Explanation of the Movie ‘Stay’
The other night I watched the 2005 movie “Stay” with Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts and some other guy (Ryan Gosling). The only reason I watched it is that so many people come to this site looking for an explanation of that movie. Unfortunately this movie has little to no plot and really doesn’t need an explanation in my view.
*** SPOILERS ***
The movie opens with a brutal car crash in which Ryan Gosling’s character is not hurt at all. This is your first clue that something is awry. If you’re like me you’ll have read the box the movie came in. The box says something to the effect of “you cannot stay in the world between life and death” so it’s a fairly small leap to assume that’s where the movie takes place. From here on out you’re in a dream world. Most people don’t get this until the end of the movie or until they watch it a second time.
The movie does have nice scene transitions, just like a dream. Characters walk from location to location as if they were teleported or were walking from a movie set to a movie set. This is just the director showing off and at the same time telling the viewer that this is a dream or taking place in the dream world between life and death. In other words, Ryan’s dying from the car crash, and this is what’s going through his mind right before he dies. There’s a lot of this but it’s all fairly obvious stuff and gets old after a while.
Some examples:
* Twins and triplets in the college lecture hall. Twins and triplets in a dream suggest duality.
* Bob Hoskins says “The buddists had it right, the world is an illusion”.
* Characters walk behind pillars and change direction
* Characters get confused for one another
* Characters change appearance.
* Sees his dead parents.
* Ewan falls down stairs (dream reference), then the previous scene (hamlet) is repeated
* Places morph into one another
* Giant seal (manatee?) in the aquarium, seals in dreams refer to playfullness and creativity?
* Naomi’s character helps Ewan in the dream world, just as she’s doing in the physical world.
* Ewan’s pants are too short. This I don’t know, probably something they threw in for ha-hahs.
* Raining – “dark clouds and a heavy downpour indicate feelings of isolation and helplessness”.
* Riding a train – indicates a shared experience.
The rest of the movie wanders on with nothing happening really. You might think stuff is happening based on the way the scenes are cut together but nope, there’s nothing happening.
Finally the movie ends with the predicted ending that everything you’ve just seen has taken place in the mind of the dying Ryan Gosling on the Brooklyn bridge. Again, it’s not a true logical movie in the sense of Primer. It’s just an artsy non-conclusive open to interpretation type thing that doesn’t tie up all the loose ends but leads you to suspect you missed something. You really didn’t. Thumbs down.
This movie could’ve been better though. If maybe they put Ryan’s character bare-foot denoting death?
Just because you failed to watch the movie twice and understand its intricacies does not mean that the film “has little to no plot and bears no explanation”. The plot is clear; a psychologist finds himself losing reason and trying to find an explanation to a world that is making less sense every day. The explanation of the films strange events lies in Leons mention of Freuds fable about the burning boy. That which surrounds us affects our subconscious, even in the form of dreams. Ryans character must choose whether he holds onto life despite his loss and guilt, or whether he will let go rather than face his pain. Those helping him in real life guide him in his dream/vision but are unable to convince him to survive. The story takes place twice. Once we see it through a dream, once through reality. The dream seems to last three days but truly occurs in Ryans mind during his brief struggle for life which we see during the last 10 minutes of the film. This explains the visions, the voices, the confusion of the characters and Ryans ability to affect the world around him. Not hard to figure out for me, but I am majoring in psychology, so that may have helped.
Tou missed everything. Unfortunately you are not a deep thinker or one with a dab of respectable intuition:
This is really a spectacular film. I know Im going to have to see it at least once more, because theres so much stuff going on that its impossible to give Stay the attention it deserves in one viewing.
First and foremost, although I wont give away the plot here, Ill say that the movie (thankfully) does not rely on a surprise ending for the totality of its impact. In fact, if youre paying attention, you can pretty much figure out (mostly) what the situation is before you get too far into the movie. Unlike some of the worst examples of this film genre (i.e. The Sixth Sense), Stay is not a film that “hides the ball,” but instead presents you with characters and a storyline, and asks you to draw your own conclusions.
