Continuity mistake: When Ash breaks the window in the house at Long Island all the glass disappears in the window, apart from a little at the top. However, in the next shot when Telly and Ash walk through the window, all the glass has vanished.
The Forgotten (2004)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Joseph Ruben
Starring: Julianne Moore, Gary Sinise, Dominic West, Anthony Edwards, Christopher Kovaleski, Matthew Pleszewicz
The children were taken by aliens when they left on the plane to go to camp-- and the characters talk about the aliens conducting tests, but it was not the children who were the subject of these tests. Telly was one of the subjects of an elaborate experiment conducted by an alien who wanted to study just how strong of a relationship a parent has with a child and whether a parent could ever forget the existence of his/her tie. Telly was the only parent who never forgot her son. The alien finally reveals the scheme to her and then tries to take her last memory of her son away from her-- but fails and his experiment is forcibly ended by (we can only assume) the alien bosses who literally "pull" him from the project. Telly returns to her neighbourhood and finds her son and everything is as it was before her son disappeared.
Veronica
More mistakes in The Forgotten
Telly Paretta: At first I thought it had something to do with the plane crash. Remember when that TWA plane crashed over Long Island? Everybody thought it was a missile, friendly fire, or some type of government cover-up.
Ash Correll: Yeah, I remember that.
Telly Paretta: But then I thought, you know, 'How could the government erase our memories?' Its just not possible. So.
Ash Correll: What?
Telly Paretta: So you don't think I'm out of my mind?
Ash Correll: I don't anymore.
More trivia for The Forgotten
Question: Could someone please explain the ending to me. Telly passed the test by not forgetting and ended up in the park. So, did she go back in time? If she did go back in time, are we to assume the events of the the film never took place (i.e. the female cop dying)? Also, were the government agents helping the beings? Were they aliens or something else? Any information on this would be appreciated.
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Answer: Okay first of all, Telly didn't pass any test. The whole thing was an experiment in testing the strength of the parent/child bond. Second, no she did not travel back in time, she simply traveled back to her neighborhood, where everything was as it would have been, had the children never been abducted. Lastly, no the government agents were not aliens, and they weren't exactly helping the beings either, but rather they were minimalizing the damage, as to not have a full on "Independence Day" invasion. Oh also, neither Alfre Woodard (the cop), Dominic West, or the governemnt agent, were killed, they were simply abducted.