‘Pulp Fiction’ is considered one of the great masterpieces of the director, the suitcase featured some excitement and interested fans to ponder: What was in the briefcase in pulp fiction? Why was it so crucial to the plot of the film if they won’t even reveal it later? 

‘Pulp Fiction’ first saw the light in the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival where, against the prognosis, it managed to give Quentin Tarantino the desired Palme d’Or, causing a controversy that, to this day, is seen as a mere anecdote. Now the filmmaker can make history by winning his second Palme d’Or for ‘Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood’. The man eludes the question we’re all here to solve, and so do the actors, but one co-writer tells the truth. 

What Was In The Briefcase In Pulp Fiction: Finally Revealed!

What happened to the case?

The briefcase remains a mystery. What do you keep in it? In an interview, Samuel L. Jackson said they saw “two lights and a few batteries.” Questioned by this particular Tarantino pointed out that the briefcase contained “whatever you want me to have.”

That leads us to nowhere. Upon further examination, we found more theories, more clues, and finally the actual truth. 

Theories on the contents of the “Pulp Fiction” briefcase

In this cult film, each scene has been meticulously analyzed and so it should be noted that neither the Holy Grail nor a dangerous nuclear device was found in the aforementioned briefcase. 

The content of the Pulp Fiction briefcase has given rise to very diverse theories on the part of fans. Ideas spread all over the world, some as grotesque as the possibility that inside could be the soul of his boss, Marsellus Wallace. Urban reality or legend? Tarantino has managed for two decades to continue feeding the myth, making his iconic film even bigger. Two decades later, the dream of many followers who relied on the convoluted theory that Wallace had sold his soul to the devil was destroyed for good. 

When Pulp Fiction was released, the famous contents of the briefcase recovered by Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield were debated and one guy, anonymous with no specific name, said that through a friend of a friend who had a conversation with Quentin Tarantino himself, he knew the truth about the mystery of the briefcase. The theory went like this:

Remember the first time Marsellus Wallace was introduced to us in the film? The first image of him was of the back of his head, including a band-aid. So, remember that the combination of the lock on the briefcase was 666. 

Now, remember that every time someone opened the briefcase, it glowed, and everyone was amazed at how beautiful it was; they were speechless. Okay, now remember what the Bible says, and remember that when the devil takes your soul, he takes it from the back of your head.

Yes, you guessed it. What is the most beautiful thing about a person: his soul? Marsellus Wallace had sold his soul to the devil and was trying to buy it back. The three guys at the beginning of the movie were the devil’s helpers. And remember that when the boy finally came out of the bathroom with a “cannon in hand,” Jules and Vincent were not hurt by the bullets. “God came down and stopped the bullets” because they were saving a soul. It was a divine intervention.

Some think that actually inside are the diamonds stolen from Reservoir Dogs. People have kept adding theories where there was anything from Reservoir Dogs’ ear, a Michael Jackson glove, or a human head.

If we don’t take into account that crazy idea of ​​the Bible (nowhere does it speak of taking the soul from the back of the head), the truth is that the interpretation has little basis. In reality, although it is the theory that has had a greater diffusion, it has not been the only one that has circulated during these years.

Here’s what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction

Phil LaMarr, who played Marvin, revealed the key to unraveling the mystery. “If Vincent [John Travolta] opens it and sees what he wants to see, then it is a magic briefcase. But if the concept is simply that it is the most beautiful thing ever seen, it is what the public wants it to be, ” he revealed to the podcast I Was There Too in reference to Tarantino’s non-response about what he kept.

What the Travolta character saw was very basic. So domestic that it will leave you impressed. “A light. A low-wattage yellow bulb,” LaMarr noted.

Co-writer Roger Avary himself explains it in the book Questions for the Movie Answer Man. 

Originally, the Pulp Fiction briefcase contained diamonds. But then we thought it seemed too boring and predictable. It was then decided that the contents of the briefcase should never be seen. In this way, each viewer would fill the blank with their own final content.

All you were supposed to know was that it was “very beautiful.” No one on the team could come up with something better than each individual’s imagination. At least that was the original idea. That’s when someone had the brilliant idea (which I still think was a mistake) to put an orange light bulb inside. 

Indeed, Avary acknowledged that this was not ultimately a hit, but a mistake. “Suddenly, what could have been anything turned into something supernatural. We don’t need to press to have an effect. People would have debated it for years anyway, and it would have been much more subtle, ”he reflected.