Zichen Liu’s film, ‘Next Door’, comes with a feature we really love, and we haven’t seen in a while – the open ending. The viewer is free to imagine the ending in many ways, because the movie is made in such a way the imagination is free to go wherever it wants. Even though it goes to be a horror/thriller movie, with the right dose of imagination, you can change the ending to be a romantic drama, or even a comedy. The possibilities are unlimited!

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We will turn our focus on the two main characters – Lilly and Morgan (played by Giulia Giovanetti and Nicolas Jung), as they seem to bond from the first glance. Their human interaction seems to be very powerful from their first encounter. Morgan feels that is right to help Lilly get out of that crazy house and Lilly is plotting alongside him for a way to escape. As it turns out, Lilly knows better her role, and manipulates Morgan in joining her game of manipulation. Even though they seem dysfunctional, both of the characters are drawn impeccably, being amazing on the narrative storyline.

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The brief horror part of the movie, the ending, was expected from the beginning, taking in consideration that the story started with a supposedly abusive father, a girl screaming, and things being thrown out of the window at night, when the neighborhood seemed at peace. We stand on our open-ending theory here, even though during the credits, we can see the bottle of pills crumbling down the stairs. We believe that Zichen Liu is way smarter than the movie shows, and took this possibility in consideration. If this is what he really intended, then ‘Next Door’ is with no doubt one of the most interesting and creative projects of the past year, making it a must watch for every film enthusiast out there that is looking for something to challenge their mind.

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Written by Vlad A. G