Theme: The use of the cross as a symbol.

Insights:  

There is a significant use of the cross as a symbol in Clint Eastwood's Thriller, "Mystic River".  In the opening scenes, the camera focuses in on a small cross on a man's ring.  Another large, intricate cross appears in the concluding scenes; this time on a man's back.  These cross images are symbolic of the Movie's theme:  Something small (the events of one day long ago) has grown into something large and complex.

What is interesting is why the cross - the symbol of salvation, redemption, and reconciliation - would be chosen to be the symbol for a seed of evil that becomes a web of death.  There can be only one answer.  The spirit of the antichrist (I John 4:2-3) always seeks to destroy and pervert the meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ.  Where the greatest evil occurs, you will find a distorted cross; be it a burning one (Klu Klux Klan), a hooked one (the Nazi Swastika), or the crosses in this Movie.

Scripture:  Romans 6:23