Directed by Lee Thongkham and Aqing Xu, “The Lake” or “Bueng Kan” is a horror-thriller movie that pays homage to “Godzilla,” the original production of big monsters. “The Lake” boasts stellar cinematography as well as a huge investment in CGI to create a rather convincing caricature of a monster. There were certain scenes where the monster could be depicted as intimidating; however, the close-up build gave off a rather caricaturesque impression. The cinematography has become the main selling point of the film, as the plot is rather obscure, with a lot of plot points left untied. “The Lake” is definitely a good tribute to the original franchise of “Godzilla”; however, the plot leaves a lot of stones unturned and could have been more compact.
Spoilers Ahead
‘The Lake’ Plotline: What Is The Film About?
The movie follows certain townsfolk who seem to be connected to the sightings of a big monster near the shore of the lake situated near the town. The fiasco begins with the washed-up egg of a big monster as it mauls the unsuspecting fishermen to get them away from its children. The egg is later discovered by a kid named May, who disappears with the egg as her siblings are injured while searching for her. A smaller monster wanders into the town, and it attacks the townsfolk while searching for a way back. The townsmen and the police capture the monster, and they discover that the monster is connected to Keng, one of the siblings. The monster is tortured a bit, which leads it to call for its parents. The big monster now emerges out of the water to search for both its egg and its young. Keng leads them away from the town with the help of his connection. “The Lake” ends with James, the detective, wandering off into the hills to find absolution after following the instructions of May, who was reunited with Lin after she was found.
Was Lin Reunited With May?
As the movie progresses, May gets woken up by her sister, Lin, to prepare for the day. She then leaves her room to wake up their brother Keng. As they gather around for breakfast, Lin inquires about the whereabouts of their father. Keng leaves to find out more about the mysterious disappearance of their father, while May wanders around Lin to look for him as well. May comes across a peculiarly large egg that seems to shake at intervals, signifying the presence of a growing life. The egg seems to be the harbinger of destruction as it serves to ruin their town, Bueng Kan, as a monster begins to terrorize the townsmen in search of the egg. This egg had been displaced by some fishermen who had found dead frogs on the banks of the town’s lake at the very beginning of “The Lake.” It seems that one of those fishermen was Lin, Keng, and May’s father, who had been mauled to death by a monster in pursuit of the missing egg. Back to the present, May becomes protective of the egg and carries it to show Lin. Lin scolds her and asks her to get rid of the egg; however, she runs to the banks of the lake and takes the egg with her.
The egg brings the monster to the shore while Lin and Keng discover a floating slipper belonging to their sister. They believe that they lost their sister, and while Keng dives into the lake in search of May, the monster attacks him. The monster then proceeds to maul other people present there while also injuring Keng. Lin and Keng flee from the banks and rush toward the hospital. The hospital is quickly informed of the monster attack as the nurses call in the officers. Lin is questioned about the stature and the description of the monster, while Keng gets affected by the bite of the monster and becomes seemingly connected to it. Keng is flabbergasted by the changes in his body as well as his attuned senses connected to them. Keng later leads the police to the hiding place of the monster in the town; this helps him understand their connection because whenever the monster gets hurt, Keng gets hurt as well. The monster was captured and carted off toward the temple, where the rest of the townsmen were asked to gather to get away from the banks lest they be killed by an even bigger monster on the loose. Amidst the chaos, as soon as Keng realized that the bigger monster wanted to be reunited with the smaller one connected to him, he drove the truck carrying the smaller monster to lead the bigger monster away from the town, successfully saving the townsfolk. Meanwhile, Lin, who had to make her way back toward the bus due to Keng’s decision, met with May the very next day as the dawn chased away the dusk.
What Happened to Keng and May?
May had been missing after Keng had to be rushed to the hospital, but she was soon discovered while Detective James had begun his stakeout near the banks to find out more about the monster. She was found with the egg, and James took her to his car, where his daughter Pam was also sitting. He kept the egg with them as he returned to inspect the noise in the background. The remaining officer, Wit, quickly informed him about the much larger monster. James immediately warned Pam through the walkie-talkie he left her with to not step outside or make a noise. The monster had been searching for its egg, which is why it was curious about the car they were in and wanted its egg out of that car. Pam, to save her own life, had to jump out of the car and was grievously injured by the monster. James immediately jumped into action to make sure his daughter survived as Wit rushed them through the town. However, Pam could not make it through the journey as she closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth while her father hugged her.
May reunited with Lin at the end of their journey after Keng drove off with the captured small monster while the big monster followed through. It had wandered toward the town, using sonar waves to locate its young one. Keng rushed off into the horizon and was never heard from again. However, five years down the timeline, after the entire situation concerning the monsters had been hushed up because the officers had agreed to keep it a secret, James followed May around due to the off vibes he got from her. Near the end of the movie, May is shown to have a good relationship with the monsters, as she feeds them and also pets them. May seemed to have the same symptoms as her brother after the bite. This could lead the viewers to the conclusion that maybe May was affected, and this was a sign of her body experiencing changes as it adapted to the temperament of the monster while she slowly became a monster herself. In a nod to “Avatar,” it seems that Ken had died, but his consciousness had been transferred to the being. This could explain the closeness and the tears May shed when James was hellbent on killing the smaller monster.
‘The Lake’ Ending Explained: Did James Take His Revenge On The Monster?
James had been dejected by the officers’ attitude as they dismissed the entire situation with no media coverage or a fight back as they admitted to the situation being handled. They had also admitted to the media that lives were lost due to the storm and that nothing really happened to the townsfolk. They wrote off the deaths and the experiences even though they were themselves present while the town was being evacuated, as well as when the monster had begun attacking people. James had left his post as the lie the officers were keen on presenting as the truth sullied his daughter’s sacrifice. In the five years to come, he had begun to seek inner peace from a monk while he kept his eye on May. He watched her grow and also followed her around as she got away from school earlier one day and made her way toward the banks. He followed her only to discover she was feeding the monsters. He made up his mind to confront his nightmares.
As night snuck around, James confronted May and asked her to bring the monster out as he wielded a flare as his weapon. He grievously injured the smaller monster as soon as it attacked and intended to kill it; however, he could not go through with it due to May’s tears and the monk’s advice. He realized how close the monsters were to May, which is why he let the smaller monster go as he then set off to find absolution. He realized that revenge was not the way to handle the grief he was in after his daughter’s death, and therefore he left for a journey toward the hills, where he found an obscure Buddhist temple, surrounded by inscriptions depicting the origins of the monsters.
“The Lake” ended with James accepting and confronting the monster inside the temple to seek his absolution. The monster could also be described as a metaphor for the darkness present inside human beings, and James had to accept the darkness, which in his mind had eventually killed off his baby girl. He had been an absentee father both before and after Pam’s mother had died, which is why Pam had gotten into trouble each time in her school to get his attention. James had realized that later, and as much as he loved his daughter and wanted to protect her, his actions had almost sent her to an early grave as she missed even the smallest interactions that they had had earlier. However, after her death, revenge had clouded his brain, and he had been focused on killing the monster both inside and outside him once and for all. He ended up not being able to do so and later accepted both his darkness and his monstrosity.
