‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Novelization Reveals Whether Cliff Booth Killed His Wife
Quentin Tarantino doesn’t leave any stone unturned in his new Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel, as the book gives a definitive answer to what happened to Cliff Booth’s (Brad Pitt) wife. Cliff’s past is shrouded in mystery, as Tarantino never reveals if Booth killed his wife intentionally or if her departure is nothing more than an accident. Now that the novelization is published, all ambiguity is lost, for better or for worse.
In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, we learn Cliff sometimes has trouble finding a job as a stunt performer because everyone thinks he intentionally killed his wife by shooting her with a speargun while the two were alone on a boat. Cliff claims his wife’s death was an accident, and the movie does little to clear out the whole affair. We get to see Cliff and his wife on a boat during a flashback, but the scene is cut before the speargun is shot. The flashback shows that Cliff is angry while his wife complains about his drunken state. There’s enough evidence to leave to the viewers to decide which version they want to believe. Well, not anymore.
