Hello!

Did I completely misunderstand this film? You refer to the final flashback; what was this? My interpretation was that the phone call from Vera, and subsequent scene with her and the children, was a Vertigo-type twist, where she did not die at all and another body was substituted (not impossible, given Mark’s shady character), and at the very end we are left wondering how Alex will react to this discovery.

What, if anything, did I misunderstand?

Alan Pavelin

Vera dies. Alex goes to find (and kill) the man who, he believes, was her lover and father of her child.  Then follows the flashback that accompanies what the two men talk about, which brings to light that there was no affair and Alex was the father of the child after all. Here the film follows pretty much the plot of the novel.
Which is actually a fascinating read! BB