and disposes of the bodies exactly as it happens in the story he had written.
 Secret Window / int_9fbe86a9
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 Secret Window / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 Secret Window / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: After Mort murders his ex-wife and her lover, he successfully disposes of the bodies. He continues to live in the town while the locals are terrified of him and gets away with his crimes because the police can't prove anything without solid evidence, but the sheriff makes it pretty clear that he damn well knows what Mort did.
 Secret Window / int_a70223
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 Secret Window / int_ab9d55f1
type
Foot-Dragging Divorcee
 Secret Window / int_ab9d55f1
comment
Foot-Dragging Divorcee: Mort Rainey. It gets to the point where even his wife's new boyfriend is nagging him to get it over with.
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 Secret Window / int_ad641426
type
Trademark Favorite Food
 Secret Window / int_ad641426
comment
Trademark Favorite Food: Mountain Dew, Doritos and Jack Daniel's for Mort. By the end of the film he's taken up eating corn on the cob insteadbecause he's planted corn in the garden, fertilized by the corpses of Amy and Ted.
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1.0
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 Secret Window / int_ae136edf
type
Plagiarism in Fiction
 Secret Window / int_ae136edf
comment
Plagiarism in Fiction: It's about an author who gets a knock on the door from a stranger who accuses him of plagiarizing a short story he wrote. Then it gets uglier when the stranger turns out to be quite capable of murder and makes clear he will do it to Mort after a few demonstrations. Then it gets weird when it is revealed that the stranger is Mort's split personality out to get rid of some people Mort hates and this plot point is quietly dropped.
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 Secret Window / int_ae3d6438
type
Deadpan Snarker
 Secret Window / int_ae3d6438
comment
Deadpan Snarker: Mort.
 Secret Window / int_ae3d6438
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 Secret Window / int_b04fdcc4
type
Loners Are Freaks
 Secret Window / int_b04fdcc4
comment
Loners Are Freaks: Mort lives in his isolated cabin with his dog Chico as his only companion and he's actually a schizophrenic maniac.
 Secret Window / int_b04fdcc4
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1.0
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 Secret Window / int_b42b7e7b
type
Moral Myopia
 Secret Window / int_b42b7e7b
comment
Moral Myopia: As far as Amy and Ted are concerned, cheating on Mort is perfectly alright, but him being hesitant to sign the divorce papers out of anger over being cheated on is totally unreasonable. Their annoyance with him becomes somewhat more justified when it turns out he pulled an (unloaded) gun on them, but they still act as though Mort is completely in the wrong for having been angry about it in the first place and have no regrets about the affair.
 Secret Window / int_b42b7e7b
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Secret Window / int_b42b7e7b
 Secret Window / int_b5171e10
type
Tragic Villain
 Secret Window / int_b5171e10
comment
Tragic Villain: Mort was Driven to Madness by his wife's unjustified infidelity and before that the latter had a miscarriage. This added to the remorse to have actually stolen a story causes him to have a Writer's Block and turn into a dual-personality murderer.
 Secret Window / int_b5171e10
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1.0
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Secret Window / int_b5171e10
 Secret Window / int_b58b4e3c
type
Too Dumb to Live
 Secret Window / int_b58b4e3c
comment
Too Dumb to Live: Amy walking into Mort's completely trashed house was pretty careless to start with.
 Secret Window / int_b58b4e3c
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1.0
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Secret Window / int_b58b4e3c
 Secret Window / int_bc00493f
type
Precision F-Strike
 Secret Window / int_bc00493f
comment
Precision F-Strike: "Well, I guess you shouldn't HAVE FUCKED HIM THEN !!!"
 Secret Window / int_bc00493f
featureApplicability
1.0
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Secret Window / int_bc00493f
 Secret Window / int_c4c9bb40
type
Inner Monologue
 Secret Window / int_c4c9bb40
comment
Inner Monologue: Mort has one on occasion. Deconstructed, since it turns out to have been a case of Hearing Voices and one of the signs of his schizophrenia.
 Secret Window / int_c4c9bb40
featureApplicability
1.0
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Secret Window / int_c4c9bb40
 Secret Window / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 Secret Window / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: A possible one to Talking Heads - at one Mort drives to his wife's house and watches her and her new boyfriend leaving and getting into his car, thinking to himself "This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife."
 Secret Window / int_c75df49a
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Secret Window
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Secret Window / int_c75df49a
 Secret Window / int_c868a42a
type
Freudian Excuse
 Secret Window / int_c868a42a
comment
Freudian Excuse: Amy's affair with Ted is the main cause of Mort's Writer's Block and later revealed his Split Personality.
