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* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Sean is able to move on from the incident with the help of a therapist and resumes being a well-adjusted boy. Anna, however, hasn't gotten over the trauma of the reopened wounds and has a breakdown at her own wedding.]]
* BookEnds: The film opens and closes with a birth (Sean Jr.'s birth, and the birth of Anna's niece). Eleanor dryly comments that maybe the niece is Sean.
* CoolOldLady: Eleanor, Anna's elderly mother, isn't putting up with any of this reincarnation nonsense. In the end, she even flatly tells the younger Sean that she never liked the older Sean.
* CoolOldLady: Eleanor, Anna's elderly mother, isn't putting up with any of this reincarnation nonsense. In the end, she even flatly tells the younger Sean that she never liked the older Sean.
* DownerBeginning: The film opens with the older Sean collapsing and dying during a jog.
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* LeftHanging: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* LeftHanging: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean. Clara insists that if he were really Sean, he'd have come to her first, but there are details (such as who told Anna that Santa wasn't real) that arguably wouldn't have come from the letters, and the older Sean ''did'' remain married to Anna, with Clara having some personal bias regarding where Sean's affections truly lay.]]
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Clara, Sean's sister-in-law, was secretly having an affair with him. The gift she buried in the opening were love letters than Anna sent Sean, which Sean gifted to Clara unopened as proof of his love for only her. The younger Sean unearthed them and read them, proving that he was only working off of Anna's letters, and is not actually Sean's reincarnation... probably.]]
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: Class differences are played with subtly. Jason is a wealthy man who can afford to take Anna to the opera and shop for expansive apartments with her, whereas Sean lives in a small apartment with his working-class parents (who describe Anna's family as "having money"). This also seemed to have been the case with Anna and the older Sean, as her family is obviously wealthy and has a longtime housekeeper, whereas Sean's brother lives in a modest apartment and is married to Clara, who is rougher around the edges [[spoiler:and had Sean's love.]]
* RichSuitorPoorSuitor: Class differences are played with subtly. Jason is a wealthy man who can afford to take Anna to the opera and shop for expansive apartments with her, whereas Sean lives in a small apartment with his working-class parents (who describe Anna's family as "having money"). This also seemed to have been the case with Anna and the older Sean, as her family is obviously wealthy and has a longtime housekeeper, whereas Sean's brother lives in a modest apartment and is married to Clara, who is rougher around the edges [[spoiler:and had Sean's love.]]
* SanitySlippage: Both Clifford and Clara seem taken aback when Clara visits their apartment and begins explaining the situation with Sean, only to descend into babbling about how she thinks he could be the real deal. [[spoiler:Subverted when it's revealed that Clara, who was secretly having an affair with the older Sean, was perfectly willing to accept and explore the idea of Sean being reincarnated, and was disappointed to realize that this wasn't the case.]]
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** Downplayed for the rest of the movie. It's winter and melting snow can be seen in some scenes as Anna struggles with the reminder of Sean's death (and if he really has been reincarnated), but it's much less obvious.
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** Downplayed for the rest of the movie. It's winter and melting snow can be seen in some scenes as Anna struggles with the reminder of Sean's death (and if he really has been reincarnated), but it's much less obvious.obvious.
* StalkerWithACrush: Joseph's engagement speech, though meant to be playful, inherently reveals that he essentially badgered Anna repeatedly to agree to a date and to marry him.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Clara's hasty, slapdash burial of Anna's letters leads Sean to find them, and nearly destroy Anna's life and relationship in the process.]]
* WomanScorned: [[spoiler:Clara was so jealous of Sean's refusal to leave Anna that even ''a decade later,'' she spitefully secures an invitation to Anna's engagement (despite a widowed Anna still deeply feeling Sean's loss) and intends to gift Anna's unopened love letters to Sean. Fortunately, at the last minute, she thinks better of it and instead buys Anna an expensive gift.]]
* WouldHurtAChild:
** Joseph -- frustrated by Sean repeatedly kicking his chair, but also simmering with rage at his intrusion into his and Anna's lives -- throws a tantrum and lunges at Sean, dragging him into a room so that he can spank him.
** [[spoiler:Clara is so angry at Sean aping her deceased lover that she repeatedly roughs him up when he tries to flee.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler:Sean was carrying on an affair with Clara, his sister-in-law, at the time of his death.]]
* StalkerWithACrush: Joseph's engagement speech, though meant to be playful, inherently reveals that he essentially badgered Anna repeatedly to agree to a date and to marry him.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Clara's hasty, slapdash burial of Anna's letters leads Sean to find them, and nearly destroy Anna's life and relationship in the process.]]
