The film hasn’t even been out for a full month yet, and it feels like we’ve covered just about every aspect of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Thanks to filmmaker Quentin Tarantino never backing down from offering answers to questions, combined with a Bruce Lee controversy, there’s been a lot of discussion about the director’s love letter to that era of Hollywood. But one aspect that hasn’t really been explored, outside of the film of course, is the mystery surrounding Cliff Booth’s wife.
For those that don’t remember, there’s a fairly big mystery that is left unanswered by the film, focusing on Brad Pitt’s character Cliff Booth. You see, in the film, we are told that Booth is assumed to have murdered his own wife while on a boat trip. In a flashback, we see the moments leading up to what we can assume is the wife’s demise, with Booth aiming a harpoon gun at her. Does he pull the trigger? Was it an accident? Did she die some other way? After watching the film, you still won’t know the answers to those questions.
That being said, there is at least one person that knows the answers — Brad Pitt. Even though the actor confirms he knows the real circumstances surrounding the death of Cliff Booth’s wife while speaking to the LA Times, it doesn’t appear like fans will ever find out.
“That, I will never tell,” Pitt said.
Of course, even if Pitt doesn’t tell, there are other people, namely Tarantino, that know the truth about the character’s past. And in the case of the filmmaker, Tarantino has never been one to shy away from explaining his films, so we could find out the truth from him.
Until then, there’s still at least one mystery in ‘Once Upon a Time.’ And honestly, isn’t a little mystery a good thing?