That said, there isnt an obvious solution to the movie. While you may be able to explain the film after viewing it (which is trickier that it will seem at first), you may realize that the real brilliance of this film is in the levels of its narrative. At its core, it is a basic psychological thriller. Simultaneously, and perhaps subconsciously, it also meditates on weighty issues of reality and identity- consider what the imperative “Stay” means to different characters at different points in the film, and its almost like youre watching an entirely different movie than you originally thought.
Finally, the visuals in this movie provide their own context and narrative regarding the fragile nature of human memory and perception. This is the best looking movie Ive seen in a long time, and the fact that its combined with such a great story and cast makes this a rare treat.
Yeah, I too must have missed EVERYTHING! The movie sucked and I wouldnt recommend it to anyone!
from what I can gather, Ryans character henry at the begining was in a car crash (obvious) at the point you see him unharmed is were the dreamworld begins, the entire movie except the end is a dream, the type of dream where you are mostly asleep but somewhat awake, this explains the small clues such as the answering machine asking henry to hold on, you ever had a dream where the phone is ringing only to wake up to the phone ringing, the people standing on the bridge at the end are the people henrys mind has put in place of thoughts in his head, they play the short flashes of situations. I personaly dont think Sam, (ewan mcgregor)has anything to do with henry, its just a subconscience persona, in the dream henry tells sam that he came to him because he is the only one that can save him, i think he says because his conscience body only has sam trying to keep him alive until the ambulence shows up. I also believe in the dream sams girlfriend plays almost no relationship to henry because at the end you see henry thinking she is athena so his subconscience didnt build a relation to her personaly. This seems to be the only logical explanation to the story i can come up with, i felt as though we took a ride into the dream world where things seem real yet unreal things happen i.e. the blind man is cured with the touch of hand, as if henry was god, a subconscience reaction to being close to god or near death maybe. Anyways i thought it was a great movie, you watch as though there is going to be a huge revealed secret, and come to find its no real secret the answers are there.
The reason ewans pants are short.
Henry lying on the floor when the accident occured. and Ewan was crouching to help him and from henrys point of view is just the pants and socks. Thats why in henrys mind, he thinks that the ewan wears short pants.
Max, thanks for the psycho-babble explanation and saving me from the drudgery of watching the movie. Guess Im not a deep thinker, and your explanation made the most “consolidated” sense of all.
Just watched the movie, and came away completely puzzled. I was quite angry that I wasted so much time, awaiting all the peices to come together in the end, but when there, I was still confused. I came to the net in search for an answer and finally found one thanks to Max. I may not be the brightest star in the sky, but I do think (and there is proof by the explanations found on the web) that most wont understand this movie. I give it two thumbs down.
you re maybe right…but what if you are not? open ending is an alibistic element in this kind of films, i guess
yep you probably knew it all along because everything is obvious and clear.
good movie. good plot.
A lot of Americans are used to movies that are “chewed up” for them, where one doesnt require to think…too bad, in my opinion. This is an excellent movie, very engaging and beautifully shot. Ive found all of the clues and answers by the end of the movie. When we analyze our dreams, a lot of it doesnt make any sense, thats how you should think of the oddities in the movie. Ill definitely watch it again, Im sure itll be a different experience once you know whats going on.
I dont buy into generalizations and Im Irish, not American.
I understood most but not all the clues. I think if the plot had been deeper then I would have made the effort to understand the “clues”. The plot was so weak that 45mins into the movie I had already figured out the main arc and had lost interest.
Its very easy to create a series of bells and whistles on an otherwise simple story. Its far more difficult to create a compelling story with no gimmicks. Watch Primer for an example of same.
I take it all back… everything I said half way through, the reality of it all is time stood still for me, stood still while I watched this dumb ass movie…. So I say “this movies really does suck ass”… this movie does get two fingers up, unfortunately its my two middle ones…………
The reason that Ewans characters (Sam Foster) pants are short are because Ryan Gosling (Henry Letham) is looking at Sam while he is crouched which causes his pants to rise just that much higher. So, in the entire hallucination or illusion that is Henrys, Sams pants are raised as if they would be should he have been crouching.
