Sharp Objects Ending Explained

5. What Was The Killer's Motive?

All the way through the show Amma is shown to be a loose cannon, loving one minute and callous the next, but it's a jump to go from behaving erratically to brutally murdering three girls. While it's not made entirely clear, however, there is one clear motivator for the shift: attention.

Though Adora's twisted "over-caring" of her children would have eventually killed them, there's no denying that Amma loved the totality of the attention doted on her. Consequently, while she was friends with both Natalie and Ann, once they took Adora's attention away as the mother attempted to "fix" the troubled children, their fates were sealed.

Likewise, the same grisly end befell Mae in St. Louis. The minute attention diverted away from Amma to her new friend, be it Camille appreciating the bed cover Mae made for the dollhouse or Curry complimenting her professional drive at dinner, jealousy inspired yet another murderous outburst.