The 2020 horror film The Empty Man is based on the profoundly abstract, philosophical idea of manifesting one’s thoughts in the actual world. Although the concept is pretty intriguing, the execution is far from ideal. The majority of the movie feels, well, empty because of the film’s poor pacing, several unfinished business, and other issues (the irony). The Empty Man’s narrative and conclusion are discussed below; there will be spoilers after this.
Brief Summary of the Plot of The Empty Man
James, a former detective expelled from the force by his guild, aids a former friend/lover in finding her daughter who has gone missing. After calling the Empty Man with her pals the previous couple of evenings, the daughter vanished. This urban legend ritual is blowing into an empty bottle that you locate on a bridge while thinking about the Empty Man. Soon later, one by one, members of the group start going missing.
James eventually finds the group members’ bodies hanging below the bridge in what is thought to have been a mass ritual suicide because there were no traces of resistance.
After tracing the ritual’s genesis to a cult, James discovers the group’s head as well as his friend’s daughter, who is still alive.
The Empty Man| A Human Antenna or What is James?
The idea that the cult is attempting to connect with alien or paranormal powers is one of the most intriguing themes in the film. You see, in this universe, entities outside of our own employ the Empty Man to communicate orders to the cult.
Who is transmitting? What is this other plane of existence?
There are a lot of different theories, after all. The most straightforward theory is that they are aliens communicating with us from another galaxy. In this case, the Empty Man would serve as a radio set to the appropriate channel. They might also live in a parallel universe at a different frequency.
After all, there are many diverse theories. The simplest hypothesis is that they are extraterrestrials contacting us from another galaxy. In this situation, the Empty Man would act like a radio tuned to the proper frequency. They might possibly reside at a different frequency in a parallel realm.
Also keep in mind that the idea of a “receiver” is not new in our culture. Every prophet who has ever existed has asserted that they were merely the messengers, and that the message itself originated from a higher force. Even mediums assert that the spirits communicate through them, not them, when they speak.
The Empty Man’s Finale|An Explanation (Spoiler)
The major story twist in The Empty Man’s conclusion is the revelation that James is the result of a cult’s concentrated willpower, of which Amanda is a member. Even an equation like Thought + Concentration + Time = Flesh appears in the film.
In other words, similar to how tuning works in Dark City, if enough people focus their thoughts for a long enough period of time, they can will anything into existence. Everything James is, all James knows, and all James has gone through is a lie. He has actually just been alive for three days, but the cult plans to use him as a type of antenna to pick up communications from entities that exist outside of our world.
Why does the Empty Man commit murder?
As far as we can tell, there are two reasons why the Empty Man murders. The first is to safeguard the “antenna” individual, and the second is to raise the general degree of terror. More people think about the Empty Man as more people accept its existence. This is more than enough motivation in a world where thought can be harnessed and literally realised.
What is the skeleton in The Empty Man at first?
The previous extraterrestrial “antenna” is represented by the skeleton the gang first sees at the opening of the film (the recipient of the message from a world beyond our own). Paul assumes control by touching it, and James eventually succeeds him.
What happened to Paul, asks The Empty Man?
Paul assumed control of the previous “antenna” by touching it. James presumably later experienced a similar situation. James, however, differs from other receivers. He is an actual manifestation of the cult’s “will,” not a human in the conventional sense. He could therefore be able to hear what the spirit realm has to say without going into a coma.
The Ability to Will
Nobody can contest the nearly infinite power of will. With it, species who were never intended to be able to travel to other planets, endure some of the world’s most deadly diseases, or hunt some of the most dangerous animals on this planet are now capable of doing so with ease.
Even the most basic civic engagement project concepts have the power to profoundly alter entire communities and the lives of our young. Sure, this movie goes a step farther and asks us to suspend our disbelief, but the message isn’t really unique.
The story’s moral dimension is the one that raises the most concerns. What might be accomplished if a focused mind could create physical manifestations? The movie’s message starts to take on a rather ominous tone at this point—aliens, gods, ghosts, etc.
The Empty Man| Reality vs Experience
Is the world real if we can’t experience it? is one of the oldest philosophical debates. Did a tree truly fall if no one was around to witness or hear it when it did so in a forest?
Our experiences shape who we are, yet they are hardly absolute truths. Some people endure terrible traumatising events that have no lasting effects, while others become scarred as a result of relatively insignificant events. The simplest route would look something like this:
An event occurs, we experience it, we remember it, and it happens again.
Even though memories are now seriously defective, the method itself leaves a lot of space for misunderstanding. Humans, you see, are more likely to remember the experience than the actual event. It’s likely that, over time, the enjoyment of a unique food that we originally tried as children will be multiplied many times over.
In the movie’s scenario, James thinks his wife and child perished in a collision while he was with his lover. He is consumed with guilt, and this remorse is seen in every aspect of him, from his manner to his choice of actions. So, whatever occurred (or didn’t), one could contend that James experienced these things firsthand.
The Empty Man|Summary
Even if some of the ideas seem very intriguing, the film scarcely qualifies as a success. Early on, some people thought this movie may become a cult classic, but it seems unlikely now. This movie would likely feel hollow even at 1 hour and 30 minutes, but the overall running time is nearly 2 hours (2h and 17m, to be more precise). To put it another way, although the ideas were fairly ambitious, the execution was far from satisfactory.
What did you think of the movie The Empty Man’s story and climax? Post yours in the comments section.
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