The design of the couple’s relationship is formed piece by piece but the line between its truth and fiction remains invisible. We find out early in the film that their daily rituals are a fraud, an act which is dictated through a series of notecards written by Evelyn to Cynthia. Love itself has become a game of guessing. In similar fashion to Anthony Schaffer’s Sleuth, the psychological manipulation that the two characters engage in with each other is never fully outlined from one scene to the next. The audience is left to imagine and wonder whether the role-play is occurring or not. As they both share a bed in the morning, Cynthia passionately expresses her love to which Evelyn simply replies, “talk about the other things.” Is this a genuine communication or a direct order?

As discussed before, love is a concept we can only really communicate via how we experience its happiness and pain. Evelyn becomes a manifestation of this throughout the film as her innate desire to feel is what forces more drastic and dangerous Dominating behavior by Cynthia. This need for tangible, physical experiences as a form of communicating love is how differently wired Evelyn and Cynthia really are. It also showcases that their relationship is less than the sum of its parts.