OK..well im off to watch the movie again theres just a few things i would love to understand…first off…whats up with the whole artist killing himself thing having to do with? just doesnt make sense… and the movie is a dream but it seams as if its looked trough sams eyes.
I did not enjoy this movie (I agree with you re: the scene transitions, though – well done). I particularly didnt like the who attempt at a creepy version of Ground Hog Day and I think Ewans pants were too short to throw viewers off in a direction that had nothing to do with whats ultimately going on – perhaps that they are each others alter egos or something.
I will say this – I thought Ryan Gosling did a fantastic job and I have since rented two or three other movies just because hes in them; at 25, I would venture to say hes one of the better actors of his generation if not the best.
Is Sam suppose to represent Henry during his dying minutes of hallucination? I feel most of the movie was based on Sams life and confusions with reality. Why are we not seeing more of Henry?
hey, by the way, it’s a walrus. not a seal or a manitee. just a walrus.
This movie did rock. At least, if you didn’t appreciate the story because you’re too dumb or something, then rate it from an artistic point of view. Of course this is a movie to watch with an opened mind. Story was great, actors where perfect, and for god’s sakes! editing was pure genius. Maybe they already where movies of this kind before. True. But hey, stupid horror movies that invade theaters have the same script since 1670, and guess what, they still manage to sell their crap. So PLEASE, overestimating yourselves, stop thinking you’re that “all mighty movie critic”, and consider that compared to all the crap that’s being made theses days, it rocks. And it still rock compared to a lot of good movies. Nobody complained about Fight Club’s ending, although it was one of the easiest ways to end the movie. Judge a movie based on its content, not its ending.
i think u guys shud read wat freggs has to say
A little clue:
Henry’s last name is a rewrite of Hamlet (Let-Ham), and just like the prinse of Denmark, Henry is in a stade of To be or not to be, while he is waiting to die.
i loved the movie
i was freaking lost at the end…. i was bewildred!
then i read that the dying henry is dreaming?
um.. ??
lol
WHAT!! someone please tell me wtf this movie is about
I thought that Stay was an amazing movie. It has so much to say about reality. I think it’s sad that people don’t open their minds a little bit to see the symbolism in it. I have watched this movie at least 6 times. I don’t get sick of it. You catch something new all the time. It is beautiful. And this life, or illusion, is beautiful. Honestly, it opened my eyes and and made me see that this is beautiful whatever it may be. I mean, who knows, we could be dead and our spirits are living in a dream. Maybe that is the reason of life. No one ever wonders about these things anymore. I think it’s sad. Trapped between life and death in a illusion. Everything is a symbol in this movie. Kind of like the Wall, except Stay is deeper because it deals with this reality. I give it infinite thumbs up. And to those that do not agree, I am sorry. You are entitled to your own opinion. But, if you ever watch it again, just take it all in as if it were you.
What Sean said never even occurred to me: Way to Go Sean!
I was lost for a bit in this movie: and I think that is the point: to feel lost and bewildered just as the characters must have been! I loved it, felt very creeped out and then the emotions at the end werre overwhelming, and I found myself crying for a stranger just like Naomi Watts. I felt the acting on Ewan, Naomi and Ryans parts were just stunning. And the cinematography was simply amazing.
Just saw movie a year later for the second time. I’m so glad I found this site because I have been frustrated for a year. I give the movie two thumbs up. Too bad I could understand much of its conclusion. Thanks Max. I hope your assesment is right. I want to corner the writer/director for answers.
I am very torn by this movie. Part of me feels that its aesthetic quality makes up for confusion experienced during the movie. The movie is explained in the last minutes, and the feel of everything being a dream is done very effectively.The ending is also adequate.
However, being a film/story writing major, I feel that the author/screenwriter disobeys one of the first rules of storywriting: Don’t spout a bunch of shit and at the end say,”Oh it was all a dream.” It is a huge betrayal to the viewer, that everything they watched was just an abstraction existing only in someone’s mind. I could make a movie about literally anything and call it a dream. How would that be significant? Are you ever interested when someone tells you about a dream they had? NO!!! The film’s lack of twist ending is also its downfall. The whole time I was expecting for some mind blowing ending, and it never came. That is the only way for these kind of abstract movies to be effective.
