The Chair (2023)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: SA Sixth Avenue's very own Final Girl. Happy New Year, everyone. I, as you all know, take the month of December off and it just so happened that our final podcast would have happened the week of Thanksgiving. So we didn't have an episode then. But now we're back and don't have a ton of updates to share with you all. Other than that I'm excited to be spending another year with you and that I will be attending Sundance Film Festival again this year in 2025. So I will be obviously giving you a recap of all the films that I see there if you have a chance to see the list or go to Sundance Film Festival to see what they're actually showing this year. The films look incredible and I can't wait. It doesn't appear to me personally that there's a lot of like, big name actors and producers and directors there, whereas last year I felt that there were quite a few of some of those, you know, more well known actors and actresses. So I'm actually excited to be seeing some newer faces or faces that are newer to me. And yeah, I'll be giving you the full recap of that. But today, to start off our year, I thought what better way than to start with an amazing short film that I had never seen before. So today we're going to be talking about the Chair. The Chair was made and released in 2023. It is 22 minutes long and it was written and directed by Curry Barker. IMDb's synopsis here says, after Reese brings home an antique chair, a series of horrific events follow, leading him to question if it's a malevolent spirit the chair possesses or the darkness inside of his own mind. I actually didn't seek out this film to watch myself. I happen to watch a great deal of YouTube videos and one of my favorite things to do is lounge around and watch video essays. And I happen to be, you know, working on, you know, just working on, you know, looking for the different accounts that I like on YouTube and the different posters that I like so that I can, like, subscribe to them and, you know, stay in touch with their videos. And then all of a sudden on my autoplay on YouTube, this came up. So I decided to give it a watch. 22 minutes. Like I said, relatively short. I don't have a rating for you, but this is one of those that you definitely need to be in a particular frame of mind. I would say to watch it is rather heavy and honestly, the production quality is off the charts. It's, it's Actually, I've never seen a short film quite like this one. Typically, when I watch shorts, they're usually documentary shorts. And so this is not something that, you know, I would typically go out of my way to watch. But when I tell you that you need to go out of your way to watch this, you just do. We all have 20 minutes of free time, so please just go on YouTube. YouTube is free. Watch it. Show Curry Barker some incredible support, because this is an insane film. So with that being said, let's jump into our discussion today. We've talked a little bit about furniture before and furniture playing in a vital role in film. You may have heard me talk about that in my discussion. Discussion of the coffee table, which I covered in 2024. And using these objects, like these everyday objects to, I don't know, it's almost like it penetrates your life in a way that, you know, some other forms of psychological horror or paranormal horror really couldn't do because it is such an everyday object. We all have a chair, right? We've all sat in a chair. We've all used a chair. And so to us, a chair is kind of a meaningless thing. So it's actually really interesting to me. And like I've said before, I quite enjoy this, you know, this mechanism of storytelling. And so our film starts out with a shot of the chair. And it is a. Honestly, it's a beautiful chair, but it is older. It's sitting in front of a house on a curb. You know, kind of like you would set out old furniture for somebody to come pick up and take home. If you didn't want to take it somewhere to donate it or you didn't want to sell it to somebody, if you just set it out and say, like, you know, basically signifies this is a free item. Someone please come take it from me. Initially, the camera is zoomed on just the chair, and everything around and behind the chair is blurry. But as we lose that focus on the chair, an SUV drives by, sees the chair, reverse it, and Reese, who is one of our main characters, comes back to pick it up. He pops open the trunk, he looks at the chair, wipes his hands off because it's kind of dirty. And then it's like, you know what? Fuck it, I'm gonna take it. During this scene, if you are not paying attention to the background, you need to. There is a man standing in front of the house, out of view, evidently from Rhys, staring ominously. His face is blurred, but he's rather hunched. He's an older man and he's just standing there watching this take place. Rhys drives home with the chair, and he stopped and got some roses for, you know, his partner on his way home. And with a note that says, together forever. Very sweet. And he brings the chair inside immediately. I think this chair looks like it belongs. Like, I think it looks great. In their house, they have kind of like a eclectic, boho chic, you know, type of situation happening. Something that I don't know, that I could pull off in my own home, but they appear to be able to. And he gets out a vase, fills it with water for the roses. So this is where we get introduced to Julie, who is Rhys's significant other. She's just come home from work and Julie is starving like most of us are when we come home from work and she's exhausted. She asks where dinner is. And Rhys is