The Monitor (2011) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Anna kills Ole in a moment of panic when he arrives to tell her that her ex-husband is coming to take Anders away. Overwhelmed by fear and desperate to protect her son from what she perceives as a serious threat, Anna grabs a pair of scissors and fatally stabs him outside her apartment door. The act is driven by her relentless anxiety and her belief that she must do anything to keep Anders safe.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, Ole and Grete warn Anna that the custody case could reopen at any moment, planting the seed of legal threat.

• anna
• ole
• stabbing
• custody
• ex-husband
• protection

The mysterious silent boy who claims to be Anders' friend is actually the ghost of another child, likely a victim of abuse whose body is later discovered buried in the forest near the apartment complex. Anders, who is himself dead, appears to be interacting with this other deceased child throughout the film.

Foreshadowing: Anders introduces a quiet, distant boy to Anna, and the child's behavior is noticeably odd and unsettling.

• mysterious friend
• anders
• ghost
• boy
• forest
• buried body

Anders was killed by Anna's husband years before the events of the film, shortly after the husband also took his own life. Anna has been living in a state of severe psychological trauma, believing her son is still alive. The entire narrative takes place in Anna's fractured mind, where sheimagines Anders still living with her in the apartment.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early on that Anna is reeling from a recent trauma and is under significant stress.

• anders
• death
• husband
• suicide
• killed
• revelation

After stabbing Ole, Helge arrives to find Anna sitting on the windowsill with Anders in her arms. As Helge approaches, Anna leans forward and falls to the street below. This appears to be either a suicide or a psychotic break where she acts on her distorted reality, possibly believing she and Anders were escaping together.

Foreshadowing: Anna's escalating paranoia and isolation throughout the film hint at her deteriorating mental state.

• anna
• window
• fall
• death
• helge
• anders

Helge discovers a drawing made by Anna depicting a grave near the apartment complex. This drawing represents Anna's buried knowledge or suppressed memory of her son's death. Later, Helge finds an actual buried body in the forest, the boy who claimed to be Anders' friend, a victim of brutal parents.

Foreshadowing: Anna finds a disturbing drawing by Anders of a dead body near their apartment, which she attributes to the mysterious friend.

• grave
• drawing
• anna
• forest
• buried body
• helge

When the baby monitor picks up disturbing sounds including screams, Helge explains that the device can pick up distant frequencies from nearby households. However, given the film's psychological nature and the revelation about Anders, these sounds may also represent Anna's fragmented perception of real events or her mind's interpretation of past trauma.

Foreshadowing: The monitor initially seems to pick up ordinary interference, but the subsequent events suggest something more sinister.

• baby monitor
• screams
• sounds
• frequency
• interference

Anna is drawn to Helge because he offers her something rare: understanding without judgment. At the electronics store, Helge shares his own burden of having a terminally ill mother, creating a bond built on shared vulnerability. Unlike the child-care workers who pressure her, Helge respects Anna's fierce commitment to protecting Anders without rushing to solutions.

Foreshadowing: Their meeting occurs at a pivotal moment when Anna is purchasing the monitor that will intensify her surveillance.

• helge
• anna
• connection
• vulnerability
• understanding

Driven by her suspicion that the woman connected to the baby monitor sounds is involved in something sinister, Anna takes Anders to a nearby lake. Instead of finding answers, she ends up in a parking lot where she witnesses a man drowning the boy who claimed to be Anders' friend. Believing she can save the child, Anna jumps into the water and blacks out, waking up in a hospital.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Anna discovers a disturbing drawing by Anders of a dead body near their apartment, fueling her paranoia.

• lake
• parking lot
• drowning
• anna
• boy
• witness

After Anna's death, Helge uncovers the devastating truth: Anna's husband killed Anders years earlier and then committed suicide. The entire story has been unfolding in the aftermath of this tragedy, with Anna living in a delusional state where she believed Anders was still alive. Her extreme vigilance and paranoia stem from unresolved grief and trauma.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early that Anna is still reeling from a recent trauma, but the exact nature is kept hidden.

• helge
• revelation
• husband
• killed
• anders
• truth
• suicide

After Anna is released from the hospital following the lake incident, she goes to retrieve Anders from school. The principal accuses her of child abuse and forbids her from taking him home. This accusation, combined with the earlier threats about custody, intensifies Anna's paranoid belief that everyone, authorities, child-care workers, her ex-husband, is trying to take Anders away from her.

Foreshadowing: Grete and Ole have been monitoring the family and warned that the custody case could reopen at any moment.

• child abuse
• accusation
• principal
• school
• custody

In the epilogue, Helge sits beside Anna's body and recounts an old tale about a boy and his mother being torn apart by fear and violence. This dark story mirrors the tragedy of Anna and Anders, reflecting the film's themes of loss, trauma, and the destructive power of fear. The closing image of Anna and Anders walking peacefully in the forest represents a final, bittersweet moment of imagined safety.

Foreshadowing: The film's narrative has consistently used fairy tale-like imagery and the motif of a mother trying to protect her child.

• helge
• fairy tale
• ending
• epilogue
• boy
• mother
• fear