Stay (2005/I)

Synopsis: A psychiatrist takes a patient who has stated his intention of committing suicide on a precise date and time. As he tries to prevent that extreme act he begins to witness strange occurrences that seem to defy reason.
Appraisal, with spoilers: Yet another film in the continuing trend of supernatural thrillers the idea for which appeared for the first time in 1891 when Ambrose Bierce published a short story named "An Occurrence at Owl Bridge Creek" in the collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. Then in 1962 an atmospheric little film called Carnival of Souls used a similar idea. In 1990, came Jacob's Ladder, which I don't remember well but apparently dealt with similar motifs. In 1999, there was The Sixth Sense whose plot idea had a certain similarity to Carnival of Souls. Then came The Others, in 2001, with the same basic idea. Mulholland Dr., also in 2001, was related, although it had no supernatural connotations. In 2003, there was The I Inside, another variation. And in 2005, this film called Stay, which is a reworking of The I Inside's basic idea, combined with an idea from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass (the one that was used in the epigraphe of Borges's short story The Circular Ruins). Thus this is the 6th (at least) variation on a theme that is beginning to feel very tired. I didn't see anything particularly remarkable about this one. It is well acted and shot, but there is not much else to it.
Rating: 35