Hold the Dark Movie Analysis - Why Did She Kill Her Own Child?

While most movies focus more on storytelling and character development, others rely more heavily on atmosphere and the overall mood. In Hold the Dark this is certainly the case, as it is very easy to get lost in the bleak and ice cold alaskan setting.

But while the visuals are stunning to look at, the story and the motivations of the protagonists are largely left ambiguous and some parts of the novel, this film is based on, are not clearly addressed here.

That’s why I would like to share my interpretation of the movie. Of course I will talk about major spoilers, so be careful if you have not seen the movie yet.

Quick synopsis

Medora suspects that wolves have killed her 6 year old son and calls wolve expert Russel for help.
When he arrives in the remote Alaskan village, he soon finds out that Medora actually killed her own child.
After Medora disappears without a trace, her husband Vernon comes back from Iraq and tries to track her down, while killing everyone who stands in his way.
In the meantime Russel remembers that Medora mentioned a hot spring in the area and he rushes there to find her first…

The truth about Medora and Vernons relationship

I first would like to talk about this point, because it is actually very important and helps to understand other aspects of the story better.

Medora and Vernon are in fact siblings who grew up together. It is only hinted at in the movie, like when Medora said that she can’t remember a time before Vernon, or when the elderly hunter tells how much they look alike, but this fact is clearly stated in the novel.

What is the meaning of the wolf mask?

The wolves have a very symbolic meaning in the movie, they represent the darkness and animalistic nature we all have inside us, some more than others.
When Medora was wearing the wolf mask in front of Russell and made him choke her neck, that was her way of showing him that she is the monster and she wanted him to punish her for what she did.

Also Vernon killed lots of people while wearing a wolf mask. It was like everything human inside him disappeared behind the mask and only the beast was left.
The mask swallowed up all logic and reasoning and only left him with basic survival instinct and uncontrollable anger at everything. Of course he doesn’t really need the mask, it’s just a clever way to make it visual.

Why did Vernon forgive Medora so easily?

When Vernon finds Medora in the hot springs he strangles her immediately, but suddenly starts kissing her, when she pushes away his mask. I think Vernon is the only person who can deep down kind of understand what Medora did because they both have the beast inside them.

On the other hand Medora is also the only person capable of saving Vernon from complete darkness, she did this in a symbolic way, by pushing away his mask. Only she can see the good in him and they need each other to survive.

Why didn’t Vernon kill Russell?

I think Vernon showed mercy with Russell because he could feel that he is really similar to them.
We don’t know a lot about Russell, but one clue is his broken relationship with his daughter.
It seems like he did a lot of mistakes in the past and knows about the darkness in others and himself quiet well. I think Vernon could see that in his eyes.

The same thing also happened with the wolves, as they did not attack him and seemed to accept him as one of their own.

But why did Medora kill her own child?

This is the biggest mystery in the movie and unfortunately there is no simple answer to it.
Russell speculated that she wanted to save her son from the darkness. This might be the darkness in herself and in Vernon, the darkness of the town and even the darkness that he would have discovered in himself eventually.

Maybe her own pain and sadness was so great that she thought it would be better to not live at all than to experience what she did. Of course her actions cannot be excused and I’m not trying to justify any of it, but lets look a bit closer at her background and what kind of emotional state she was in.

First, she is in love with her sibling and must have went through a lot because of that. In our society it is just not accepted to have a relationship like that and I can’t imagine that other people in the town would be very understanding.

Then probably the only person who was close to her got sent to Iraq and left her alone with their child. And of course there is the bleak darkness, that lasts almost all day, in the Alaskan village.
So without anyone to rely on and a past of sadness, she delved deeper and deeper into the darkness until there was no return.

So what is the overall message?

I think the movie ultimately wants to tell us that no matter how civilized we think we are, everyone of us still has an animal somewhere inside of us and it is our responsibility as humans to be the best we can be, to be kind and help each other and, most of all, to do everything we can to hold back the dark.