35 years later, a strange and obscene gesture by a kid in ‘Back to the Future 3’ still confuses fans
Of cinema’s greatest “unsolved mysteries” is the peculiar gesture of one of Doc Brown’s sons near the end of ‘Back to the Future Part III’.
The Back to the Future trilogy is full of intricate details that fans have analysed down to the smallest point, but one moment in Back to the Future Part III (1990) continues to baffle audiences 35 years after its release. In the film’s final scene, when Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) returns to his family aboard his locomotive-turned-time machine, his youngest son, Verne, makes a curious gesture while looking directly at the camera, appearing to point at his crotch. Was it a joke by the young actor, or simply a sign that he needed to use the bathroom that accidentally made it into the final cut?
The moment occurs in the closing minutes of the film, when Doc Brown returns to the present with his wife, Clara, and their two sons, Julio and Verne, aboard his train-turned-time machine. As Doc chats with Marty and Jennifer, Verne, played by the young actor Dannel Evans, subtly draws attention with a strange hand gesture. On close inspection, it seems the child is pointing at his crotch, sparking a range of interpretations among fans.
Several theories have emerged about the meaning of this peculiar movement. The most popular suggests it could have been a childish prank by Evans, intended to make the crew or his co-stars laugh. Another theory is that the boy was discreetly signalling that he needed to go to the bathroom, and the shot was inadvertently included in the final cut.
Regardless, the gesture went largely unnoticed by audiences in 1990. However, with television reruns and successive home releases—VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray—the moment has become a subject of discussion on forums and social media, turning it into one of the trilogy’s most famous “open secrets.”
Despite the attention it has received, neither Robert Zemeckis nor anyone from the production team has clarified the true reason behind Verne’s gesture. No official statements confirm whether it was intentional or simply a coincidence. What is notable is that the scene remained intact in the theatrical release, preserved in every home edition, and has since become a curious footnote in the trilogy.
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Although the most plausible explanation is that the child needed to use the bathroom, Verne’s odd gesture has gone down in history as one of the most enigmatic anecdotes from Back to the Future Part III. Like other subtle details in cult films, fans have long debated its meaning, turning this brief moment into an enduring mystery that continues to spark discussion more than three decades after the film’s release.
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