The film asks the questions: can people can change? Is forgiveness possible?

This ex-con is caught between a heavy past and an uncertain future. It’s about his transformation from dark and murderous to somewhat merciful.

Also – both the ex-con and paedophile’s journeys mirror each other – both mid-40s, both done prison time, outsiders in their hometown, both with stained reputations, etc. Lastly – both of their resolve to “stay on the straight and narrow” is broken down and tested by everyone around them.

(The paedophile being immediately responsible for the ex-con’s ghost/circle of being seems I dunno – on the nose. I want it to be ambiguous why he’s going after this man he’s never met but only heard about it.

We learn with seeds throughout what happened to our ex-con and why he feels killing this man might set him free.)

The scary part is when the ex-con sees his own struggles (to move on with life) in the reformed paedophile and begins to emphathize with him.

Now, while the ex-con slowly begins to soften, the sister is the one who hardens – steadily believing her blood ties/loyalty to her brother has essentially ruined her life. (Thwarted relationships, moving from town to town, she carries his burden.) We’re made to question why she’s so loyal.

Lastly: there’s complications throughout – from the reformed paedophile gets a job at the same factory as the ex-con, the ex-con (who in the midst of his 360 into being a merciful guy) actually defends this man from a vicious beating, and then this reversal is challenged when a “rumour” about the paedophile circulates and spreads throughout the town.