 Secret Window / int_c868a42a
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Secret Window
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Secret Window / int_c868a42a
 Secret Window / int_cbaa9102
type
Signature Headgear
 Secret Window / int_cbaa9102
comment
Signature Headgear: Shooter's hat. It later becomes a Chekhov's Gun when it turns out it was actually an hat Mort bought some years ago and confirming that Shooter was actually Mort's Split Personality.
 Secret Window / int_cbaa9102
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 Secret Window / int_d51158ee
type
Revised Ending
 Secret Window / int_d51158ee
comment
Revised Ending: In-universe, Shooter's main objection to Rainey's supposedly having plagiarized his story is that he changed the ending, and wants him to change it back to his original ending. Of course, the latter is related to the former.
 Secret Window / int_d51158ee
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1.0
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Secret Window / int_d51158ee
 Secret Window / int_dbca2c99
type
Red Herring
 Secret Window / int_dbca2c99
comment
Red Herring: Ted, Amy's new lover..
 Secret Window / int_dbca2c99
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1.0
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Secret Window / int_dbca2c99
 Secret Window / int_dc020791
type
It's Been Done
 Secret Window / int_dc020791
comment
It's Been Done: The plot revolves around a man threatening Mort for stealing his story, only to find out that Mort published his story a full two years before he claimed to have written it. Of course, it all ends up being a moot point when it's revealed the whole thing is Mort arguing with himself.
 Secret Window / int_dc020791
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Secret Window / int_dc020791
 Secret Window / int_df80e640
type
Not Proven
 Secret Window / int_df80e640
comment
Not Proven: The sheriff and by extension the whole town. Everyone just knows Mort killed at least two people but without solid evidence, there's nothing to be done.
 Secret Window / int_df80e640
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1.0
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 Secret Window / int_e192c0a7
type
Standard Female Grab Area
 Secret Window / int_e192c0a7
comment
Standard Female Grab Area: The antagonist drags the conscious and struggling female lead along the ground, face-down, by one wrist. No, the villain is not particularly strong; she was just Too Dumb to Live.
 Secret Window / int_e192c0a7
featureApplicability
1.0
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 Secret Window / int_e5421161
type
Expy
 Secret Window / int_e5421161
comment
Expy: Ken Karsch bares a resemblance to Claude Kersek from the 1990s remake of Cape Fear, with both being arrogant and cocky Private Detectives who are hired by the protagonist to help scare off a psycho who is harassing them, gravely underestimate said psycho, and are ultimately murdered by them.
 Secret Window / int_e5421161
featureApplicability
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 Secret Window / int_eb8ec7c8
type
Jerkass
 Secret Window / int_eb8ec7c8
comment
Jerkass: Ted.
 Secret Window / int_eb8ec7c8
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Secret Window / int_eb8ec7c8
 Secret Window / int_f8b3482c
type
Stop Trick
 Secret Window / int_f8b3482c
comment
Stop Trick: Used in the beginning to make it appear that Johnny Depp's character has driven through a parking lot with the camera on the hood and then backed away from said camera in the same shot.
 Secret Window / int_f8b3482c
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 Secret Window / int_fb724048
type
Real After All
 Secret Window / int_fb724048
comment
Real After All: In the novella, after Mort dies and Amy digs through his belongings, she finds Shooter's hat. When she returns there's a note inside from Shooter telling her that he's gone back to Mississippi. She wonders whether Shooter came to life in some form.
 Secret Window / int_fb724048
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Secret Window

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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Adaptational Alternate Ending / int_b7ebc73a
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Bait the Dog / int_b7ebc73a
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Cast as a Mask / int_b7ebc73a
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Conveniently Interrupted Document / int_b7ebc73a
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Convicted by Public Opinion / int_b7ebc73a
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Foot-Dragging Divorcee / int_b7ebc73a
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Imaginary Enemy / int_b7ebc73a
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It's Been Done / int_b7ebc73a
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Mad Artist / int_b7ebc73a
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Madness Montage / int_b7ebc73a
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Messy Hair / int_b7ebc73a
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Most Writers Are Writers / int_b7ebc73a
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Nobody Poops / int_b7ebc73a
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Psychological Thriller / int_b7ebc73a
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seeAlso
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hasFeature
Standard Female Grab Area / int_b7ebc73a
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Stop Trick / int_b7ebc73a
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The Killer in Me / int_b7ebc73a
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Writer's Block / int_b7ebc73a
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Writing About Your Crime / int_b7ebc73a