like, look, dinner's on the counter. But first, here's. Here are these roses. Happy six month anniversary. They hug it out, you know, all of the affection. And she turns and at this point in the frame, you actually can't see Rhys. Like, from, I don't know, his lower abdomen up, you can only see the bottom portion of his body where she is now in the frame, is not in the frame at all, actually. But we can see her reflection in the mirror that they have in their living. And what's ominous about this is that we can't see her face either. So I said we couldn't really make out the face of the older man who was standing in front of the home where the chair was picked up. And now we can't really see Julie's face either. Immediately, Julie goes from happy to be home and thankful for these flowers to. I don't even know what the right word is. It's almost an ominous feeling. She says, what's with the chair? What's the chair for? And Rhys is kind of like, oh, well, I found it today. I found it on the side of the road and I brought it home. Apparently, Rhys had expected this to be, you know, her second surprise. Roses and an old chair. And Julie is not super thrilled with this chair as being a gift for herself. And I can't say that I really blame her that much. I mean, I don't know that I'd be thrilled with that gift either. But instead of, like, you know, flat out saying, I don't like this, take it away. She's kind of like, well, it's old. Reese is like, well, you like antique stuff usually. I thought you would like this. And she's like, it's dirty. He says, well, I can clean it. She says, well, it's just kind of creepy. And plus, where are we even gonna put it? Reese says, I think where I have it right now looks great. I don't know why we can't leave it right here. It's. It's just for decoration. He's like thinking, it's really not that big of a deal. And she's doubling down on the fact that it's creepy to her. Whereas Rhys is defending himself, saying, I think this chair is quite homey, actually. Rhys decides to showcase to Julie how much he really wants to keep this chair by sitting down in it. And Julie is just like, okay, look, I don't want any more clutter in the house. I already feel like it's cluttered. I. I'm trying to go for a consistent, you know, style or theme within the house. This isn't really matching it. And he's like, I mean, I'll sit in it. And we could just put it in the bedroom if you don't want to see it, you know, in the living room. I'll just put it in the bedroom. And it reminds me of my grandpa. And Julie immediately says, no, I can't sleep next to that chair. The bottom line for Julie is no. She doesn't like it. She doesn't want to keep it. It's a no. The chair is a no. Then Reese says, fine, I'm just gonna. And then it cuts and he's back in front of the house where he picked up the chair, sitting in it. So now we're in front of the house, right? Nothing has changed. Except this time, Rhys stands up from the chair, surprised, confused, gets in his car with the trunk still open, by the way, and drives away. And still this older man is waiting in front of the house watching all of this happen. Back at home, Reese sits down in, like, the, you know, city seating area, and he's just like, so confused and like, what the hell is happening to me? And then Julie comes to the front door and she's like, oh, you weren't supposed to be home. Did you get dinner? And Rhys is still in a daze. And he's like, no, I'm sorry, I'll just go right now. And Julie is passive aggressively upset that he's home because he wasn't supposed to be home yet. He was supposed to be getting dinner for the two of them. And that he has, I guess, ruined her surprise. Well, her surprise to Rhys is the fucking chair. The same chair. So of course, now Rhys is, like, really freaking out. And as soon as the chair enters, like, and crosses the threshold of the front door, he's like, no, you have to take it back. Get it out of here. No, I don't want to see it. And he tries to prevent Julie from getting all the way into the living room so that she can set it down. And Julie is like, look, I like this chair. Why do you hate everything? And then she says, I like it. It's kind of homey, remember? He tells her, you don't even like stuff like this. And she's like, okay, well, it grew on me. Am I not allowed to change my mind? Then she says, look, I'm trying to do something nice here. Like, you're not making me feel like this is appreciated in any way. And, like, it's all you talked about for the last week. And Rhys is like, okay, a week. Like a week has gone by. What is the date today? Julie's like, okay, it's. It's Wednesday. And Reese is relieved and is like, oh, it's still Wednesday. Well, yeah, I mean, if she said a week went by and you brought it home last Wednesday and plus seven days, then it's Wednesday again. So it's not the same Wednesday. It's a different Wednesday, but it's still Wednesday. So then Rhys is like, okay, well, I guess I thought. I guess I thought for a second there I had time traveled or something. And Julie is super confused, as we all are. So then Rhys is like, okay, well, earlier today when I went and dropped off the chair. So then now Julia is mad and she's like, wait, so you didn't take it back last week when I asked you to do it? You had it here the entire time and you took it back today? So then he tries to explain, like, after work today when I went to drop the chair off, and she's like, what work? What work are you talking about? Like, what work are you talking about? You dropped the chair off today even though I asked you to take it back last week. So after a bit of back and forth about what day it is, it's apparently