* WomanScorned: [[spoiler:Clara was so jealous of Sean's refusal to leave Anna that even ''a decade later,'' she spitefully secures an invitation to Anna's engagement (despite a widowed Anna still deeply feeling Sean's loss) and intends to gift Anna's unopened love letters to Sean. Fortunately, at the last minute, she thinks better of it and instead buys Anna an expensive gift.]]
* WouldHurtAChild:
** Joseph -- frustrated by Sean repeatedly kicking his chair, but also simmering with rage at his intrusion into his and Anna's lives -- throws a tantrum and lunges at Sean, dragging him into a room so that he can spank him.
** [[spoiler:Clara is so angry at Sean aping her deceased lover that she repeatedly roughs him up when he tries to flee.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler:Sean was carrying on an affair with Clara, his sister-in-law, at the time of his death.]]
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->'''Sean''': [[''voiceover at the beginning'']] Okay, let me say this...let me say this. If I lost my wife, and, and uh, the next day a little bird landed on my windowsill, looked me right in the eye, and in plain English said, "Sean, it's me, Anna," what could I say? I guess I'd believe her. Or I'd want to. I'd be stuck with a bird. But other than that, no, I'm a man of science. I just don't believe that mumbo-jumbo. Now, that's gonna have to be the last question. I need to go running before I head home.
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''Birth'' is Creator/JonathanGlazer's second movie (after ''Film/SexyBeast''). Creator/NicoleKidman plays Anna, who has struggled to recover from the death of her husband, Shaun. Ten years later, though, she's engaged to Joseph (Creator/DannyHuston) and seems much happier. But, on the night of her engagement, a mysterious young boy (Creator/CameronBright) comes to her and tells her that he's the reincarnation of her dead husband.
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''Birth'' is Creator/JonathanGlazer's second movie (after ''Film/SexyBeast''). Creator/NicoleKidman plays Anna, who has struggled to recover from the death of her husband, Shaun.Sean. Ten years later, though, she's engaged to Joseph (Creator/DannyHuston) and seems much happier. But, on the night of her engagement, a mysterious young boy (Creator/CameronBright) comes to her and tells her that he's the reincarnation of her dead husband.
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* CreatorCameo: Milo Addica, one of the screenwriters, plays Jimmy, the doorman at the building Anna and Joseph live in.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/download_625.jpg]]
->'''Sean''': [[''voiceover at the beginning'']] Okay, let me say this...let me say this. If I lost my wife, and, and uh, the next day a little bird landed on my windowsill, looked me right in the eye, and in plain English said, "Sean, it's me, Anna," what could I say? I guess I'd believe her. Or I'd want to. I'd be stuck with a bird. But other than that, no, I'm a man of science. I just don't believe that mumbo-jumbo. Now, that's gonna have to be the last question. I need to go running before I head home.
->'''Sean''': [[''voiceover at the beginning'']] Okay, let me say this...let me say this. If I lost my wife, and, and uh, the next day a little bird landed on my windowsill, looked me right in the eye, and in plain English said, "Sean, it's me, Anna," what could I say? I guess I'd believe her. Or I'd want to. I'd be stuck with a bird. But other than that, no, I'm a man of science. I just don't believe that mumbo-jumbo. Now, that's gonna have to be the last question. I need to go running before I head home.
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* LeaveTheCameraRunning: When Anna and Joseph go to a concert after "Sean" collapses (when he refuses to tell Anna he'll leave her alone), the camera holds on Anna's face as she begins to wonder if "Sean" really is who he says he is.
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* TheOner: The opening shot of Sean running in the park at the beginning of the movie, right before he collapses and dies.
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* LeftHanging: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* NoAnswer: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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** The big one: [[spoiler:is Sean Jr a reincarnation of Anna's husband?]]
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** [[spoiler:How much does Anna still believe Sean Jr is a reincarnation of her husband?]]
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* NoAnswers: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* NoAnswers: NoAnswer: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* NoAnswer: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* NoAnswer: NoAnswers: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Anna has red hair, her sister Laura is brunette, and their mother Eleanor is blonde.
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* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Anna has red hair, her sister Laura is brunette, and their mother Eleanor is (and [[spoiler:Sean's mistress Clara]]) are blonde.
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* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a female protagonist with cropped hair struggling with young boys.
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* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a female protagonist with cropped hair struggling with young boys.creepy boys who may mean them harm.
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* NoAnswer: [[spoiler:It's left deliberately unclear whether Sean ''is'' a reincarnation of the adult Sean.]]
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* RiddleForTheAges:
** [[spoiler:How does Sean Jr know all that information about Anna and Sean?]]
** [[spoiler:Did the older Sean love Anna?]]
** [[spoiler:How does Sean Jr know all that information about Anna and Sean?]]
** [[spoiler:Did the older Sean love Anna?]]
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* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler:Despite the fact that Anna has essentially cheated on Joseph with a ''ten-year-old boy'', he still forgives her. Even after she runs away during their wedding!]]
