Now that feeling is closing in on me again: he's playing a game of rescue and being rescued with Ewan McGregor in the psychological thriller "Stay."
Sam Foster (Ryan Gosling), an existentialist. At the same time, he is also a student who plans to kill his spiritual idol by suicide. One day, he came to the counseling room and confessed his plans to Henry Letham (Ewan McGregor), a counselor who is also a professor of psychology, and revealed the place and time of his suicide. He would choose Don't end your own life in the death of your idol. But Henry felt a little puzzled. Why would a person who has decided to commit suicide reveal his death information to others in advance? Could it be that he longed to be redeemed? Henry tried to explain Sam's move with various philosophical theories, and at the same time began a series of investigations on Sam, including the collection of information on his background, personality, living environment...etc. Henry's girlfriend Lila (Naomi Watts) is also very supportive of Sam's redemption efforts. But when Henry had just visited Sam's parents and had an unsuccessful exchange with them, he realized that Sam's parents had long since passed away. Then other strange things followed. Henry seems to be shrouded in fog, unable to tell whether the road ahead is feasible, whether the redemption will continue, or will it be abandoned? Henry chose the latter, but the date of Sam's suicide was looming, and the twilight of death was imminent.
In the end what is the ending of this huge "game" between Sam and Henry? Is there a deeper secret behind the suicide action?
The British handsome Henry Letham's performance in the film is very outstanding. He portrays the ambivalence of a psychological counselor who is trapped in a mystery but eager to save the students. And Ryan Gosling, with his unique gloomy temperament, can render the strange whereabouts of a suicide and the suspenseful atmosphere of the film full and transparent. Coupled with the plot that is worthy of repeated scrutiny, I think this film is still worth watching.
By the way, the film was directed by German director Marc Forster, who directed Finding Neverland.
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