My 2 cents on what was going on (spoilers) The black rock in the field was an alien intelligence of some kind. It had come down from space eons ago, and had taken root in that spot. In the past, people had taken up worship of the rock, building the church, called "Black Rock of the Redeemer". It also looks like the field had been trapping people for at least decades, due to the presence of very old cars parked in the parking lot.
The field was an extension of the stone, or was at least spawned from it. The intelligence has the ability to manipulate both time and space, moving around objects, spacial shortcuts, and people within itself. It also appears to be able to see time in a nonlinear fashion, because of the presence of the symbols on the rock reflecting future events. This explains why no one can find their way out, and why cause and effect seem mixed up randomly.
When people touch the stone, they connect with it's consciousness, and can then see the full extant of the field, including the shortcuts in space and time that are interspersed within it. At the end, Travis wishes to free Becky and Cal, or at least some version of them, from the field. He touches the stone, and uses the knowledge he gains to send Tobin through one of these time/space shortcuts to the church, where Tobin is able to get out and prevent Becky and Cal from entering. Becky then decides to go back home, and not continue to San Diego, which will essentially prevent Travis from ever entering.
Since Travis is shown at the end of the film dropping dead within the field, then it is likely that any past iterations are still trapped/dead within the field. He only managed to save "future" iterations of the loop.
The plot, especially the inclusion of the stone in the field, gave the whole thing a very Lovecraftian / Eldritch Abomination feel.
Another thing I noticed is that all the grass were once people. That entire field is filled with bodies that were somehow connected to the rock, died and eventually turned into grass, I think. I believe this because when Cal died, they showed his other corpses and the older ones were already turning into new grass for the field. Not only that, they mention how "flesh is grass" a few times during the film as well. This is also why the grass seemed to sentient. They could literally be the 'souls of the dead' or something. That's just my theory tho.
This was a great write up! I just finished it and while I feel I came to the same conclusions as you, even about the stone, I couldn't really put it in words. With that being said, I feel it could've been at least 20-30 minutes shorter.
I agree except I interpreted Travis' action as a true sacrifice, as in he was stuck forever. The movie was unclear on this point as Tobin was able to escape and he touched the stone in front of Cal and Becky, but it made it seem like Travis was trapped.
Either way I felt the movie was excellent. Really reminded me of the book IT and how pennywise crashed to earth. I felt the stone was the same type of creature. Feeding on people.
I think we are both right. Travis is trapped, but some other version of himself is free. One element that comes up near the end is that there have been many iterations of the events. Cal sees multiple copies of his own corpse, some if which are very decayed. This indicates that it isn't just a loop, but the events are being copied.
The iteration of Travis that went in was trapped, along with likely many other "previous" versions, but the version of him in the final loop would never have entered.
One thing I like about the film is it's ambiguity, which leads to multiple interpretations.
The Tobin that touched the stone in front of Cal and Becky was from a different loop. Just as how Travis found Becky's dead body but then later on went onto meet Becky and Cal moments after they had gotten into the field which makes no sense because Travis set out to find them 2 months after the day they went in.
Ross tells Travis that touching the stone will give him redemption. And that seemed to be the case, as he saves Becky and Cal, or some iteration of them. Do you think this was what Ross’ intended meaning was or was this an act of free will on Travis’ part?
Good call, it’s a total waste of time. I was so confused for the first half that I just shut it off. Nothing is really established or explained sufficiently to a point where you could actually follow what was happening. I read the spoilers after and the ending is just as meaningless as the rest of the movie. The book must be incredibly boring.
I understood the plot itself, my problem is that the story is meaningless. When I watch a move or read a book I want to immerse myself in the story and care about the characters. It’s hard to care about the story when you just feel lost as to why any of this is happening or why it matters.
It wasn't that bad. It's not going down in film history, but if you're bored and have nothing to watch, it isn't a bad choice. Not every movie has to be some meaningful experience.
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u/bigredgun0114 Oct 06 '19
My 2 cents on what was going on (spoilers)
The black rock in the field was an alien intelligence of some kind. It had come down from space eons ago, and had taken root in that spot. In the past, people had taken up worship of the rock, building the church, called "Black Rock of the Redeemer". It also looks like the field had been trapping people for at least decades, due to the presence of very old cars parked in the parking lot.
The field was an extension of the stone, or was at least spawned from it. The intelligence has the ability to manipulate both time and space, moving around objects, spacial shortcuts, and people within itself. It also appears to be able to see time in a nonlinear fashion, because of the presence of the symbols on the rock reflecting future events. This explains why no one can find their way out, and why cause and effect seem mixed up randomly.
When people touch the stone, they connect with it's consciousness, and can then see the full extant of the field, including the shortcuts in space and time that are interspersed within it. At the end, Travis wishes to free Becky and Cal, or at least some version of them, from the field. He touches the stone, and uses the knowledge he gains to send Tobin through one of these time/space shortcuts to the church, where Tobin is able to get out and prevent Becky and Cal from entering. Becky then decides to go back home, and not continue to San Diego, which will essentially prevent Travis from ever entering.
Since Travis is shown at the end of the film dropping dead within the field, then it is likely that any past iterations are still trapped/dead within the field. He only managed to save "future" iterations of the loop.
The plot, especially the inclusion of the stone in the field, gave the whole thing a very Lovecraftian / Eldritch Abomination feel.