The soundtrack to Gods and Monsters feels deeply somber from beginning to end — much like the somberness of James Whale himself. It carries so much: his dying, his career, his Frankenstein… and, of course, his unconventional sexuality.

In Michael Cunningham’s words, for James, the time that remained “doesn’t belong to him, which is why he thinks about killing himself.” This recalls, in some strange way, the old man with Alzheimer’s in The Father. As time and the palace of memory collapse along with the disease, he weeps: my leaves have all fallen. Seen through that comparison, his sudden death becomes a little easier to understand.

Anyone who’s seen the film knows there’s an unspeakable bitterness to how he dies. James’s body is pulled from the pool by Clayton, who, fearing he’ll be suspected of some connection to him, pushes the body back into the water. Watching the body drift weightlessly on the surface, sunlight everywhere — it hardly looks like death. It looks more like a dance. This track, “Last Swim,” records the violin melody that plays in that very moment. I think it’s a moving scene.

Gods and Monsters — which one is the god, and which the monster? Maybe listening will offer a different answer.