My impression was that the “dream-like” quality depicted Sam’s brief psychotic break brought on by the trauma of wittnessing the accident and his inability to help the victim. Also thought the scenes at the aquarium (“the sea”) with the Walrus (or whatever it was)symbolized Sam’s subconcious. Good movie. Maybe a little overdone, visually, but still good.
Just want to ask a few questions:
Levy’s name was mentioned only after Henry died. So how come in the dream, Henry knows Levy’s name?
What’s with the silver brief cases everyone’s carrying?
What’s with the reoccurring “Watch Your Step Sign”?
Henry’s shoelaces are untied, does that suggest anything?
Hi guys – I just watched the movie and after reading all the comments I think you only got half of everything.
Filmluvr (three comments up) nailed it by writing
” Don’t spout a bunch of shit and at the end say,”Oh it was all a dream.” ”
Well yes, half of the meaning is that Henry dreamed all of this before he died (a little bit like Jesus in the Last Temtation movie), but I think the other half of the meaning – excuse my english, if its too primitive – is that Sam and Lila had a big trauma together there, watching Henry die in their hands and they met there at the crash site, had coffee together started a relationship and are still dealing with the aftermath. Maybe she cut her wrists later. Maybe she can’t sleep and has to take pills. Maybe Beth started to drink after the accident – heck I don’t know.
But I think/feel that there are two layers of reality. One – the brief moment before Henry dies and one that spands over years (as long as it would take for a slit wrist to heal) showing how difficult it is for to live with such a huge trauma.
i’d say it’s open to (too much) interpretation.
is it a dream?/is ryan a ghost?/is it aftherlife?/is it imagination?
every question may be answered with yes when you look at the movie in a particular way.
I though the acting in this movie was good but the storyline was just plain boring. I get the whole dream world thing it just isn’t very entertaining.
i have just one question : even if i think/feel i understood all the dream & etc…side about henry before his death, i don’t understand why sam in the last scene invits lila to drink a coffee after he has seemed to have “flashs” (thoughs by images) about a life together…???????????????
(sorry for my bad english or if this question has been asked before, i couldn’t read every message :s)
wtf?!!.. all of your were struggling to figure it out?! come on! i think max had the best commentary about the story (though majoring in psychology). not really, he had..
perhaps sam realizes his life is kind of empty and could end all too soon. the flashes are his mind conjuring up a possible reality. he saw the ring and and the dying kid, and was inspired to live life more fully
WOW ok just watched it last night and absolutely found it to be genuis and I never say that. This movie does not tie up neatly like some typical Hollywood Box Office HIT made for ordinary people who don’t want to have to work when they see a movie- so if you didn’t get it and are so turned off -you probably never will until right before you die. Literally – because this movie so brilliantly takes us on a journey of the beauty of our brains and how we cope with extreme impactful tradgedy and pain , especially when taken away abrubtly with our loved ones- how in our last moments we want to live out what our dreams were and try to create them and make them happen. Whats makes us hold on to life? The specifics of the film arent even that important really -it’s his specific journey. Yes I think SAMS pants were high because of how he saw them from the ground and ,the people watching him were cast in is mind by the way he took them in for a seconds he absorbed them- the asian male bystander watching him die wanted to leave- and he was cast as somewhat of a cold mental health DR.- brilliant. Maybe his father never say him for what he was and he was able through his dream to make his father truly see him before he died-he was able to finally pop the question to his love he’d been probably excited and consumed by that for weeks and it was on him- he even thought Henry had stolen the ring at one point – SAM says I did’t steal your ring – Henry holds him by gunpoint, showing the extreme fear of that ring gone( he even reaches for it) and quick fix of a moment creating the quickest way to get it back- I could go on and on with each character .This film really moved me and made me think and appreciate being a human being- I think many of us go around day to day in small versions of these fantasies to help us survive day to day. It’s important to see them.
