Naomi Watts
The Movie Stay An Explanation
The movie Stay with Ryan Gosling, Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts is an incredible movie in many respects. I just watched it for a second time yesterday. Its a vivid psychological thriller that keeps you thinking the entire way through. If you liked movies like the 6th sense or Shutter island you will like this. If you have ever seen the movie you might be looking for a reasonable explanation of the plot.
The idea behind the movie is quite interesting. It seems to leave the viewer to make his or her own
interpretation. From my view it plays on the concept of life, death and the nature of reality. The movie is riddled with philosophical references like “the world is an illusion” and “nothing is good or evil but thinking makes it so”. The idea that Stay seems to represent is that at its heart reality is an illusion and nothing more than a construct of mind and perception.
If you have never seen Stay don’t read this article, go out and rent the movie!
The movie starts out with the scene of what appears to be a horrific car accident along the Brooklyn bridge in New York. There are burning vehicles and you are introduced to the main character Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling) who is sitting next to the burning wreckage before he gets up and starts to walk across the bridge. The movie proceeds to follow psychiatrist Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) who is assigned to work with Henry. Henry tells Sam
that he is hearing voices and that he is going to kill himself this coming Saturday at midnight. Henry can also apparently predict the future. Sam is disturbed by Henry and begins to do everything in his power to try to help the troubled young man. Sam has a girlfriend Lila (Naomi Watts) who is an aspiring artist and a former suicidal patient of Sam’s, she feels she might be able to help Henry. Henry is also a brilliant art student and is obsessed with a 19th century New York artist who commit suicide on the Brooklyn bridge, on his 21st birthday.
As the movie progresses there seems to be a deepening interconnection between Sam and Henry on some fundamental level, almost like they are actually both the Same person. The movie starts to take on characteristics of a dream state with events repeating them selves and strange ghostly events. One of the most unnerving scenes is when Sam goes to see Henry’s mother who Henry said was dead. She is seemingly alive but seems to think Sam is Henry and that he did something horrible to her, but forgives him. She starts bleeding profusely from her head and then her dog “Olive” starts biting Sam’s arm, like something out of a nightmare. When Sam goes to the hospital for his wound a police officer tells him that “Mrs Letham” has been dead for several months. The movie seems to hint that Henry’s parents were killed in the car accident from the first scene. Long story short, Sam tries catching up with Henry before he can go ahead with his planned suicide and the movie culminates on the Brooklyn bridge. Henry tells Sam he is too late to save him and shoots himself, the movie reverts to the car accident from first scene.
At this point its revealed that the entire preceding film was some kind of parallel dream state. All the characters from throughout the movie are there at the scene of the accident as bystanders. Sam meets Lila for the first time as they try but fail to save Henry. The movie seems to end off hinting at a deeper connection
than just a dream in Henry’s mind alone. This movie is truly a work of art, I recommend watching it twice if you want to fully grasp it.
About the Author
Nathan Wasson is an Author and Businessman who lives in Niagara Falls, Canada. Nathans thought provoking personal blog “coveted content” features articles on a range of fascinating topics. Check it out today and expand your mind- http://covetedcontent.wordpress.com
Naomi Watts on The Ellen DeGeneres Show