WTF???? Please someone explain this movie...

I think this movie was Awesome for Sci-fi and drama fans!

The thing is Prot was using Robert porter's body as a host and that Porter remained in a state of catatonia before and after Prot was in his body. Just because he was in Porter's body he knows about the tragedy that occurred to him and he can relate to them as well, like with the water sprinklers.

Any patient in any form of post-traumatic stress disorder will know how to eat a banana! And there is no way Robert Porter would have known all the equations and coordinates to K-PAX, just because he had a telescope near-by!

For reality's sake they could have taken a blood report or a full body checkup to see how much human he is!


What if our whole life is a dream and when we die, we actually wake up!

Here's what we know: He was able to see ultraviolet light which humans can not, he not only knew of the twin star system that supposedly he could not know of, he was able to just whip out the complicated astrophysics of it's planetary orbits, he disappeared for a few days as he said he would when he took his trip up north, and the woman at the end was never found and Prot told the Dr. that now that he had found Robert Porter to please take care of him. Robert Porter was found catatonic after Prot was supposed to have returned to K Pax with the woman. The conclusion this leads me to is that Prot was real and that he was somehow in ''possession'' of Porter's mind and body on earth. Nothing else answers all of these facts in the story other than that. If Porter was merely mentally delusional how would he know of the planets and their orbits? What happened to the woman at the end? If Prot was physically Prot then how did Porter's body remain behind?

This film is all about family. To spend every moment with them.

We are presented with with one character who lost his family, with his psychological coping-mechanism... AND a character who still has time to rekindle his relationship with his family.

The End.

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain...

I think it proves how deeply wounded you can become when you are grieving over something as horrible and tragic as what happen to Pro's family.

I know this reply is too late, but I watched this movie just now, and want to share my opinion. 'Prot' IS an alien, something like a spirit, from another planet(K-PAX). He somehow happens to know 'Robert Porter'. When Robert Porter's wife && daughter are killed, he kills the person responsible for it. Later, he tried to jump off the cliff. That is when Prot enters his body and tries to stop him. But Robert manages to jump, and he suffers injuries. He is permanently disabled from that moment. Prot goes back to K-PAX. He comes back after 5 years, that is when he meets Dr. Powell. He keeps telling everyone at the hospital that he can take back 'only one person', that is because he can enter into the body of only one person. He cannot stay on Earth all the time, because he has to return to K-PAX. But, he wants to take care of Robert too. That's when Powell finds out about Robert, and assumes that 'Prot' & 'Robert' are the same, and that Robert is just hiding from the cops to get away from the murder charges. When Powell shows the picture of Robert to Prot, Prot replies 'Oh Mark, now that you've found Robert, please take good care of him'. He says that because Prot knows once he leaves Robert's body, Robert will go back to the damaged condition he was in, when he jumped off the cliff. And when Prot leaves, he enters the body of 'Bess' and takes her to K-PAX. THAT, is what he means by 'I can take only one person back to K-PAX'.

That is what I think the movie means. I know there are lots of empty spaces there, and I have no idea how to explain them perfectly.

In short, Prot was an alien host inside Robert's dull body (after the drowning incident). Prot could not have left Robert's body until in good caring hands. He chose Mark. On July 27th he decided to leave Robert's body in hands of Mark.
Since Prot was leaving Robert's body and going to K-Pax, he could one person as a host body (along with him) and it was Bess. So, Bess disappeared along with body. He could not have taken no more than one person, as said by him earlier.
What I deduced is that K-Paxians are higher conscience species who keep visiting earth and help people.

The way I see it, Prot was some kind of astral projection of Robert Porter. Under hypnosis, Prot says that he had previously descend into Robert's body when he was 17 and in a crisis in order to help him cope. So I'm thinking: now that Robert's family was killed, he has gone in a catatonic depression, unable to move because of the shock. So this is why Prot has come again to rescue him and brought him to doctor Powell, whom he knew was gonna take care of him after Prot left. So After Prot assures that Robert will be ok, he leaves to go to K-Pax. Robert could also have been a man suffering from what we, here on Earth, call double personality, but from the point the view of the book/movie, the astral projection could have been something that causes double personality (or that they could be somehow connected).
Now, about the girl that disappears with Prot, she seemed like a very spiritual being, not very found of the material world. She didn't even speak, she was kind of ascetic so i'm thinking her leaving was because she reached a state similar to nirvana. An observation that comes in aid of this theory is when Prot says "why is a soap bubble round" and the answer is "because it is the most energy efficient configuration" and that's how he explains why here he looks like us and probably on his planet he's just pure energy. So I'm thinking that's the answer to how Bess disappeared: the "form" in which she presented herself wasn't efficient for her purpose anymore. Also I just remembered when they say about her that she made a fire with the power of thought, meaning she was an extraordinary creature trapped somewhere she didn't belong. But that's just how i see it. What do you think of these explanations?

