In two pivotal and ostensibly separate scenes, each of the two protagonists of the film The Nest appears alone but in the company of another character — the horse with the wife, and the mother with the husband. From the outside, the two scenes seem unrelated, or like fleeting interludes that carry no weight and mean little to viewers unaccustomed to contemplative European cinema, charged with symbols and connotations that form a central part of the film's screenplay. In truth, however, both scenes are profoundly layered.
The horse falls ill and groans for many long days, yet its owner — the wife — takes no notice. One day, as she mounts it and insists on putting it through its paces, it collapses and dies. When the husband learns the news, the first words out of his mouth are: