Directed by:
Marc ForsterScreenplay:
David BenioffCinematography:
Roberto SchaeferCast:
Ewan McGregor, Ryan Gosling, Naomi Watts, Elizabeth Reaser, Bob Hoskins, Kate Burton, Janeane Garofalo, BD Wong, John Tormey, Jessica Hecht, Mark Margolis (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A dedicated New York psychiatrist Sam Foster urgently attempts to stop a secretive and unusual young patient he inherited, Henry Lethem, from carrying out a planned suicide on the eve of his 21st birthday. But Sam's investigation of Henry has reality-shattering effects on the psychiatrist. As Sam is drawn deeper into the web of Henry's life--and then into the labyrinth of his subconscious--it puts stress on Sam's relationship with his artist girlfriend and former patient Lila. But soon Sam's own tightly-held grip on the rational world begins to melt away. Faced with increasingly surreal encounters and a Manhattan transformed into a wildly shifting dreamscape, Sam can no longer figure out what is true and what is happening only in his head, nor where he begins and Henry ends. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
Before you die you get to a world where you can be who you want to be... A visually compelling, disturbing drama where everything you thought was real falls into time loops and evasive replies by the main protagonists. The ending rather unnecessarily removes the irrational charm of the whole mosaic, but even so it’s very tolerable. Excellent McGregor, excellent Gosling.
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Forster plays Lynch and with a gradually escalating plot, interesting visuals (occasionally delicious cuts between locations) and hand in hand with the growing confusion in the viewer's head, he moves towards the climax, the big reveal that clarifies nothing at all and forces many interpretations, namely: a) the twist is so trivial it hurts, b) it's so sophisticated that nobody gets it, c) Forster is just taking the piss. For me it's a), and while Lynch’s movies are exciting in their bizarreness even after repeated viewings, Stay is a one-shot mess. And by the way, Gosling was excellent, Mc Gregor did his standard and Watts is just there for decoration.
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I have seen a number of mystery movies lately that I simply couldn't tolerate. Stay is surprisingly not only functional but I would even say excellent. It has excellent coordination of music, camera, film effects, and acting performances, and has atmosphere and a meaningful well-constructed screenplay. In terms of the genre, only some early Lynch films have had such an impact on me, but compared to them, Forster's drama has a more rational point. It's the kind of film that is worth seeing not only twice, but it's even possible to enjoy many scenes from the film better with knowledge of what is going to happen, and it's possible to watch it many times over. The casting of top-notch and well-known actors paid off, and this is simply a genre delight where only two scenes bother me because reveal more than is necessary. Overall impression: 95%.
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One of those “is this reality or is it a dream?” games the relies mainly on how smart the screenwriter is and on the talent and feeling of the director, because it can very easily become a dud that doesn’t make any sense. Fortunately, this one turned out well. I will study Forster and will keep an eye on him for the future.
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Marc Forster has made a film so strange and atypical that the actors don't really know what they're playing. Of course we have to approach Stay differently than other films. We can absolutely ignore any genres. Stay is like a dream, and that's how it should be seen. Just as everyone can find something different in their dream to explain what it came from, so too everyone can interpret this film in their own way. Disregard the spoileroid concoctions of the distributor, what the film is really about is pretty much up to the viewer. Even that alone is enough for an absolute rating, and even if it isn't, the visual gore definitely makes up for it.
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