@cpheonix said:

Just managed to see this, really enjoyed it (like a condensed movie version of House of Cards).

One thing I didn't really understand though is why Molly would kill herself? I could understand if she was madly in love or had a huge vested interest in the campaign but from what I remember she had only just joined.

It's been a while since I saw this movie and recent events in my life made me say "I need to watch this movie again."

I can't remember specifics but I'd tentatively suggest that Molly's background may be fraught with issues, but she was "minor", as in, her life - who she was aas a person - didn't matter to politicians. They used her, discarded her, and it's an indictment of the slimy underbelly of politics.

You mentioned this film being a condensed House of Cards - the Underwoods chewed up and spit out a boatload of people in their ambition to climb.

When I watch it again (sooner that later), I will circle back here and either correct what I said wrong, or provide more scenes illustrating my above hypothesis.

Cheers.

"Steven's going apesh!t. He said he's taking everyone down on his way out... Morris, everybody."

She believed that Steven would expose her, her affair with the governor, the governor, etc.

I watched it again and now I'm not sure she committed suicide. The drugs she got for the abortion weren't a convenience, she had the abortion. When she heard about everything going sideways, it's not unreasonable to argue that she, young as she was, just got drunk after having taken the post-abortion pills and did not realize the mix could be fatal.

I'm not saying she did not commit suicide. I'm just saying that, if it was just an unfortunate accident, we needn't search for a motive that may not be there. Given who her father was, there is reason to see that she may have been under pressure not to shame him, in addition to messing up Morris' campaign and Stephen's career. It must have been painful to be a young lady tossed around among all these alpha males using her for their ambition (likely including her father, who was probably only at home for photo ops and was otherwise absent).

Moreover, if indeed Stephen was going to expose her, he probably wouldn't have paid for it and fire her "quietly".

The more I think about it now, the more I'm inclined to believe it was an unfortunate accident.

Thinking about the title of the movie - The Ides of March - this entire movie is about betrayal of trust. From Stephen to Paul to Tom to Mike to Ida, could anyone trust anyone? Molly's death was more likely just an unfortunate event, but one that finally "woke up" Stephen, when he finally realized that he did not in fact represent the "noble candidate", everyone was out for themselves, and he was just as likely to get crushed as Molly, so he might as well get in the game, which he most adroitly did, using what he knew to oust Paul and make Mike follow his plan.

Others may disagree - I'm just enjoying the discussion, cheers!

@cpheonix said:

Just managed to see this, really enjoyed it (like a condensed movie version of House of Cards).

Not a coincidence that similarity to House of Cards, given Beau Willimon was involved in both. After doing screenplay for IoM in 2011, no doubt an idea hatched in his mind which would eventually see him create HoC by 2013.

Geezus, why do some people try SO hard to conjure up alternate explanations for the obvious?

@MongoLloyd said:

Geezus, why do some people try SO hard to conjure up alternate explanations for the obvious?

If you're referring to me, well, brace yourself for this bombshell - it wasn't that hard (gasp!)

@DRDMovieMusings said:

I watched it again and now I'm not sure she committed suicide. The drugs she got for the abortion weren't a convenience, she had the abortion. When she heard about everything going sideways, it's not unreasonable to argue that she, young as she was, just got drunk after having taken the post-abortion pills and did not realize the mix could be fatal.

I'm not saying she did not commit suicide. I'm just saying that, if it was just an unfortunate accident, we needn't search for a motive that may not be there. Given who her father was, there is reason to see that she may have been under pressure not to shame him, in addition to messing up Morris' campaign and Stephen's career. It must have been painful to be a young lady tossed around among all these alpha males using her for their ambition (likely including her father, who was probably only at home for photo ops and was otherwise absent).

Moreover, if indeed Stephen was going to expose her, he probably wouldn't have paid for it and fire her "quietly".

The more I think about it now, the more I'm inclined to believe it was an unfortunate accident.

Thinking about the title of the movie - The Ides of March - this entire movie is about betrayal of trust. From Stephen to Paul to Tom to Mike to Ida, could anyone trust anyone? Molly's death was more likely just an unfortunate event, but one that finally "woke up" Stephen, when he finally realized that he did not in fact represent the "noble candidate", everyone was out for themselves, and he was just as likely to get crushed as Molly, so he might as well get in the game, which he most adroitly did, using what he knew to oust Paul and make Mike follow his plan.

Others may disagree - I'm just enjoying the discussion, cheers!

Thanks for the response, interesting to hear your analysis. I'm trying to remember the scene again; did Ryan Gosling's character make up the suicide note to blackmail George Clooney? I vaguely remember something like that. If so, it's conceivable that she killed herself by accident.

I do remember thinking she did not seem unstable or affected enough to commit suicide. And if it was to not shame her father, wouldn't killiing herself kind of have the opposite effect?