Lots of you are so closed minded STAY was excellently made and I find it quite annoying to see someone refer to the great transitions as the director showing off, its like not wanting to see kobe dunk, it gets the job done, puts points on the board, and is entertaining. On the other hand its also annoying to read someone think there above others because they understood the movie and were able to see the art in it, thats to Maria. let me tell you this blog does not represent American culture. American culture is barely a culture because no one is similar here.
I think all of the characters in the movie were the people he last saw before he died standing around him. the entire movie is something he put together using the people around him, kind of like a dream, “between life and death” but stretched out, using that last 5 minutes or so laying on the ground. the reason he is depicted as unharmed is because he couldn’t see himself, or what was left of him. when he is at his most consciousness is when his dream is actually like a story. but towards the end he struggles when he’s slipping back and forth into consciousness, when there’s just a character chasing after something.
when their is a character that wasn’t there at the scene, it is from his own memory of something (trading a painting for a book and the two characters).
thats just my interpretation of (which there is no right and wrong about the ones above me) this movie, which should be fun and interesting for people to share their thoughts about, rather than saying hostile and confronting things about “im right and your wrong.”
people need to value others opinions when it helps to see things from another point of view.
i thought all of yours were interesting, aside from the bitchy trouble makers.
Stay=MasterPiece
I just watched “Stay” and felt utterly bewildered and fascinated by it, so I came to this site looking for an explanation. Thank you, each and every one of you who took the time to describe your point of view, thanks to you I am now able to appreciate this beautiful film in a better way.
If you still feel hesitant whether or not to see “Stay” (maybe for the second time, if you didn’t get it at first), I strongly suggest that you do, for it is a spectacular, deep, true masterpiece that provokes you to see the beauty around you and cherish the biggest treasure of all – life itself.
i agree with max and dave =) good movie!!
atleast..its something different =D
I cannot believe that you did not like this movie. This is one of my favorite movies of all times. It seems that you really misunderstood a lot of it and even failed to see the simplicity of the story amidst all the technical complexities. I have watched this film multiple times and I must say that it even moves me to tears. Though it is a terribly sad and almost depressing story, it is also extremely beautiful. Also, I would just like to add that Ewan McGregor’s pants aren’t too short just for “ha-has”. Rather it is a symbol. When Henry is dying and laying on the road, Ewan’s pants appear shorter due to the angle at which Henry is viewing him. Therefore, during the the dream-state within Henry’s unconscious mind, Ewan’s pants always appear short.
I just watched Stay. If you are on this site you probably had questions about your own interpretation. I think that Henry is caught between life and death after an accident which happens on his way back to art school with his family and girl. He is seeing his life flash before his eyes both his past and future. Those he sees standing around him while he is trying to remain conscious are integrated into his flashback just like a ringing phone, TV show or Alarm sometime find their way into our dreams. He hears himself being born, sees the manatee that he visited as a child, sees Athena dancing,acting, perhaps painting (however she is blended with Lila in his mind). They say at death you must make a decision to go into the light or go back. He viewed his future if he lived. He then pictures Athena’s life without him, perhaps attempting suicide because she is distraught over the loss of him but finally marries her psychiatrist and sees beauty again.The stolen/lost ring symbolizes this. He then proposes to her/lila. Someone said they were all gone and he realizes that he has no reason to stay.Finally he hears it is not his fault and is not going to hell so he leaves.
I understand Henry’s storyline. The only thing that confuses me is why Sam sees the vision of him and Lila together that prompts him to ask her out for coffee?
Just saw the movie, and I like anyone reading this apparently, was confused about some of the things in the movie. The movie was shot beautifully, and if anything it’s a great example of how to use angles and special filters to portray a story. Now, the plot on the other hand left much to be desired. I didn’t have the fortune of seeing the box cover so I went into this movie cold. First, I was convinced that perhaps Evin Mcgregor was talking to all these people after they died, sort of like the sixth sense. Mainly because of the interactions between the two main characters and the ex-suicidal girlfriend plus the dead parents. But, then I doubted the Even Mcgregor’s sanity when things started repeating and the crash at the crash repeating. Finally, the whole movie was “explained” with the dream. This was a HUGE letdown. Suddenly all of the weird interactions with the dog, and the mother and father, and the girlfriend and the artist, and the actor, and the bookstore, are all turned to shit! Maybe the “explanation” was just a clip of one of the characters at the end in all these scenes. Bullshit. Then, wow!! the two beautiful (close up shot at the end, dilated pupils) main characters get together
Maybe there’s something to this after all!!!! Anyone who says this is deep or introspective is woefully shallow.
