Trust film

"Family is like a gun – you point it in the wrong direction, you're going to kill somebody"

-Matthew to Maria's mother


While Matthew is talking about the death of her husband to Maria’s Mother he is also saying this in a much more general sense versus just this specific situation. While in her mind she probably thinks he is talking about the one instance he is really inferring to both how his dad treats him and how she treats her daughter. He is implying that by a family doing the wrong things they can actually backfire and make lives worse than better. He is saying that only if they do the wrong thing can it have a negative impact and is largely speaking of suicide as he himself carries a grenade with him. Because his father, his family, is abusive so he only makes Matthew's life worse versus better as a family should. He does not mean that this is the case with all families, it is up to the family whether to point the “gun” in the right or wrong direction.