Explanation (contains spoilers)
**Warning this will contain spoilers***
Ok I have read through most of the posts here and I have to say that I only agree with a select few. Most seem to miss the boat entirely in trying to explain this great movie so I thought I would share my thoughts.
- First and foremost, the entire movie is not a dream. The people are real and there are no ghosts in the movie. Ed does have hallucinations throughout the movie but he is not dreaming. The title of the movie is chasing sleep, something Ed is always trying to obtain. Also the tagline for the movie is "The nightmare begins when you open your eyes...". Ed never closes them, he is always living in his nightmare which happens to also be his reality. This reality is the fact that he killed his wife and her fetus (which was not his but the physical ed teacher, George, in which his wife was having an affair with).
-The hallucinations and the nosies that he hears are all caused by Ed's subconscious. They are all reminding him of what he did. This is why Ed cannot obtain sleep and is chasing it throughout the movie. He wants to be free from what he has created, to sleep (which also might symbolize death, so chasing sleep=chasing death. This might be a stretch) to end the nightmare. The finger that Ed found was an hallucination much like the fetus in the bath tub. It was not real but a reminder of what he did (again his subconscious doing this too him). Also he tried so hard to flush the finger and get rid of it but it just kept coming back symbolizing his constant struggle dealing with what he did. The pipes and the water damage (which created holes, another big symbol in the movie) throughout the house symbolizes his wife. He killed her, chopped her up (remember the seen with him holding an arm), bagged her, drove her car to George's house, left the car running, dumped the bag in the George's back yard (wooded area), and walked home (to make it look like George killed her). He killed her in the tub and "washed her away" down the drain and if you can recall the tubs faucet was dripping. So whenever he heard the dripping or the pipes it was reminding him of what he did.
-Ed's "neighbors" were in fact him and his wife fighting before he killed her. When Ed heard his "neighbors" having sex it was just his mind reminding him of his wife's affair with George. Sadie represents George in this story. Remember Ed's wife had an affair because the romance in the marriage had died (most likely caused by Ed's job which he hated. He always seemed to talk in a manner that would make me believe he resented what his life had become. He missed writing poetry and his old life before marriage and the house. He just got the teaching job for the pay. This probably caused depression and could have caused a resentful feeling towards his wife, thus decreasing the romance). Ed's wife found someone who was new, exciting, cared for her in a way she hadn't seen or felt in a long time, and someone able to sexually gratify her. Sadie cared for Ed in a similar way. She brought food over, cared for him, showed an attraction to him which he hadn't felt in awhile, framed a poem he wrote, and was there for him. When Ed was about to have sex with Sadie the pipes, the dripping, and the "neighbors" all got louder. This was his subconscious again reminding him and also you can't forget the fact that he was about to "cheat" on his wife. Sadie didn't know Ed's wife was dead as he played it off that his wife was at her mother's. Ed was lying to Sadie and more importantly in this matter, to himself. To attempt to hide from this nightmare. Ed also felt the immense guilt that he was about to become his wife, a cheater.
- You know that moment when you smell something, say perfume, and it triggers the memory of someone in your past that say wore that perfume. This is what happened when he hallucinated about his mother. Ed was in the basement which slightly resembled a long hallway. This triggered (alone with just talking about his mother with the psychiatrist) the memory of his mother's last moments in the hospital. It was his subconscious again, taking form of his mother, reminding him that he will be going to hell for what he has done (this is actually one of the first big clues that his wife is not missing but in fact murdered by Ed).
-Ed was always running from the truth that he killed his wife and her unborn child. He knew that she was cheating on him and he most likely read her diary which had in it that she was pregnant. His subconscious was always reminding him of his reality even though they came in the form of hallucinations. It was also his subconscious that hallucinated that he talked to the police when they informed him that they found his wife's body. Ed's undoing was by his own doing, his own subconscious that couldn't take any more. It had to break free and this was the last symbol, the hole in the wall of the "perfect room".
-Also everyone seems to be taking pills in this movie as that's a play on today's society. If you have a problem there has to be a pill for it. Something to get rid of that problem and make you better. Thats why Ed wants sleeping pills, to get rid of his problem. Reality.
-If you liked this movie I highly recommend "The Machinist"(2004) starring Christian Bale. The movie is very similar to this and in my humble opinion actually better.
jeffwood