@rarebreed said:

It seemed as though there were two stories, two different outcomes of his life for which he had to choose and he had to make those choices under the most stressful circumstamces. I enjoyed the mystery up until the end. Rami Malek does a great job at playing a man slowly losing his mind and grip on reality.

it's pretty much extended episode of Mr. Robot meaning his homeless friend was only in his head and that he killed his family, I was quite disapointed him playing again same character

@Markoff said:

@rarebreed said:

It seemed as though there were two stories, two different outcomes of his life for which he had to choose and he had to make those choices under the most stressful circumstamces. I enjoyed the mystery up until the end. Rami Malek does a great job at playing a man slowly losing his mind and grip on reality.

it's pretty much extended episode of Mr. Robot meaning his homeless friend was only in his head and that he killed his family, I was quite disapointed him playing again same character

The mountain man was only a delusion? I thought that was real and the family was real because there were other characters that he interacted with. The part of him lost at sea was the alternate reality.

Or perhaps he got lost at sea, landed on the shores somewhere else and then decided to forget about his life and becomea mountain man.

i think mountain man was real, why would you think it's his imagination? to me everything except homeless man and boat was real

@Markoff said:

i think mountain man was real, why would you think it's his imagination? to me everything except homeless man and boat was real

The reason I stopped thinking mountain man was real, or Buster was his nickname, was for two reasons. First that scene where the local police have him cornered at that cave and after the gunfire when the police approached the cave, Buster disappeared. How couldn't he have just disappeared so fast. Second, was the scene showing him arrive at the mountains, leave his car and split into two people before walking into the entrance. Clearly the director is showing us that there were two different possibilites of his fate after he decides not to join the others at his wife and daughters gravesite. I just am not sure which one was reality. But then at the end, he ends up on the beach. So your guess is as good as mine. Lol

@rarebreed said:

@Markoff said:

i think mountain man was real, why would you think it's his imagination? to me everything except homeless man and boat was real

The reason I stopped thinking mountain man was real, or Buster was his nickname, was for two reasons. First that scene where the local police have him cornered at that cave and after the gunfire when the police approached the cave, Buster disappeared. How couldn't he have just disappeared so fast. Second, was the scene showing him arrive at the mountains, leave his car and split into two people before walking into the entrance. Clearly the director is showing us that there were two different possibilites of his fate after he decides not to join the others at his wife and daughters gravesite. I just am not sure which one was reality. But then at the end, he ends up on the beach. So your guess is as good as mine. Lol

You are right, i forgot about disappearance in cave and splitting.

And you are right about Buster being the same character as Mr Robot. Lol

My take was that in the end he chose to choose a different path and his wife and child were still alive. You see them approaching him on the beach as he lay in the sand, he sees them and knows that all the rest was a dream....

and I didn't think he was playing the same character at all.

@HoneyWest said:

My take was that in the end he chose to choose a different path and his wife and child were still alive. You see them approaching him on the beach as he lay in the sand, he sees them and knows that all the rest was a dream....

and I didn't think he was playing the same character at all.

So in other words, Buster felt overwhelmed, that his family was a burden to him and the reason he had to work as a concierge overnight shift. And the rest of the film: the homeless man, the murders and his life as a mountain man were part of an elaborate fantasy brought on by stress and sleep deprivation and wanting less responsibilities. But in the end Buster choose to accept his responsibilities?

@rarebreed basically, yes!

@HoneyWest said:

@rarebreed basically, yes!

Hmm. I'd have to watch this movie again since so much of what we're shown represents metaphors of his inner turmoil and the reality of the situation.