Reservoir Dogs might have teased the group’s plan to escape through a couple of objects found in the warehouse used as the main setting of the movie. Quentin Tarantino’s career as a filmmaker began in 1992 with the crime movie Reservoir Dogs, which introduced the audience to his peculiar narrative and visual style, with unforgettable lines and a lot of violence, which have become his trademarks. Reservoir Dogs was very well-received by critics and viewers and is now regarded as an important and influential milestone of independent filmmaking.
Reservoir Dogs followed a group of six criminals whose planned heist of a jewelry store went terribly wrong, and things only got worse as there was an undercover cop between them. The group was led by crime boss Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his son “Nice Guy” Eddie Cabot (Chris Penn), and all the thieves had different code names: Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Blue (Edward Bunker), and Mr. Brown (Tarantino). Their meeting point was a warehouse, which was the main setting of the movie and where many secrets were revealed, such as the identity of the undercover cop, and it was also where most of the characters died – and, ironically, there were a lot of coffins around the warehouse.
Over the years, viewers have pointed out that various coffins and even a hearse can be seen in the background of the scenes set in the warehouse, making way for different interpretations, such as each character representing a role in a funeral, as they all wore black suits. However, a more fitting interpretation of it, and one that is actually connected to the story, says that the coffins and the hearse were all part of the group's plan, especially as the warehouse was a property of Joe Cabot.
The coffins and the hearse could have been planned as the cover that would have allowed the group to escape without sparking any suspicion – surely, no one would have suspected that a funeral procession was actually carrying thousands of dollars in diamonds and more. Behind the scenes, however, the coffins and the hearse weren’t exactly part of the plan. Reservoir Dogs was shot with a very tight budget, so the fewer settings they could have and reuse, the better. The warehouse seen in the movie was actually an abandoned mortuary in Los Angeles, and the set designers decided to keep the coffins and the hearse. The second floor of the mortuary also served a purpose, as it was dressed up to look like Mr. Orange’s apartment. The grim decoration of the warehouse has also been interpreted as foreshadowing, as most of the crew (except Mr. Brown and Mr. Blue) ultimately died there, including Joe and “Nice Guy” Eddie.
It’s unknown if Tarantino ultimately used the coffins and hearse as part of the story, thus making official the interpretation of them being part of the group’s plan to escape, but it gives good in-universe use to these objects. Things in Quentin Tarantino’s movies are hardly ever coincidental, so there might be more to the mortuary decoration of the warehouse that he hasn’t shared yet.