The Ending Of Lake Mungo Explained

At the beginning of «Lake Mungo,» a recording is played of Alice, who describes feeling a sense of dread and that something terrible is about to happen. It turns out that she’s correct, with the drowning occurring not long after. «Lake Mungo» depicts the emotional rollercoaster felt by Alice’s loved ones — particularly June, who at one point has doubts that the girl Russell identified to police is actually Alice.

Making matters worse, when Mathew gets into photography, he shows his parents eerie images of Alice standing in the backyard and around the house. Psychic consultant Ray Kemeny (Steve Jodrell) is even called in to try and connect to her spirit. Though it’s revealed that Mathew doctored the images to give his parents some hope, this isn’t the end of the family’s troubles. 

While on a trip with Ray, Mathew keeps his cameras rolling in the house (just in case), and captures next door neighbor Brett Toohey (Scott Terrill) lurking near Alice’s room. Freaked out by her death, Brett is trying to retrieve a videotape of himself and his wife Marissa (Tamara Donnellan) being intimate with Alice, their children’s babysitter. Basically, they don’t want to look guilty for her death if the tape is discovered.

Similar to her mother and grandmother Iris Long (Judith Roberts), Alice likes her privacy and keeps secrets. Therefore, no one even suspects her situation with the Tooheys until after her death, when June finds the tape.