Abruptio explained

If you've landed here, it's probably because you're trying to get more of an understanding about Abruptio. I normally wouldn't explain my movies to the viewer, but because a lot of misunderstanding has spread, I decided to share my interpretation. And realize that any interpretation of a film is just a theory, including those of its creators. I may be wrong and you may have a theory that works better for you. This is part of what makes cinema so flipping incredible.

There may be spoilers ahead, so read on at your peril.

The film is not intended to be appreciated in a single viewing. During the first experience, the viewer is struggling to come to terms with a world populated by puppets. It's jarring and very often off-putting. It's only on repeat viewing that someone can really set aside the aesthetics and examine the meaning of the movie, and catch the motifs.

What inspired the story was my experience with a certain type of American man. His dad has faded into the background for a variety of reasons, including emotional distance, alcoholism or abandonment. His mom isn't nurturing, and is often overbearing and unresponsive to his needs. This man grows up into his 20s and beyond, often with an unhealthy attachment to women. Not only won't he cut the cord and grow away from mom, but he gets into a series of relationships based out of compromise and convenience, that are dead ends. 

Rather than reflect on why he's so deeply unhappy, he persists along this route. He may blame women for his own faults. Often, there's a hatred for them. What he needs to do is look inside and fix the broken parts and rise above his flaws to become attractive, but that's too much work and he wouldn't even know where to start. So this festers. He may try to mask his unhappiness with video games, alcohol or other escapes. In Abruptio, we see this animosity take shape in his fantasy. I'll point out that the above relates to a certain type of cis male. I can't speak to the experiences of anyone else.

All that said, the film is sometimes accused of being sexist or misogynistic. This complaint usually comes from men. I've found that most women get that Abruptio is a (shamelessly obvious, in my opinion) take-down of this sort of man, and appreciate it. The public had the same reaction to American Psycho. It's something I assumed would happen.

The film was inspired by Hercules, who after murdering his wife and child, pursued 12 labors to alleviate his guilt. If you watch carefully, you'll find multiple references to this throughout the movie. 

If you made it to the end of Abruptio, you realize the movie is intended to be a nightmare. I constructed it this way. Nightmares have loose ends and meandering narratives. They stop and start. There's a logic to them that may not make sense to your waking self. The narrative of Abruptio is intended to be unreliable. For example, when Les is at Danny's apartment and the doorbell rings, that's his mom's doorbell and when he steps outside, that's his mom's porch. When he's at Clive's warehouse, one moment he's bound to a chair and the next he can easily stand.  I could've made the movie tighter with a more cohesive narrative, but that wasn't what this story required. If you felt queasy and confused, or even frustrated, I think the movie achieved its objective. So in a sense, this is not a film for the casual movie-goer.

This is a film that holds its cards close to the vest for nearly the entire runtime, letting you in on its secret only in the final few minutes (and really, in the final few frames). But it all makes sense, if you rewatch it - the aliens, Chelsea, the barrels, the bright yellow, the knot of Hercules, many of the character names, the people in the club. It's all there. Again, I wouldn't expect anyone to gather all that during the first viewing.

I've also seen a lot of remarks about the ending being tacked on, though many viewers love the ending. Again, you can find clues throughout that point to this ending, so it wasn't tacked on at all, but carefully constructed. I'd also remind you that all of The Wizard of Oz was just a dream, but I never hear animosity over this. It's not a new storytelling gimmick, by any stretch. But with Abruptio, some felt the rug was pulled out from under them. The film is often compared to Anomalisa, but Kaufman's movie was not widely available until early 2016. Likewise, the Black Mirror episode "Shut Up and Dance" aired in late 2016. These came after Abruptio had gone into production, and so any similarity is incidental.

There's much more to the film, but I don't want to over-explain it. People have called it dark and bleak, and it can be, but the overriding message is one of hope: you can take charge of your life, and it starts with accountability. The tagline says "Everyone's a Puppet," though nothing is further from the truth.

- ESM