Waste of time. I was expecting that at the end everything would make sense, but not really.
The guy above me is an idiot… People are so used to watching the same old type of movies that when they see a film of this depth, they give it ”two thumbs down” or say it sucks only because they aren’t used to being challenged. Afraid of thought. This movie is a masterpiece… The detail is given to us in intricate layers. All aspects of the film were fully utilzed to deliver the plot flawlessly… The use of backround noise, phrases, visuals and even music as clues is astounding. 5/5! Classic film. Bravo Forster.
Most of you guys are right about the interpretations…Personnally i think its a very good movie and i find it sad to see some people trash it just because they re used to action packed narrow minded plots they re force fed every time they go to the movies…Films are art-art is diverse and open to interpretation.
Brilliant movie. A true piece of art itself. Now an all time favorite.
This film is unbelievably AMAZING. just WOw.
Max hutchinson, i have to say your interpretaion is dead on to mine.
The last thing that goes is your sense of hearing before you die, so i can see why he would have a dream.
Truely artistic and full of potential. People just need to be more open minded.
Oh and the people with all the hate reviews… maybe u did waste your time, and thats your fault. GRATZ.
I loved the movie. What got me was the atmosphere … the music, the light etc. Guess people have different take on movies anyway. I also love Mulholland Drive, but a lot of my friends hate that movie.
Hey Max, you’re an idiot if you think the movie had anything to do with the doctor. It’s all about the guy in the dream world, because of the accident.
That being said, it’s weird. It’s nice in all when you figure it out, or google it, but it’s weird to watch it in theatres, and i wouldn’t be shocked to find out this didn’t do well in theatres.
The “different” approach to the movie is intriguing and different, and blah blah blah, but that doesn’t change the fact that people don’t like to guess and be confused/lost THAT much…….movies like this, i think, go TOO far in their attempts to be different or unique, and it just comes off as “WTF” instead of “oh wow i like the way they did that”
honestly its been 5 years and im re-watching this movie for the third time…and you just keep picking up on the cues.. notice how in the final sequence both lila who gets locked in is on “floor 21″ of her studio and as sam is rushing out of the subway he is using “exit 21″, the ambulance carrying his away at the end was “21 21″ .. it’s 11:38 and henry is gonna die at midnight on his 21st b-day.
the scene in the psych ward..with the woman yelling how “shes good and lovable”…then lila being all down on herself and asking sam if shes “good” and that she wants to be “remembered”
also another huge one…in his flashback sequence in the strip club the pictures of him and athena are takn in the exact same spot where lila and sam were sitting outside before the hail storm…
This is Synchronicity at its finest..temporally coincident occurrences of acausal events as Jung variously described… synchronicity as an acausal connecting principle, meaningful coincidence and acausal parallelism. and by seeing So many layers to this movie even after all this time. it has such freudien heinlich (uncanny) or cognitive dissonance it amazes even me – and im a psych grad.
this movie is amazing and anyone who doesnt at least try to get that…well…i actually pity you.
Yeah yeah GiGi, i pity anyone who doesn’t understand this movie could honestly be construed as annoying.
Did i hate it? Not at all….it was interesting. And at the end of the movie, once you’ve googled it, or once you’ve watched it 3+ times, it’s awesome. But most people want to watch a movie and find it awesome/enjoy it, as it goes. That’s all i’m saying.
Most people don’t want to be “fooled/tricked/toyed-with” THIS MUCH. Slight trickery is okay, and even desired…..the same ol’ predictable movies or movies like Halloween version 6029, suck. So yes, making movie that is different, and makes you think, is awesome. But this is one of those movie where that desired effect of being “different” didn’t come through as simply different, it come through as WTF.
