M ending explained · Cinespective

What happens

Beckert is caught by the underworld and tried in a makeshift court, where he pleads that he cannot control his compulsion. The police arrive before any verdict, and the film cuts to a courtroom where a mother says children need more watching.

The last line

"One has to keep better watch over the children."

Two readings

1 · Law over the mobThe police arrive in time, so the film sides with a proper trial over vengeance.

2 · Justice left unresolvedWith no verdict shown, you are left to weigh both kinds of judgment yourself.

What it says

The film withholds a verdict because its subject is how a frightened society judges, not what happens to one man. The mother's closing words move the burden from punishing a killer to protecting children, which is the point everyone had lost.