MovieChat Forums > Hours (2013) Discussion > Is it me or were parts of this very surr...

Is it me or were parts of this very surreal / dreamlike? (spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by dawn-clover
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Is it me or are there SEVERAL scenes in the movie that are so damn surreal / dreamlike? Like they're not really happening. I had that feel for most of the first 2 thirds of the movie, especially the beginning.

The way the doctor told him his wife was dead, how they didn't show his wife's face while he was crying over her dead body (I felt like they were trying to hide something), the way the morgue guy spoke at times, the guy in the cafeteria was downright weird, everyone disappearing / appearing at random, etc. Even the hospital going a bit darker at key times (I understood the lights signified safety, it's very clear especially in the ending scene).

Plus, his situation just felt like a psychological test / torture. The time starting to go down slowly especially. I'm not gonna lie, by the middle of the movie I was expecting it to go all psychological thriller or supernatural on me, like, he was actually in limbo paying for something he did, or in a coma, I don't know lol. It all felt very surreal, trial-like, very symbolic and very torturing. Sure, the torturing part was key, the movie goes to great lengths (a bit too much IMO) to show us this by having the character run all over the place only to hear the machine beeping before he can't get whatever he wants to do done over and over (and over) again. But to be honest, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the ending dropped a 180 like that, because the end was very bland (still enjoyed it though, this is just my opinion). There was a lot of symbolism in his actions and his situation that could have had a greater meaning. But yeah, I guess that falls into personal preference, it would probably have ruined the movie for a lot of people.

Still it was an okay / good movie, I enjoyed it.

Anyone thought the same thing?

[–] moviefiend-1 11 years ago

yeh, i see what you're saying.

the cafeteria scene especially was very strange, the guy was very calm and explained why there was no food left, but surely there'd be food there, why were the vending machines ransacked?

i made a post about the timeframe of the film which also relates to your post. Simply that everyone got so desperate so quickly. The scene where the man stole his food had me think i was watching some post apocalyptic movie like The Road.

Also the dog scenes had a dream like quality, almost like a hallucination.

I dunno if it was all purely accidental, perhaps a directors commentary could clear it up.

[–] savaslikesmovies 11 years ago

It was good and I liked it either way.

Could definitely agree with some of the points made, though the situation getting desperate felt completely realistic for me, apart from nobody bothering to help that baby and forgetting the baby, that is completely *beep* The vending machines running out is easily possible, because they could have been trying to weather the storm/hurricane for a few days hoping it would return to normal conditions, but it only gets worse and then people just leave everything and everything has already been used up in that early panic.