Stay

I saw this in the cinema solely because I had nothing else to do and that Ewan McGregor was in it. I had no idea what it was about. I am so glad that I watched it, because this film left me thinking for ages.

This is a thriller about a psychiatrist (which I happen to be one) trying to help a depressed & suicidal patient. The film twists unexpectedly all the time without getting bizarre. The visual effects are stunning, and the soundtrack created the eerie atmosphere which gave me creeps. The best thing about this film is that the film keeps you in suspense throughout the film, without the use of sudden loud noises, gore or scary scenes. Everything in the film seemed so every day life (to me anyway) and yet it keeps you on the edge all the time. The interspersed scenes of unrelated objects creates suspense in a way that is surreal. In the ending, I was totally surprised at that happened. I had to really think a lot to figure out what happened. Usually, when I don't understand a film, I say it is bad bad bad, but for this film, it leaves me wanting to find out more about it.

I strongly recommend anyone to watch this film!

Ultimately it's a richly textured, multi-faceted look at the relationship between guilt and love, death and life. Suicidal themes run amuck, so, as you can imagine, there are many dark, intense scenes between talented actors. And the performances really are great, as is the mind-bending cinematography. But its way overwritten...the truly brilliant "interesting plot device" mingles but never bonds with the characters or dialogue, so everything falls flat. It's not rewarding, because insignificant elements overshadow details crucial to experiencing the intended impact of the film.

If you want to see an astonishingly filmed, well acted movie, here it is, have fun...But Stay breaks the first commandment of film-making because it takes itself more seriously than its subject. At the end of the day, the message the filmmakers seem to communicate is, "see what we did!" instead of "see what we mean."

It would be cruel to reveal anything about the story before seeing this film because most of the enjoyment is learning which path the story will choose.

The film has masterful visual style. At times it appears to be a normal picture until the surreal aspects make themselves known with subtlety. The editing is seamless, almost but not quite confusing, and the callbacks to earlier scenes are never overused.

It is not a spoiler to state that early on Something Isn't Quite Right, and there are story elements that the avid moviegoer will know to be central to the conclusion. However, it's the path that leads to the end that makes the time enjoyable.

Naomi Watts, as usual, is perfect, and Ewan McGregor has again picked one of the scripts that was for the art and not the money. Ryan Gosling is effective, and Jeanine Garafolo's three minutes were eerie. I'm certain that Elizabeth Reaser will be seen again.

Not a perfect movie, but definitely worth the time if you enjoy surrealistic stories.

8/10

I can understand why the reviews for this run the gamut. It's not the type of flick one is likely to appreciate unless they've experienced vivid dreams that seem real and disjoint; cutting from one incomprehensible scene to the next. I'll admit, this movie had me vexed. I was about to throw in the towel when it suddenly struck me: I've had dreams that flowed as incomprehensible! They made sense to me in the moment, yet they made no sense otherwise. Could it be that in his final moments, in a state of shock, Gosling drew on the faces around him in a fantasy to rationalize the tragedy that just became him?

If that's the Director's intent, then this is a brilliant movie and the reviewers who panned it are at a sad lack of imagination.

The film was trashed by most, but not all critics, and lost like 40 million dollars.

I found it engrossing, beautifully acted, and directed with imagination, nuance and touching sensitivity.

I want very much to encourage people to watch it, so I will avoid spoilers which is not easy to do in discussing this film.

Although it is rightly classified as a drama, it is in many ways a mystery, and like the best mysteries, the clues are all there, but the story itself becomes so compelling that the viewer is too involved in what is happening on the screen to put the clues together and solve the mystery.

Please watch it and decide for yourself. It really deserves serious attention. After you have watched it and thought about it for a while, go to YouTube and watch one of several analyses of the film which may help you appreciate how skillful a film this really is.