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* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The subtext of Anna's remark when Sean is in the bathtub that [[spoiler: "you're just a little boy."]]
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* HourglassPlot: [[spoiler:Sean starts off as a CreepyChild StalkerWithACrush to Anna while she resists him. Then Sean Jr learns that the older Sean was having an affair with Clara, which causes him to change his mind about being a reincarnation. By then, Anna has been convinced that Sean ''is'' a reincarnation and tells him that they will run away together until they can remarry.]]
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* RoleSwapPlot: [[spoiler:Sean starts off as a CreepyChild StalkerWithACrush to Anna while she resists him. Then Sean Jr learns that the older Sean was having an affair with Clara, which causes him to change his mind about being a reincarnation. By then, Anna has been convinced that Sean ''is'' a reincarnation and tells him that they will run away together until they can remarry.]]
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* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a protagonist with cropped hair struggling with young boys.
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* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a female protagonist with cropped hair struggling with young boys.
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* ReincarnationRomance: Deconstructed. Sean Jr ''wants'' this with Anna, which ignores that he's nine and she's in her thirties or forties. [[spoiler:She resists for a while, then comes to believe him and agree with it. By then, he's changed his mind.]]
* RoleSwapPlot: [[spoiler:Sean starts off as a CreepyChild StalkerWithACrush to Anna while she resists him. Then Sean Jr learns that the older Sean was having an affair with Clara, which causes him to change his mind about being a reincarnation. By then, Anna has been convinced that Sean ''is'' a reincarnation and tells him that they will run away together until they can remarry.]]
* RoleSwapPlot: [[spoiler:Sean starts off as a CreepyChild StalkerWithACrush to Anna while she resists him. Then Sean Jr learns that the older Sean was having an affair with Clara, which causes him to change his mind about being a reincarnation. By then, Anna has been convinced that Sean ''is'' a reincarnation and tells him that they will run away together until they can remarry.]]
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* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: The ultimate example, as "Sean" claims to be the reincarnation of Anna's dead husband.
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* PerilousMarriageProposal: "Sean" appears (or reappears) in Anna's life on the night that she gets engaged to Joseph, causing her to spiral.
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* PrecociousCrush: Deconstructed. Sean is very WiseBeyondHisYears and insists that the adult Anna is his wife. At first, Anna is touched by what she assumes to be an innocent crush, but when it emerges he's serious, his presence becomes that of a much more unsettling StalkerWithACrush even if he's only ten.
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** Downplayed for the rest of the movie. It's winter and melting snow can be seen in some scenes, but it's much less clear.
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** Downplayed for the rest of the movie. It's winter and melting snow can be seen in some scenes, scenes as Anna struggles with the reminder of Sean's death (and if he really has been reincarnated), but it's much less clear.obvious.
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* TheMourningAfter: Anna has clearly struggled to get over the death of Sean. She's only managed it a full decade after his death and, even then, "Sean's" appearance pulls her straight back into her grief.
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* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Anna has red hair, her sister Laura is brunette, and their mother Eleanor is blonde.
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* SnowEqualsDeath:
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* SnowEqualsDeath:SnowMeansDeath:
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* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a protagonist with cropped blonde hair.
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* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a protagonist with cropped blonde hair.hair struggling with young boys.
* SnowEqualsDeath:
** There is a lot of snow on the ground when Sean has a heart attack and dies while running.
** Downplayed for the rest of the movie. It's winter and melting snow can be seen in some scenes, but it's much less clear.
* SnowEqualsDeath:
** There is a lot of snow on the ground when Sean has a heart attack and dies while running.
** Downplayed for the rest of the movie. It's winter and melting snow can be seen in some scenes, but it's much less clear.
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!! Tropes
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!! TropesTropes
* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a protagonist with cropped blonde hair.
* {{Homage}}: The movie is full of homages to ''Film/RosemarysBaby''. Both have a very straight-faced approach to their high-concept material, are set in a BigApplesauce version of New York City, and have a protagonist with cropped blonde hair.
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''Birth'' is Creator/JonathanGlazer's second movie (after ''Film/SexyBeast''). Creator/NicoleKidman plays Anna, who has struggled to recover from the death of her husband, Shaun. Ten years later, though, she's engaged to Joseph (Creator/DannyHuston) and seems much happier. But, on the night of her engagement, a mysterious young boy (Creator/CameronBright) comes to her and tells her that he's the reincarnation of her dead husband.
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!! Tropes
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!! Tropes
