Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion - Page 9416

So the film framing around the Shimmer, which is some form of extraterrestrial force that causes molecular and genetic structure to refract onto itself. Much like light in a prism, which is a heavy visual used during the film. But also perspective of characters as we understand that they are changed by the Shimmer. The protagonists husband framed behind glass and plastic as we discover he somehow escaped the Shimmer when no one else had.

The movie stays true to the classics of science fiction like the twilight zone by never making attempts to explain the mysterious force called the Shimmer. Or how Lena’s Not-husband gets out of the Shimmer. We are left to fill in our own reasoning why the Shimmer ended up killing some people, but not Lena. The film implies some sort of intent with the Shimmer, but that is not shared by all of the scientist who experience it, including Lena, who views its changes as passive and random. The Shimmer changes the characters passively while they are there and it does so in a way that they are not fully aware of.

The film leaves use with the unnerving understanding that our very identities are products of our brain. And that trauma (the death of a child, as referenced in the film) can change us forever through reshaping our mind. The film goes so far as to say that the pre-trauma person is dead and the new person is just walking around in the same body. Which is what makes the Shimmer and the thrust of the movie that much more unnerving.

I’m still working on other thoughts and I want to watch it again.

This movie has the most frustrating ending of any movie I've seen recently. I know some people didn't like the general thrust of whether or not Lena and her Husband made it out of the Shimmer or if it was someone else, but that's not really my problem.

I felt like the movie hit a perfect point, Lena asks her husband if he's really her husband. He says, "I don't know" then asks her the same question. Rather than answer she hugs him without saying anything.

That was it, that was the right ending for the movie, pan away and roll credits. It was such a good point to stop, but instead we get 2 more cuts with shiny eyes that do nothing but weaken the ending.

Also other thought. It's amusing that the bear is basically the same as a bit from Hunger Games (the first book), but does it in film way better than Hunger Games the movie does it and does a great job of making it creepy as hell.

I agree that the ending shot was a little to leading for most, but I remember that this movie almost didn’t see wide release because it was out there with this concepts and story. So I am 100% sure there was a more subtle cut of that ending that just left the audience feeling sort of cheated.