Continuity mistake: In the scene where Ben knocks on "Sarah's" back door with the apples, the sides of her hair are up and it is evident that there are no visible bruises on her face. However, the next evening at dinner, "Sarah" has her hair down and after moving her hair, a large, fresh bruise is observed by Ben. If this bruise was present, it would have been seen the night before when "Sarah's" hair was 1/2 up.
Continuity mistake: At the end of the film, when Julia discovers the cans are all in order, she runs for the front door and sees the stereo set up there. Then, the husband comes from behind. In the following scenes, where she goes to the door to talk to Ben, the stereo is gone.
Continuity mistake: When Sarah/Laura first sees Ben singing and watering the lawn, the view from the inside of her bedroom shows that the room/wall extends quite a ways to her right. But from Ben's viewpoint outside, Sarah/Laura appears in a corner window, with no possible extension of the room/wall to her right anymore.
Continuity mistake: At the end, when Martin has been shot and appears to be dead, he tries to shoot Laura. He then dies, holding the gun in his hand. It's still in his hand when Laura gets up to attend to Ben, who is unconscious by the front door. The shot changes, and Martin is now lying in a different position, the gun nowhere to be seen.
Factual error: When Julia Roberts first moves to the small Iowa town, she picks perfect fall apples off her neighbor's tree, which draws his attention. But the next day, that tree, and most of the others in the town, appear in SPRING bloom. Some days later, she attends a July 4 parade. That timing might work with the blossoms, but certainly not with the apples.
Factual error: In the dramatic final confrontation, the husband tries to shoot Julia, only to find that the gun is empty. The problem is that slides on automatic pistols like the one used in this scene lock open when the last round is fired. The slide on this gun is visibly closed, so it should still have a round in the chamber.
Suggested correction: The gun wasn't empty, it jammed.
Continuity mistake: When Laura Burney leaves to visit her mother, she's driving a 1966 Mustang that belongs to her next-door neighbour. When she's driving across the countryside, the camera focuses on the side of the car which is a 1967 Mustang. When she pulls into the destination where her mother is staying, it is back to a 1966 Mustang. It is a 1966 that she arrives back home in as well.
Continuity mistake: Early in the movie Laura's husband smacks Laura on the left side of her head, sending her hard to the floor on her right side. When he comes back later with gifts to apologize, he takes off her dress to put on a red negligeé which reveals a bruise on her upper left shoulder. This bruise was not there the night before when she wore a black backless dress.
Continuity mistake: When Ben brings her the apples she dropped Laura lays the knife she was using to cut up an apple on the table. It is in a different place when Ben puts the apples on the table.
Factual error: When Laura visits her mother in the nursing home, Laura comes out of the bathroom and says that she has her mother's medicine (pills) for her. Meds would not be kept in the patient's room at the nursing home. They would be distributed by a nurse, such as they are in the scene when the nurse interrupts the husband right as he is about to smother the mother.
Revealing mistake: When Martin is at the rest home, he gets a drink from the water fountain and it sprays him in the face. You can plainly see the spray isn't coming from the fountain itself.
Other mistake: When Laura's husband hits her across the forehead, the cut on the left side of her forehead is visible and bleeding when she is on the floor. However, that night when they go sailing, she has her hair pulled in a braid without any bangs covering her forehead and the cut/bruise is totally gone.
Continuity mistake: On the bus, the woman who gives Laura the apple is eating one herself. In one shot, she has only had about two bites, and there is plenty of peel left. About two or three seconds later they cut back to the woman and most of the apple is gone. It would have been impossible to eat it that fast, and there is no crunching bite sound when they cut away from her, and the bite sounds are extremely pronounced in the rest of the scene.
Continuity mistake: When Laura (Sara) is first looking for a house, she is looking on a tree lined street supposedly in Cedar Falls. The houses shown have only curbs in front but no driveways. Yet the house she ends up renting has a house next door (the one Ben lives in) and there is definitely a driveway out front. Or at least his Mustang is parked there.
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Laura deliberately breaks the boardwalk lamps, she picks up rocks from the beach and then throws them at the lamp bulbs. However, the first rock thrown misses the lamp bulb completely and in fact, passes behind the lamp post. Of course, the bulb breaks anyway because the explosive charge used to break the bulb was detonated remotely.
Plot hole: Laura rents a nice, large house, furnished with everything she needs, using a fake name, no job, no financial history, has no current bank account or credit cards or any references. She merely hands cash to the agent. She later lands a job without proof of identity, citizenship or residency (legally required), and has no references, no credible work history, or a SSN#. Laura is resourceful, but would lack the means to obtain a convincing fake identity and other false documentation.
Suggested correction: You don't have to be a citizen to work.
You do need an ID, but you don't need to be a citizen.
You need to be a U.S. citizen, a "legal" resident, or have a specific type of work visa to be legally employed in this country. You also need an identity for renting a house or apartment and a prospective tenant doesn't just hand over a large sum of cash for the rent/damage deposit without immediately getting a receipt, while standing on the porch, and not first filling out paperwork.
Plot hole: It makes no sense for the woman from the YWCA to call Martin at his job, which ends up hinting to him that Laura may have faked her death. First of all, how did she get his work number? And Martin never knew anything at all about Laura being at the YWCA, so she was obviously smart enough to NEVER discuss her husband or personal life, such as where she lived, and other personal info. So it seems nonsensical that someone who knew Laura at the YWCA would be calling Martin to offer condolences.