October 20, 2021. And that sends Rhys into a sort of a spiral. But then inevitably, he just kind of is in so much shock. And Julie is like, you're such an asshole. Seriously, don't even bother coming to bed tonight. You're sleeping on the couch. Like, I don't even want to deal with you or this anymore. And as Julie is talking to him and, like, reaming him Out. Rhys looks over at the flowers, like, the roses that he bought, and he thinks that he bought these roses today. He's thinking all of this happened within the same day, except the roses are dying, like, they're almost dead. So it clearly couldn't have been that he brought home these roses today. She finally lets him know that if he doesn't make a big change, then this isn't gonna work out. And he is obviously afraid and is, you know, trying to explain to her, like, I don't remember a whole week of my life. Like, I'm afraid. He tries to explain it as that he blacked out and that he thinks that it has something to do with the chair. And Julie is skeptical, saying that, you know, that's kind of hard to believe. So he tells her, like, look, you think you're confused right now? Imagine how I feel. And Julie has no empathy for this or sympathy for this. She really doesn't care about this at all. And she says to Rhys, you know, you can't just forget when you regret doing something. Like, if you do something that you regret, you can't just say that you forgot so that you don't have to deal with it. Julia's like, look, I have tried to fix this. I've tried to make it right. I brought the chair back. I know that you liked it. This whole past week, you've been a complete asshole nightmare to deal with. You're getting in fights with your co workers, getting racist with a man named Joe, getting fired, and then also telling Julie that he was gonna murder one of their friends with a rock in the head until his eyes basically came out of his face. Rhys again tries to blame all of this on the chair, saying that, you know, he can feel that it has this negative energy and this sadness that's, like, pulsing out of the chair. He can feel it. Julie quickly reminds him that Rhys is actually the negative energy, not the chair, and storms away. So I guess that's the end of that. Later that night, I guess Julie forgot that she had told Rhys to sleep on the couch because they are in bed together. Julie is sleeping and Rhys is awake, and he can't sleep because the chair is, like. It's in their bedroom, and it's, like, facing, you know, in a way that if someone were to sit in it, like, they would be facing towards their bed. And so he gets up and he turns the chair around rather than removing it from the bedroom, which I guess is better for him, and lays back down. And then he wakes up, afraid. Julie starts Screaming. And the man from the house where the chair was picked up is sitting in the chair. Out of nowhere, Julie, in the middle of her screaming, turns to Rhys to face him. Stops screaming. Her face returns to, like, normal. And she just flies. Falls back into bed and goes back to sleep. Pan back over to the chair. It's empty. So Rhys stays awake the entire night. [00:18:49] Speaker B: And the next morning he sits at the breakfast table while Julie makes breakfast and is like, you know, dressed and ready to go. She seems like she's, you know, well rested and feeling fine. She asks Rhys how he slept and he says, you know, that he really didn't. And she's like, oh, what was it, like, bad dreams or something? And he tells her that, yeah, bad dreams would be putting it lightly. Julie being very positive is like, look, today's a new day. Sorry to hear that. You had a long night. But it's a new day and it's time to get out there and find a new job. Defeated and obviously exhausted from having not slept, he's like, okay, fine. Jobs you. [00:19:31] Speaker A: Yep, got it. [00:19:32] Speaker B: And she says, well, I put in a load of laundry. Whenever it beeps, you know, the machine beeps. Can you, you know, take care of it after that? And he's like, okay, I need help. I need help. I need help from, like, a therapist or, like a professional or something. Like, there is something wrong. So Julie lets him know that she set Reese up with an appointment with a doctor that day, later that day at like 5pm And Rhys is like, ignoring that. Did you see anything weird? We see a flashback of the night before whenever she was in bed. And she, like, you know, in the middle of screaming, just stopped and looked at him and smiled and went back to bed. And he's like. Or she's like, you know, no, I didn't see anything. I slept like a dog. I mean, I slept hard. So, no, I didn't see anything. And Rhys is just so lost and upset and is like, I think I'm sick. So he tries to explain to Julie what happened last night, you know, with the chair in the bedroom and all. And he's telling her about this old man that he saw in the chair. And Julie is just like, oh, Dead Man Franklin. He comes with the chair, duh. Enter in screen, the old man, who I suppose I'll refer to as Dead Man Franklin. And Dead Man Franklin is wearing the same dress that Julie has on right now. And he sits down, you know, kind of to her left and back further. But we can tell that as Julie is Speaking, speaking. He is also speaking the same thing as her. And she's like, of course we know Dead man Franklin. I'm so tired of living, but I love you so much. Dead man Franklin says, you know, sans Julie, just him now he's forgetting about me again. And Julie says he's forgetting about a lot of things, which sends Franklin into, I don't know, a sense of despair where he's yelling out, like, don't forget about me. Julie says, he has a condition. It's not his