And you said it yourself, you had to watch it 3 times to pick up all that stuff……..so you of all people should understand what i’m trying to say.
I never watch films unless I’m there at the beginning, but I stayed with this one, even tho I missed the opening scenes. Even with that, I was mesmerized. I will watch it again, the whole film this time.
Henry was still alive when put in the ambulance; his head was uncovered. It’s possible real time stood still for him and he lived on in a come, waiting for his birthday to arrive. He did say he wanted to “wake up.”
It’s a credit to the film that it is still being discussed in 2011.
This is my favorite movie…No1… I recomend it for those who like David Lynch’s psychological triller movies
I think you’re all wrong. I think this movie is about Henry’s last moments in life. As he’s dying, he’s looking up at the strangers who are there trying to help him, witnessing his death, asking him to ‘stay’ with them. (Hence, later on, Sam’s voice on his answering machine (a hint of a real moment as Henry’s dying) asking him to ‘stay’) He is badly injured, in a confused, jumbled state, obviously has a brain injury. (If you ever had a high fever or a brain injury than you’ll know this does happen to you.) His life flashes before his eyes and as hears the people around him talk, his mind incorporates them into his own life. He wishes that the car accident hadn’t happened at all and (in the movie) uses Sam as a tool to try to avoid reality…he wants Sam to save him from the horrible reality of being the one who was driving and who caused the accident. That’s what the entire movie is about. That’s why in the beginning he tells Sam that he ‘hears voices’ (who are, in fact, the voices from the real world, trying to help him at the car accident site) During the delusions, he slowly pieces the puzzle together, remembers who he is and that everyone he loved has died. The whole movie is from Henry’s point of view, even though we see it through Sam…
I think by now you get what I mean. Once Henry realized that he’s dying, although he does not want to die, he knows it’s his time and so he ‘goes back’ to the bridge to face reality and ultimately his death.
The movie also shows us how Henry thinks everyone was brought to be in the place to see him die. It symbolizes how intimate the moment is for him…(they stop whatever they are doing to watch him bleed before the window of the jewelry store). Sam and Lila, the two most important people to him at the moment, rush to the spot…
However, I do think that this movie dibs a little in the paranormal as Henry is seeing the yet to be ‘relationship’ of the main characters, (and also a little of the other people who are there). As he’s dying, one has the feeling that his ‘soul’ peeked into their futures.
I actually liked this movie. At first I thought that Sam was Henry, (a mental patient who forgot to take his pills, and the one who killed his parents. I thought that Lila was a delusion) But the ending was clear that it was, in fact, the other way around. Nobody we’ve seen during the movie has actually yet met until that point in Henry’s life. And the wedding ring was Henry’s all the time…he kept seeing it on Sam during his delusions, when all this time it was his happy secret.
Honestly, I was confussed with the plot of the film. The scene transitions make the film more difficult to be understood actually. For me it’s like watching alice in wonderland, looks like every character in the movie wasn’t a friendly character, the circumtances was weird and cold.
If you say the movie is bad I would say you haven´t understood it right and Ewan´s pant´s are too short because that´s what Henry sees when Sam is helping him.
I’ve read a few of these comments and just finished watching the movie. You have good examples about whats in dreams that also appear in this movie… like metaphors. This whole movie is based on what Ryan’s character is percieving between life and death and how everything he sees, from the boy and his mother to Ewan and Naomi’s characters, it’s all being put together by his last dying thoughts. Now that I think about it, this movie is like “The Lovely Bones” because the main character is in the interval between life and death and everything that is occuring in that movie is about the man that killed her, and her trying to escape the secret room underground. ‘Stay’ is a great movie, you just have to watch it a few times before you really get the feeling of what is happening and recognize the dream-like examples, (the people walking in threes, the constant scene changes, the people who confused Ewan’s characted with someone else, etc.) It’s all like a dream, but for Ryan’s character, it’s the interval between life and death.
