Stay (or )

This was one screwed up movie. Of the hour and 38 minutes of running time, I literally spent an hour and 36 minutes of it feeling thoroughly confused. This is the kind of film that one will either love or hate, so I tell you now that if you despise trick endings then avoid Stay at all costs. It is the epitome of mind-fuck movies, so while the subtle clues are cleverly laid out during the film, they won’t make a lick of sense until the final two minutes. I really like the idea behind the story, and after I reviewed my notes I began to appreciate the connections from the clues to the eventual revelation; however, I think that many might get annoyed at sitting through an hour and a half of what is essentially jabberwocky to finally find satisfaction only in simply understanding what the hell it meant.

When the movie began I braced myself for the conclusion that Sam (Ewan McGregor), a psychiatrist, was actually dead but didn’t realize it, or something to that effect. As it became clear that he was decidedly not dead, I began to suspect that perhaps Henry (Ryan Gosling), the strange patient who comes to see Sam, was actually the dead one. Maybe. Eventually I had to abandon that theory as well and give in to the increasingly clear fact that I was not going to understand anything until the very end, which was frustrating, to be sure. Henry tells Sam during one of their first sessions that he hears voices and can no longer ascertain which ones are real or imagined. And before he forgets to mention it, he also plans to kill himself on Saturday at midnight, which Sam takes as a sign that clearly falls into the “bad” category. He realizes that he has three days to prevent Henry’s planned suicide, so he desperately embarks on a rather strange trail in order to determine where Henry is planning to shoot himself. Before he worries about any of that, however, he takes a break to play a stimulating game of chess with his old colleague Dr. Leon (Bob Hoskins), who works with him in the psychiatry ward. Ostensibly annoyed that Sam is not out scouring New York to find him, Henry randomly turns up to say something spooky and reignite Sam’s sense of urgency. So he insists that Dr. Leon is in fact his deceased father. This statement confuses everyone—especially Dr. Leon who huffs out of the room.

At this point in the film, things take a distinctly incomprehensible turn, when Sam goes to visit Henry’s supposedly deceased mother. After noticing the bare house and the mother’s inexplicable bleeding head, Sam starts to fear that something a bit strange is going on, but continues his search for Henry. As events around Sam begin to repeat themselves and camera angles turn more and more disorienting, Sam starts to realize that he can no longer discern between what is real or not, even as midnight on Saturday approaches.

I won’t spoil anything, but suffice it to say that all is finally explained at midnight, and if one has been paying attention to the details along the way then the ending will make sense. Again, this is the kind of film that requires the audience to be kept in the dark in order to add meaning, so if you like twist endings and “nothing is as it seems” movies, then this is clearly a four star film. Otherwise, you’re looking at one star.