Alienation of the Audience

Not only do we question how Scotty will find out the truth, but also how involved we have been up to that point in the film. Wood calls is “one of the cinema’s most daring alienation effects” (108).The effect of the surprise is obviously to distance the audience from Scotty, so we start watching him instead of watching with him. Viewers start meditating on the obsessive nature of love and sacrifice, as we watch the transformation of Judy into a new Madeleine. Hitchcock leads viewers to feel like all human beings end up alone; the audience, who thought itself so attached, is left staring in horror as Scotty’s obsession completely possesses him.

the illusion of mystery created earlier in the film...