Secret Window (2004) Movie Explained

John Shooter tells Mort Rainey that he stole his story. However, he never asks for money or an apology. He asks Mort to change the ending of the story. This is what Mort wanted to do but lacked the courage.

Mort discovers that Shooter is his own alter ego that he invented to change the circumstances of his life. Shooter is actually 'shoot her' which Mort wrote everywhere in his cabin.

Mort changes the ending to Secret Window. However, that also comes at the expense of Amy and Ted's lives. He kills them both and buries them in the garden. At the end, he recites a part of the story.

Mort Rainey embraces his alter ego, which is represented in John Shooter. However, when he recites part of what he's rewritten, 'I'm sure that in time, every bit of her will be gone and her death will be a mystery... even to me' he confirms that it is possible that he would forget what happened.

Amy Rainey, Mort Rainey's wife, was having an affair. He found her with Ted before the events of the story began to unfold.

Mort Rainey wrote a story called Secret Window. Amy did not like the story when he wrote it.

Amy and Mort Rainey are going through a divorce. Mort doesn't like it but Amy wants to get divorced so she and Ted can get married.

Amy and Ted are living in Mort's house, which always gets Mort mad when he speaks about or thinks about it.

Mort Rainey is a renowned fiction writer. One of his stories that was published years before is Secret Window. He creates characters for his fiction from events that he goes through in real life.

Mort developed psychological issues. He often has dreams about the day he found Amy with Ted.

John Shooter, who visits Mort Rainey and threatens him, is actually a character that Mort himself invented.

Mort Rainey associates his life with the story he had written, Secret Window. The story is about a man whose wife used to look from a small secret window onto a garden. However, he does not like how the story ended.