You’re right that heaven and hell might be too definitive in light of the movie’s ambiguousness.

In that case I might just adjust my take to say that Alice’s judgment is maybe about ‘grace vs punishment’ rather than specifically heaven or hell.

Taylor, any thoughts on the red ‘brake’ lights imagery?

That’s a really compelling take, especially the idea of the encounter functioning as a kind of moral or spiritual test rather than a literal abduction or hallucination. I like how your interpretation pulls together the face imagery, the tonal shift in the woman’s behavior, and even the vocal mirroring into a single framework about accountability and judgment. The one place I hesitate is the “heaven or hell” conclusion—it feels a bit more definitive than the film itself, which seems committed to ambiguity over any fixed cosmology. But framing the woman as a guide (or judge) testing Alice’s willingness to confront her actions does line up neatly with the film’s recurring focus on denial and responsibility, and it adds an interesting layer to the horror that isn’t just about what happened, but about how Alice responds to it.

Also, you’re missing a 4th option:

Alice was killed right away and was dead/a ghost when she first called her mom.

However, I’ll add that I believe it definitely had been a test (not a changeling), only the outcome of that test wouldn’t determine whether she lives or dies – that was already a forgone conclusion – but whether she goes to heaven or hell.

Unfortunately, Alice failed to accept responsibility for either the girls’ death, or her own death when it was shown to be her own face.

It explains all the ‘hints’ given to us:

· Alice’s initial comment when she tells her parents that she keeps seeing her own face interposed on the dead girls face – this is before the actual physical change to the face.

· then of course there’s the actual changing of the dead girls’ face which horrified Alice.

· the woman, who is gentle at first, as she’s giving Alice the opportunity to accept responsibility for both her own death and the ‘other’ girls’. However, as Alice does not take any accountability, only then does the woman become harsh, and angrily leads Alice to be “corrected” (aka punished for “killing” someone/herself (partly by throwing away her “potential” with pregnancy and drugs) and leads her to her new ‘future’, likely in hell.

· it then also makes sense as to why the woman’s voice is similar in cadence to her mother’s…which would likely be an easier transition into death for Alice.

· it makes sense of the imagery of the red brake lights that the parents are chasing, thinking they can catch up to their daughter, but that scene is a metaphor for Alice being taken to hell.

The parents know they spoke to their daughter, but don’t understand, nor can they explain it to the police let alone themselves, how it was possible.

It was best not to make any of it visual and leave it all up to our imagination to ponder afterwards. Very smart and clever little film.

Glad you enjoyed it

Nah, I didn’t need any credit or anything- hehe