If you haven’t watched Jessica Biel’s Netflix psychological thriller The Sinner, you need to cancel your plans for tonight and start it asap. You also need to stop reading this because, SPOILERS.
The eight-part series follows Cora Tannetti (Jessica Biel) who, while at the beach with her husband and child, stabs a random guy to death. In front of a whole lot of witnesses.
Only it wasn’t some stranger, it was Frankie Belmont (Eric Todd), the guy who unfortunately played a role in the death of Cora’s sister, Phoebe (Nadia Alexander).
Cora and sister Phoebe
Cora’s memories of the tragic events in her life were suppressed and only began to resurface when the song Frankie was playing on the beach triggered her. In that moment, she started attacking him – the same way she began prying him off her dead sister as he tried to revive her.
At the end of the series, we find out what happened on that night where it all began. We find out who the corpse was buried in the woods. We find out what happened to Cora during those two months she was in a drug hellhole.
But there are also SO MANY unanswered questions. Let’s discuss.
Why did Elizabeth (Cora’s mum, played by Enid Graham) not question where her daughters were? Cora was gone for two whole months and Phoebe had a heart condition AND leukaemia. We know Elizabeth had overheard them talking about going to Florida but wouldn’t she have realised something was suss when no one made contact with her?
Up until that point, Elizabeth was obsessed with Phoebe’s every move because of her illness. Wouldn’t she have wanted to know if she was going to doctor’s appointments and taking medication?
Cora and Detective Ambrose
When Cora eventually did show up with no recollection of the past two months, why didn’t Elizabeth contact the police? What does she think happened to Phoebe?
In one scene, Detective Ambrose (Bill Pullman) visited Elizabeth’s house and she pointed to an urn – presumably meaning that it was Phoebe’s ashes. There was obviously nothing in there so how did she actually know Phoebe was dead?
She didn’t ask Cora when she turned up after those two months where her sister was. She also didn’t tell Detective Ambrose that Phoebe disappeared the same night Cora did.
If you have a theory about any of these questions and plot holes, write to us on Facebook!
