I still can't decide how I feel about this movie... Maybe that was the intent. Going in THINKING it would be good by proxy because of the director, but then the rug gets pulled up from under you.
When I first saw the, or one of the, trailer(s), and Leo was like "There are 66 inmates, who's the 67th!?", maybe it was from seeing enough movies to know, but my mind is already assuming it's him and I envy those who would otherwise be oblivious to this. In that, I figured there would be more inventive twists to the story or a really solid reveal... But the dreams felt blandly surreal. Instead of how dreams can feel like actual dreams, these just appeared like "Wouldn't it be weird if we covered his delusions this way?"
Though, one thing I will say that I like about the movie is it's ambiguity in the sense that he has an incredibly intricate conspiracy thought out in regards to Nazi brainwashing experiments. Like, the reveal is still not the truth because, as he was informed, even if by his own constructions, he has no friends. He has vivid recollections of both seeing the holocaust, took part in slaughtering nazis and killing his wife for remorselessly drowning their children. If any of that is true, then we can assume that it can all be true.
In the end, it isn't totally true that the island is only used for positive rehabilitation. Is he so crazy that he has this crystal clear of an alternate reality or are both true? Are we left with the impression that the island is used for good since they control the island and ultimately have the final say?
Damn, maybe I do like the movie.
Cool.
"As a matter of fact I only work with the feeling of something magical, something seemingly significant. And to keep it magical I don't want to know the story involved, I just want the hypnotic effect of it somehow seeming significant without knowing why." - Len Lye