I would gladly be able to explain this film to you. I may be many years late but I am willing to put in the effort and time and explain the concepts to you. First you must come to terms that the film K-Pax uses a lot of science and logic, but it also uses a lot of spiritual philosophies. Long story short Prot was an "Alien" but Robert Porter was not. Confused? I shall explain.

Hey you never know, maybe I'm an Alien too! *nudge nudge* haha jk. Now on a serious note!

First and foremost have you ever heard of the concept of a "Walk-In"? That is the base premises of what is happening here. A walk-in is the concept where a soul of another being, where it be an extra-terrestrial (politically correct term), spirit, inter-dimensional being, etc enters the body of another living biological being.
Now that you thought about that let's get into the movie. Now we need to look at Prot and Robert Porter as two separate and distinct individuals. This is stated throughout the film. While under hypnosis Prot explains that his friend who he won't name had something really bad happen to him. This friend was "Robert Porter" and he came to his aid. Robert Porter was somehow able to have this telepathic communication with Prot from K-Pax in the Lyra constellation and would call upon him at a time of need. Prot had many of Robert Porters memories because when Prot was on earth, he used Roberts body as a vessel. Earlier in the film Prot states clearly that his people look different from Humans but when they go to other planets because they manifest as if they were a native to that world. How would they do this? Prot talks about light as travel multiple times throughout the film and states how Einstein was correct but misunderstood. He talks about travel with and as light. K-Paxians in other words travel through the Galaxy as light, as in they leave their bodies and travel as a soul essence. Now the concept sounds weird but it is also logical and explains why they can travel so fast without expanding and gaining mass. Also not once through the entire film does Prot even mention or even reference to a spaceship, UFO, flying saucer or whatever you want to call it! The sun rose on the date he claimed he would leave and he leave. As for Bess, she definitely went with Prot but where was her body? Did it somehow transport in it's physical essence? That could be a common error rather than to show her "dead" but in favor to clearly state that she most definitely went to K-Pax. Another theory is that perhaps Prot needed a physical body to travel back and used Bess. That would explain why he could only take ONE person back. All we can say is that they seem to manifest into light and travel between worlds.
Prot's final lines to Dr. Powell was "Please look after Robert Porter for me". This was his final request to Dr. Powell and a favor to his friend Robert. As you recall when the maniac when into his house and was raping and murdering his wife and daughter and Robert came to run to his aid and snapped the maniacs neck. He then proceeded outside dropped to his knees and fell into the sprinkling system which hit him in the head causing major brain damage. Then he proceeded to the river to commit suicide by drowning himself and Prot came to the rescue. Prot mentions that he was friends with Robert earlier on in his life when Robert was still young and had his father, who was murdered. Roberts injuries left him mostly brain dead, he could not walk nor function properly. He is essentially a vegetable and only can recognise subtle things, hence his smile at the end. His body was only functional by a powerful advanced being such as Prot who not only help Robert, but also Dr. Powell and the whole ward.
Prot came to Earth to help Robert as well as study and record date on Earth and the human race. That's why he had his notebook, to record his observations. He was so advanced that everyone else thought he was crazy, and his way of doing things were seen as odd. He knew everything and when he transported to other places like in the observatory, it occurred so fast that it was impossible for any human to prove or perceive. That is the brilliance of this film. He was indeed the real deal, but required viewers to think outside the box to understand and piece it all together.

There is a saying. The most intelligent people often seem the craziest and dysfunctional to our society. We often label them with degrading social status or mental problems because we as a society don't want to accept anyone smarter or better than us. This is a sad fallacy of the human race.

This film is definitely not for everyone as it requires viewers to either have deep knowledge of the universe or have an incredibly open mind. Which of course opens the door to so many debates and other interpretation of the film which ironically are incorrect. A lot of these people are thinking like Dr Powell which is ironic. That being said no Prot did not have any mental disabilities like schizophrenia and of course this is evident by his non-human responses to the drugs and other variables. I am repeating myself just like Dr Powell but Robert Porter had severe brain damage and was a vegetable after the accident exactly 5 years before the ending of the film on July 27th! :)

I hope I was able to help you understand the film better. Sorry if I made it too long and believe me I could have made it longer. I tried to keep it brief while touching all the important factors of the film to answer your questions.