Across the Threshold story
Hubert learns that his controlling mother Sofie has been thinking of taking poison to join her late husband, Arthur. Hubert has his girlfriend Irma pretend to be a medium and convince Sofie that Arthur is lonely. Hubert expects Sofie to take the poison alone, but she secretly poisons his drink as well. Directed by: Arthur Hiller. Story by: L. B. Gordon, Charlotte Armstrong.
15 total · 3 choice · 9 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| controlling family member | choice | Hubert hatched an elaborate plan to rid himself of his controlling mother. |
| mother and son | choice | Hubert took criminal measures to get his controlling mother, Sofie, out of his life. |
| séance | choice | Sofie was tricked into thinking that she was communicating with her deceased husband in a series of séances. Irma pretended to be a medium and held a séance so that Sofie might communicate with her deceased husband. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Hubert convinced his girlfriend, Irma, to pretend to be a medium as part of a nefarious plot to manipulate his mother into poisoning herself. |
| coping with memories of a lost love | major | Sofie was almost obsessed with thoughts about her late husband and his presumed afterlife existence. |
| coping with the death of a spouse | major | Sofie hadn't gotten over the passing of her beloved husband, Arthur, and resolved to poison herself in an effort to hasten their reunion in the afterlife. |
| greedy heir | major | Hubert was so avaricious for his inheritance that he sought to hurry his mother's demise along. |
| matricide | major | Hubert went to elaborate lengths to manipulate his elderly mother into taking her own life by drinking poison. |
| poetic justice | major | Hubert ended up himself imbibing a lethal dose of the poison that he had intended his mother to meet her demise by. |
| poison murder | major | Hubert went to elaborate lengths to manipulate his elderly mother into taking her own life by drinking poison. |