Quite possibly, the ultimate story of psychological horror

Rating: 10/10 (2 September 2005)

A worker at a steel factory is suffering from insomnia and hasn't slept in over a year. Is he sane? Is his world real? Is he DEAD? The film starts right away with the question: "Who are you?" And the thing is, the viewer is just as confused as the protagonist Trevor Reznik played by Christian Bale in a terrific performance. This heavy taste of initial irony propels the viewer right along side Trevor as he struggles through his world and tries to figure why things are starting to make less and less sense. His only happiness in his grim world is with an equally miserable prostitute who he sees regularly and a waitress at an airport cafÃ©. When he meets an eccentric co-worker, Ivan, that apparently no one else sees and this leads to a brutal accident at work he is thrown out.
From there on the story is filled with brilliant images and complemented by a terrific direction as Trevor goes to find out the truth about his miserable existence. From an amusement park ride that takes Trevor right to hell to a chase into the bowels of the city, it seems the more Trevor runs the farther from grace he gets. Also he finds cryptic post-it notes in his apartment, did he put them there? Is he being done in? Are the people he meets people he has known before? The questions keep coming and the resulting film is just as interesting as it is well made. Director Brad Anderson's previous film was also a psychological horror story and he must have learned a lot in its making, because this is better in every respect. From scale to tension, from imagery to pacing this is quite possibly the ultimate story of psychological horror. 10/10
Rated R: grim and violent content, profanity, and sex