This is going to be so much fun.
I thought with the knife having a clear lingering shot and one of the investigators going "She has a pulse!" was an intended connection.
I mean I am not really upset about Ilsa's fate, just that I can see the whole she's alive! stance.
They could always reveal she survived someday if Rebecca ever wants to return someday. I don't see why not.
Could also be a trick too. Rebecca could've been using Exact Words so as to make it sound like she was expected to be done after the three movies as Ilsa so that way, no one would expect her to show up again in the next film. That would mean it would also try to sell the illusion to the audience that she died when actually she was Faking the Dead all along too—and be very non-specific leading into that too.
Edited by futuremoviewriter on Apr 21st 2024 at 12:52:33 PM
Because that's how the movie presents the scene. There's no indication that the movie is feinting the jab or trying to give the audience or characters any kind of hope, and there's no backwards connection made with the second scene.
Narratively speaking, it was a weaponized version of Fridging, as the exact intent was to force Ethan to be driven to act on pure vengeance.
Which was the Entity's plan.
Certainly it could be reversed, but there's no in-universe reason to think so.