was the director putting a 'threatening' weapon, one with a clearly jammed round trapped by the slide, in that scene in the basement when he makes the first 'leave' delivery for 'the man'.

That's a technical thing I suppose, but it's just so freaking blatant. That actor pulled that slide and I heard the jam, then it stays right there in the frame with a clearly visible jammed round in a close up, and no one noticed? You could even digitally clean it up if that particular take had the 'something' the director liked. It took me out of the film at that point, almost like a boom mic drifting into the frame and bopping someone on the head.

The ending - while headspinning at first - is actually laid out during the film...but perhaps in a rather subtle manner as the viewer is more focused on other aspects of the move. The first key scene I recall is the one where the boyfriend of the missing woman - Hella - comes to visit Marie (the female lead). He comes to pick up a box of Hella's stuff that he had declined earlier (I believe). During this scene he explains a bit about the location of the apartment building and how it used to be an old church (I think) and the mysterious hole in the ground, and how the official Christian church labelled it as the Devil's Vagina (or something close to that). Basically he speaks of the mythology of the place. Another scene is later when Marie goes to his place and he again speaks about the coming All Saints Day and its significance, and how it relates to Celtic/Pagan folklore and how the hole that opens at that time was considered some kind of opening to the spiritual/mystic world. Also during this scene, Hella's boyfriend learns from Marie that Hella had been pregnant as Marie shows him a Pregnancy for Dummies book that belonged to Hella. Then in another scene they both go to do some research and the archivist shows them old photos and explains again about the land where the apartment building is located and he explains about the Archers Guild (to which Marie's new boyfriend belongs) and how the folklore is that they sacrificed young girls on that ground in old days as an offering for a good harvest (or something like that). This explanation plays to viewer expectations of the mysterious hole/land being a place to fear...fear of the unknown. The earlier two scenes kind of get glanced over by viewers because maybe we are conditioned not to believe in such silly superstition. And remember how tough Marie's life is and she tells her boyfriend how she wishes she could start over. Later in a a scene where he holds her captive near the end, he even reiterates to her that she herself stated that wish and that his intentions are to help her. So this Pagan/Celtic/Archers Guild - in the movie - do indeed have true powers, and because of the boyfriend's love for Marie, he "sacrifices" her to grant her her wish at a better next life...the end shows Marie being born again and her mother is Hella (the woman who disappeared at the start of the movie). So, we as viewers are conditioned to approach this sort of material as horror, just like the official Christian church feared (did not understand/did not accept/did not tolerate) the old religious ways as seen by their naming of the land/hole as the Devil's Vagina (or whatever it was called, I don't remember exactly). So it really isn't a horror movie afterall. I really liked the ending as I was expecting a standard horror ending, but the way they handled the ending really makes you reconsider everything you watched, and in a way how you as a viewer were maybe conditioned to approach the story with fear/dread. Like I said, it's a headspinner of an ending but it really was laid out throughout the movie...if approached with an open mind and a willingness to consider it...as opposed to being like the Church/archivist/etc. who only saw danger in what they didn't understand.