Stay

It was all a dream ... Found the film compelling despite not understanding what was going on for 90% of its runtime. Ryan Gosling's performance really drew me in. I also enjoyed the editing; the jarring cuts, the strange little coincidences— repeating events, repeating outfits, nightmarish loops, etc that signified something wasn't quite right until reality began to fully slip. From what I understand, Henry Letham was imagining how his future might play out if he stayed alive. All the characters (Dr. Foster, Lila, the other psychiatrists) and their lives were imagined, based on the people helping him after the car crash. This would explain the inconsistencies in time and events: Foster's conversation with Henry's mother, Olive the dog, Athena practicing lines for a play, the slideshow of pictures of Henry's youth at the stripclub. These are figures and events Henry would've witnessed over the course of his life. I understand why his brain would flash through these memories, and try to weave them together into a narrative that would help convince him to stay alive. However, I remain confused about many things. If this was all a dream, why the focus on Foster and Lila's personal lives? What does the theme of Riveur and planned suicide denote? What do those Henry Letham paintings in the bookstore and in Lila's workshop mean? That Henry might've reached some success as artist? What's the meaning behind the blind father / Dr. Leon recovering sight through Henry's hands? It was all a dream. That's the ending. I get it but I suppose I was hoping for something a bit more. Would probably appreciate this more if I ever did a rewatch idk