The feeling of many influences.

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2005)

"The Machinist" is the sort of movie where not only are you surprised that it came from Spain, but you feel influences from other directors. Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is an emaciated engineer whose life is upset when a new man comes to work at his factory. What secrets does this new man hide, and how do they relate to Trevor? The movie unfolds like an Ira Levin novel: everything seems normal at first, but then something doesn't seem right, and then there's the revelation of the horrible truth. There's also a hint of Hitchcock, with the numerous references to certain things. In this case, it's the two meanings of the word "sinister": Trevor keeps turning left, and evil things keep happening. All in all, you just might start doubting your own sanity after seeing this movie.
So I understand that this was a Spanish movie, but everything about it seemed American. What's up with that?