That may be a spoiler but for anyone reading this maybe just knowing beforehand that every nonsensical thing that happens can be excused by the surprise ending helps for a better viewing experience.
For me, it just defied my disbelief too much to enjoy when the central plot device is driven entirely by contrivance -- meaning that everything the main character does and doesn't do is just to force the story toward an ending even if it doesn't make sense how it gets there.
What makes her constant illogical behavior so ludicrous is the film's refusal to ever offer any believable reasons as to why....
- Like why is she even talking with this creeper guy? -
- Why not just hang up and call somebody else, anybody else? -
- So what if her phone isn't able to dial the number 1, it's a smartphone -- does she not have an entire contacts list of stored phone numbers she can cycle through? -
- Why does she persist so much in carrying on unwanted conversations with this stranger that keeps upsetting her? -
- Is there no concern for her phone battery? -
SPOILER: Turns out everything that's happened after the crash has been all in her head. The creeper doesn't even exist, the conversations were just her talking to herself. So every illogical gripe I listed above, anything that didn't make sense while watching the movie have a convenient excuse as to why it doesn't matter if it did or not... Because, "surprise", twist.
Except the movie never ever alludes to anything supernatural or otherworldly or strange or odd leading up to the sudden last minute twist. It even wants to fool you by showing cutaways to the creeper guy in his home. But if he doesn't exist and it's only her inner voice projecting, then how and why are we (the audience) seeing it? Also why does her inner-voice sound like an old man?
All of this is what makes its inclusion feel unearned, unnatural, and forced. And thus the entire plot contrived.
Imagine if these other (much better) movies that employed the same "it was all in their head" twist had it just suddenly happen without pretense like it does in this film:
...If JACOB'S LADDER never toyed with the Vietnam PTSD angle, or had him haunted by actual demons, or had shown nightmare scenarios -- ...If STAY never had Ryan Gosling seeing the world filled with twins, triplets, and the same few people everywhere -- ...If AMERICAN PSYCHO wasn't so odd throughout -- ...If SHUTTER ISLAND didn't offer a mystery to distract our attention -- ...If VANILLA SKY didn't introduce the lucid dreaming company ahead of time.
................. MY RATING SCALE .................
- 1. Reserved for Poorly Produced/Amateur Video
- 2. Utterly Terrible
- 3. Really Bad
- 4. Mediocre
- 5. Perfectly Average
- 6. Surprisingly Entertaining
- 7. Very Good
- 8. Incredibly Good
- 9. Exceptionally Great
- 10. Reserved for my Personal Favorites.