Gregg is right, it is so obvious ones you think of it from that point of view! If you don´t think of the movie like that, it is very hard to figure the movie out as it easily throws you of course
It took me some time to realize but ones I did, everything clicked.
Brilliant mind teaser!
To those snobs that felt compelled to mention their Psychology degree as though it makes you an authority, I don’t believe film critics,directors,writers,etc are required to have a PSYCH DEGREE. The plain truth is,this was a confusing movie,and most of us would rather just try to enjoy a movie rather than have to analyze it or watch it several times just to figure out the point. It does take away from the enjoyment,and after all,isn’t that what MOST of us watch movies for!?
Just a thought, but maybe the symbolism of the walrus comes from ‘I am the Walrus’ by the Beatles. The first line of that song is, “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” Kind of like the dream state blurring of identities in this film.
Utterly useless boring movie!
This movie is brilliant. To all those who find it ‘dumb’ or ‘a waste of time,’ you need to open up your minds. The actors, the filming, the symbolism…. all amazing! Definitely one of my favourite movies and I will be watching again soon!
Actually the director made his pants too short because from Henry’s (Ryan Gosling) point of view Sam is crouching so his pants rise up. I thought It was a really great movie, it’s one of my favorites.
Yeah,this movie was total crap,and its a shame because there were some very talented actors involved.Any nonsense about people just not being smart or deep enough to get this movie is a joke,it was a weak plot,actually a plot barely existed at all.The whole”gotcha this entire movie was just a dream in some dying guy’s head” was nothing more than a copout as far as im concerned.At the end of the movie I was left with a feeling of being ripped off,like i was still waiting for the punchline.What a waste of time.I mean really,you could insert that idea into a thousand other movies and basically go wherever you’d like as far as plot and sequence without having to justify any of it because,well, it was only in his head…like i said, a copout. peace all
It’s like a Miro painting. No meaning. Just a nice combination of lines and colors. Who tries to find a sense or a meaning, does not understand art. The real art has no sense or meaning. Like life. Precisely who finds a meaning or a sense is the “dumb”.
the STAY is brilliant, and this is why we watch such movies: to think about it, to reflect. when i decided to watch this movie, i knew it was not going to be a “relaxing easy watching”. if you want to watch an easy watching movie where everything is clear and no thoughts required then watch those. they are being produced for such purposes. and the director of STAY didn’t expect crowds to love his movie in the first place anyway.
This movie was really good. I like to watch something that challenges you to think, and to really pay attention; and also has the value of being re-watch-able and it being different again (if you want to look at the clues and learn more about the film)
If you don’t like it then you’re probably just a dumb*ss. Go watch some Hollywood bullsh*t to feed your sh*tty mind.
Ha, only kidding! If you didn’t like it, then you didn’t like it. Not your fault you are who you are
Go and find something else to watch. There is no wrong or right really. Just expressions of opinion and creativity!
Maybe go make your own film, right, right?!
Intelligent and original movie.
For those who felt unfulfilled at the ending; unfortunately you were expecting an explanation. Explanation can be found throughout the movie and the final scene informs us that we just lived Henry’s dream. This dream is a transition between here and there (life and death).
In Henry’s dream we notice all the characters of the movie and we see each one of them at the final scene. Details of Sam’s life are created by Henry, everything is designed by Henry. Nothing is real.
Nevertheless, the message is beautiful: guilt and pain can be horrible but the beauty is worth the stay.
Not a blockbuster but as I mentioned, an intelligent and original movie.
@luke
The meaning of life is survival and reproduction.
The “secondary” meaning of life, the fictive one, is yours to create.
STAY. I didn’t watch it from the beginning guess that’s I came here to understand more. Thanks to all that commented on this movie. Frankly, if I didn’t get the meaning of the story from watching it half way, I don’t think that makes me an idiot. It’s not too good to ✆ people names on a forum like this just because they air their views.
I was glad to see so many comments regarding this film. I think it’s as simple and complex as this, it’s his life flashing before Henry’s eyes before he dies. What seems so detailed is just an amalgam of dream intermixed with memories.