Lemming (2006) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Alice shot herself after telling Bénédicte she felt tired, having earlier attempted to manipulate the situation by hinting at a fabricated affair with Alain. Her suicide appears motivated by despair over her toxic marriage to Richard, whom she claimed once tried to kill her. She told Alain she remained with Richard only to see him die, making her death either a tragic escape or a final act of manipulation directed at the couple.

Foreshadowing: Alice's earlier claim that she stayed with Richard 'to see him die' foreshadows her own death and her subsequent obsession with causing Richard's murder.

• alice suicide
• guest bedroom
• why alice died
• alice and richard marriage

The lemming serves as an unsettling supernatural omen that connects the film's reality to Finland, where a neighbour's son brought it from vacation before flushing it down the toilet. Its presence coincides with the breakdown of the couples' relationships and Alice's death, then returns at the end as a dead omen discarded by Bénédicte. The film never fully explains its symbolism, but its timing suggests it marks the moment reality begins fracturing.

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Alain discovers his kitchen filled with lemmings after calling Bénédicte and driving home exhausted. He faints and wakes in a hospital where doctors explain the previous night's events were apparently a dream. This suggests the lemming invasion was a dream sequence or hallucination, though the film leaves ambiguity about what is real versus imagined throughout.

• kitchen scene
• lemming hallucination
• dream sequence
• is it real

The film implies Alice has taken control of Bénédicte when the drone camera fails during surveillance and 'Alice-Bénédicte' appears to resume her life with Richard. She visits Alain, speaks in Alice's voice and mannerisms, and refers to herself as Alice. Whether this is supernatural possession, a psychological breakdown in Bénédicte, or a manipulation by 'Alice-Bénédicte' remains deliberately ambiguous.

Foreshadowing: Bénédicte's strange request that Alain call her 'Alice' during their chalet visit foreshadows the body-swap reveal.

• alice possession
• body swap
• alice in benedicte
• supernatural twist

Bénédicte began sleeping with Richard while Alain was in the hospital, likely motivated by her anger over Alice's seduction attempt and Alain's failure to tell her about it. Her cold behavior at the chalet and her accusation that Alain called Alice suggest she was retaliating or seeking power in the deteriorating situation. The affair accelerated once she was seemingly possessed by Alice's spirit.

Foreshadowing: Bénédicte's coldness and probing questions about Alice at the chalet hint at her growing resentment and eventual betrayal.

• benedicte affair
• why benedicte cheated
• richard benedicte relationship

Alain killed Richard because 'Alice-Bénédicte' offered him a deal: kill Richard and he would get Bénédicte back. The prospect of recovering his wife, combined with Alice's manipulation and his own desire to end the psychological torment, led him to smother Richard with a pillow while 'Alice-Bénédicte' watched in a trance. He then staged the death as a gas explosion suicide.

• alain murders richard
• why alain killed
• killing richard Pollock
• murder scene explained

Richard was murdered by Alain, who smothered him with a pillow in bed while 'Alice-Bénédicte' watched. Alain then moved the body to the kitchen, operating the coffee machine and gas stove to stage the scene as a suicide by gas explosion. The next day, the news reports Richard's apparent suicide, which the couple accepts despite knowing the truth.

• richard death
• richard suicide
• gas explosion
• how richard died

At the chalet, Bénédicte demanded Alain call her 'Alice,' repeating Alice's exact words from her fabricated confession about sleeping with Alain. This moment foreshadows the body-swap reveal and suggests Alice's persona was already influencing or taking control of Bénédicte, or that Bénédicte was psychologically adopting Alice's identity out of manipulation or obsession.

Foreshadowing: This moment directly foreshadows the later revelation that Alice appears to have taken over Bénédicte's body.

• call me alice
• benedicte alice
• why call her alice
• identity confusion

The film ends with Alain revealing Bénédicte is pregnant, creating an unsettling ambiguity. Given that the events involve murder, supernatural possession, and an unclear reality, the pregnancy could represent hope for reconciliation or a darker implication that Alice's influence continues through the child. The tone leaves viewers uneasy rather than assured.

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The veterinarian identified the rodent Alain found in his sink as a lemming, a Scandinavian animal that does not live in the wild in France. This impossibility signals something is wrong from the start. Later, the neighbour's son explains he brought the lemming home from a Finland vacation and his father flushed it down the toilet in anger, explaining its origin but not its strange symbolic presence throughout the film.

• vet finding
• where did lemming come from
• scandinavian animal
• vet identification