Suspenses:
The way Debra creeps into the shot in Abe’s car at the start of the film
The way Mooney and Schafer’s car is seen only by the viewer pulling out and unbeknownst to Abe and Debra.
The way Debra listens to Abe‘s story while looking out the window on the alert for the brown SUV which might be following them; all this happening while the camera pans between Abe, Debra and through the window into the landscape. During the first time I watched the film , I found myself watching for the brown SUV and not listening to Abe‘s story.
Ultimately, as someone else mentioned, who or what is the unseen monster in the film? I think of all those films I saw earlier in life where the filmmaker delayed showing the monster, adding to the suspense. Jaws. Alien. Predator come to mind. The fear of the unknown.

Questions that the film made me ponder:
Why did Abe investigate the “unoccupied” brown SUV, beyond the obvious desire to find out what was happening? Given the danger that Debra suggested, why would Abe investigate the danger instead of focusing on the purpose of his meeting with Debra? Given Debra’s abundance of caution and the months Abe had to prepare for the interview, why not take Debra at her word? Why risk losing her at this stage? His behavior didn’t serve his stated mission and it makes me wonder about his true intentions. Perhaps he was merely bravely trusting his own instinct and learning on his own terms.

I confess my ignorance of the spy world. I suspect that spies are highly intelligent and keenly present to others and their surroundings. Debra strikes me as intelligent, calm under duress and capable. I wonder if spies “test” others through dialogue. That is, spies determine others’ intelligence, trustworthiness and identity through conversation. Hence Debra’s question to Abe about smoking and chewing gum. More significantly, Schafer gloatingly calls Debra’s attention to her missing an existential clue in Abe’s caterpillar story. Schafer thinks he has bested Debra. But even while captured, Debra is unfazed and proceeds.

What did Schafer and Mooney do to Abe’s face after pulling him from the SUV? I’m guessing they removed a bugging device.

I also do not see lies in Mooneys turtle story. So I’m interested in what others saw as holes in his story.

What did Schafer angrily throw to the side after leaving deceased Mooney? Was it one of those high pitched devices? I assume he was angry because Ms Pac-Man ate his parter/ghost. Or maybe because Schafer learned that Mooney wasn’t who Schafer thought he was??

What happened with Debra and Mooney in the end? Where did Debra go?

Pac-Man eats dots. Ghosts can kill Pac-Man. Eating power pellets causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue and vulnerable, allowing Pac-Man to eat the ghosts. What was Debra’s power pellet?

I appreciate reading the commentary on you blog. Thanks!

Schafer is way more than just the driver. Yes, I get that he isn’t given a clean, fully-explained identity on purpose, but he is still a crucial character to the movie. Basically, he functions as part of the shadowy organization running the operation. On the surface, yes—he’s the driver tasked with transporting the main character (Gabe) and the mysterious woman—but the movie strongly implies he’s an active participant in the conspiracy, that he’s not an outsider, that he is someone who understands the stakes and rules, even if he doesn’t explain them, and finally, that he is the enforcer that is keeping everything on track.

Personally what makes Schafer really interesting to me is how the film leans into ambiguity of his role. It’s implied that he is an authority figure, and someone that really matters to the organization. So the best way to read him:

He’s a mid-level operative—not “just a driver,” but also not the one pulling the strings. More like someone who has done this before and knows exactly how dangerous the situation is. That ambiguity is kind of the point of the film—it keeps everyone, including Schafer, feeling like pieces of a much bigger, unseen machine.

Yes, we don’t dig the movies you dig. And that’s ok with us. Want to propose a movie to watch instead of If There’s A Hell Below?

Very correct!!!!!!!

“But this wasn’t so much a story about turtles, but rather a story about Abe and Deborah. And like Abe’s story, there are sections that are obvious lies and misdirections hidden within the story to keep Abe from the realization that he hadn’t killed Deborah, while still telling him.”

And I think you meant “to keep Schafer from the realization”

She had the intelligence and capability to get out of that situation, yet she didn’t–she had no choice in whether Mooney shot or spared her. He also wouldn’t chase her. He’d be doing what she said. She had the gun, remember?

But maybe he thought he’d emptied it, came back to have her for himself and had accidentally left a bullet. Or the gun was empty and he chased and tackled her, whereupon she happened upon a sharp, pointy rock.

p.s. the writer of the article said that Shaffer found Mooney in the grave.
“Then he heads out to the grave where Deborah and Abe were shot only to find Deborah’s jacket without bullet holes in it. And when he looks in he sees that it’s
actually Mooney that was shot and killed.”

If this writing was intentional, why was Mooney lying on the ground bloody and dead and where would Abe be? And how could that have happened in the first place?

Didyouwashyourhands:
“Dog shit movie.

Where were they when Abe checked the vehicle?
How did he know about the caterpillar story?
If this was happening in real time, did the camera men help dig the hole?
Why the hell dig the hole if you are not going to cover them up?
And how did two lezbos have a baby?”

1. That question was covered in this article.
2. Abe and his car were bugged.
3. Abe and Debra were drugged.
4. Good question.
5. I bet you could figure that one out.

p.s. not sure why only some comments have a reply button and why I can’t edit my posts. but okay then.