A refreshing oasis in an otherwise parched desert of Hollywood remakes (NO SPOILERS)

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 2017)

10/10
I loved this film so much, was so shaken and moved by it, that I actually created an IMDb account to post this review. This film is a breath of cold, crisp fresh air for anyone sick of brain dead Hollywood sequels and remakes.
My review is for people who haven't watched the film, so it contains no spoilers. I believe that like a magician's trick, if you know what's going on, the illusion will vanish. You'll miss the magic. You'll won't feel the confusion. Your brain won't be pulling itself apart trying to work out what is amiss.
This is why all the trailers leave the story as a mystery. It pains me to see the director and cast answering questions on the red carpet and in interviews explaining the film away. Sadly, if you are reading this review, you probably already know what the film is about, and you are now cursed never to experience the magic this film has to offer. It's a risky game, to make a film like this. It's a bubble waiting to be popped by the media and criticism whereupon the marketers suddenly backtrack their high ground and feel the need to explain what it's about. By doing this, they poison the well they put such great care into making.
I believe that the true magic of this film can only be experienced if you share the confusion of the protagonist, as I did. I genuinely felt like I was watching events unfold through my own eyes. A state of surreal confusion, anxiety and panic. To be able to transport the watcher into such an incredible and other worldly state, to be able to take someone to such a place, is an amazing feat. And Aronofsky, Lawrence and Bardem accomplished that feat for me.
This was obviously an incredibly hard film to market. Give away too much and the magic is gone. Give away too little and magic has no foundation in which to root itself. Thank you for the director, cast and studio for investing in this. I read that they did 3 months solid of rehearsals before shooting, and I think you can see this passion in the execution, the flow, the near flawless way in which the jigsaw puzzle assembles itself. This is not improv.
What else to say about the film without giving anything away? It's hard. All I can say is if you like to THINK, stop reading or learning ANYTHING about this movie right now. Go on a total information blackout until you are in the cinema. And then strap yourself in.
Might I first address my own assessment of the 15% of people on IMDb who gave this film 1/10:
* Half say the film is too obvious
* The other half say the film doesn't make sense
They can't seem to make their minds up. How can people be giving it 1/10 for being both too obvious and lowbrow and others giving it 1/10 for being incomprehensibly highbrow?
All I can imagine is that the people who thought it was too obvious knew what it was about before they started. For them, the film was perhaps already doomed.
And the others in that group that "worked it out" too quickly, then thought it was too low brow for them, I guess their brain switched off and they didn't care to keep looking for the myriad other interpretations of what is happening on the screen.
There are at least 2 very obvious interpretations, and many non-obvious ones. I've read lots of reviews in the days since seeing it (I saw it a week ago) and people really have come up with very interesting ways in which to interpret the story and symbols. For 80% of the film I thought it was about something completely different than my final interpretation.
Then there are those who thought it was incomprehensible. One lady near me got up in the end and said "Is everyone else as confused as I am?". I guess she thought she was going to see the next Hunger Games or Transformers. I don't blame her for that at all. I just genuinely feel sad for her because she hadn't switched her brain on until it was too late. She lost her $20 and she felt robbed and I honestly feel sorry for her.
If "interpretation" is a dirty word for you, you might hate this film. But let me be clear - this is not an ineffable high-brow David-Lynch circle-jerk that leaves people for decades wondering what the meaning (if any) was. This film has very clear, solid, definable meaning. As well as myriad alternate interpretations.
Lastly, some say it offended their belief system. I can't argue with that one. This film is offensive. It assaults you. It takes no prisoners and doesn't care for your belief system. Because it is bigger than your belief system. It is infinitely (literally) bigger than that.
If you have ever felt that Hollywood was caught in meaningless loop, pay to go see this movie and show your support. The more people that see it the more innovative, adventurous, risky, thought provoking movies we be financed in the future. A major movie house took a risk on this - I can only suggest that anyone who cares about film, get yourself to a cinema and reward them for having the balls to produce this.
If my review gets one more person to watch this film, the time taken to write it has been worth it.