fault. And at this point, Franklin takes a rock and is bashing it into his head. Then Julie very sternly says, reese, you are dying of Alzheimer's, but you keep forgetting that you have it. Exit Franklin. Enter normal Julie. And she's like, can you just sit down and talk to me? And Reese says, am I sick and you're just not telling me? And Julie's like, I don't know what's wrong. But, like, yeah, you're. You're sick. And also, you're really scaring me. And Rhys asks her, what do I do? And Julie's, like, starting to cry, and she just yells at him, fuck you. She follows that up with, I want to end this relationship. And Rhys is like, oh, my God, no, no, no, no, no. Like, what are you talking about? And then she immediately is fine again. And now she's smiling, and she's like, you're so cute. I'm gonna go take a bath and masturbate. Go off, queen. [00:23:20] Speaker A: But, like, that was super forward. [00:23:22] Speaker B: He's really confused. So are we. The laundry machine is beeping. So he walks towards the laundry room with the hamper or the laundry basket. And as he's doing that, the laundry room is right next to the front door, and someone is knocking at the front door. So at first I think he's thinking, like, oh, it's just like, whoever, you know, they'll go away if I don't answer the door. And he goes to open the door to the laundry room, and when he does that, a dead body was propped up against the door and falls into the living room. The person at the door keeps knocking, and they're like, hey, it's the police. You need to let us in. So he shoves the body back into the laundry room, closes the door, goes to the front door, opens it, and they, you know, the officers confirm his name and ask him if they can come in, because whatever it is that they need to talk about, they cannot talk about outside or would prefer not to do outside. And so Rhys tries To tell them that it's really just not a good time right now, being that, you know, his wife is gonna be in the bathtub, and there's a dead body in the laundry room. And so he tries to close the door. And as he tries to do so, one of the officers puts their foot between the door and, you know, the threshold to prevent it from closing. So the officers come in, and the chair is now situated in the living room next to the couch. And one of the officers goes over towards the laundry room door and, like, kind of looks like they're going to open it. And then Julie, true to her word, okay icon, is moaning from the bathtub so loud. And one of the officers is like, who the fuck is that? Reese is like, oh, that's my girlfriend. And the officer is like, okay, can you tell her we're here? And to, like, stop. So as Rhys goes to enter the door of the bathroom, he just opens the door and she screams at him, I fucking hate you. And then he closes the door quietly and comes back out to the officers and lets them know that she said that she would take a break. One of the officers is, you know, going to sit down in the living room. And he walks toward the chair. And Rhys says, please, please don't sit there. The officer chooses to sit there anyway. And he is an older officer. There's a younger man and an older man. Both of them are officers. The older officer sits down into the chair, and the younger one is on the couch and is like, reese, can you tell us where you were on October 20th? And he's like, well, I was here. The cops are like, okay, okay, seriously, like, we have multiple witnesses that tell us that you were seen at, you know, Fez Walker's house the night of his disappearance. And Fez is the man who Julie had said earlier that Rhys wanted to kill by, you know, smashing a brick into a rock into his head until his eyes popped out. So Rhys lets them know that if he was there, he doesn't remember being there. And the older officer, who's sitting in the chair, pulls his gun out and says, I'm going to torture you, and it's not going to be fast. So the younger officer is like, okay, whoa, this is escalating. Let's just take a look around the house. [00:27:06] Speaker A: The older officer is like, why would. [00:27:08] Speaker B: We take a look around? We could just kill him now. And the younger officer is like, okay, again, no, let's go take a look around. [00:27:20] Speaker A: Where's your bedroom? [00:27:21] Speaker B: And Rhys points them, you know, down the hall. And the older officer just, you know, takes the gun and puts it back in his. His holster. And it's just like, all right, let's go look around. Like, almost like as if. Like, none of this ever happened. As soon as the officers go down that hallway to get to the bedroom, Rhys quickly goes to the laundry room, grabs the body, pulls it and drags it into another. Down another hallway and into, like, another room of the house. And the older officer comes out and asks where he is and is like, rhys, you are supposed to follow us. Like, don't go in the bathroom. It's weird, too, because the bathroom, like, the entrance to the bathroom is not down that hallway. It's down the other hallway. There's two hallways, so he knows that Rhys never went to the bathroom. But from the bathroom, we can hear Julie moaning again. And from the hallway where the bathroom is, the moaning stops, and the younger officer comes out, buttoning his pants, putting his belt back on and tucking his shirt back in, implying that he just went into the bathroom and fucked Julie while she was in the bathtub. The older officer is like, okay, Rhys, just tell me. Did you bury him? Did you chop him up? Like, why don't you just tell me what you did? Then the older officer takes his head and slams it into, like, a bookcase. And it's like, oh, well, I just had to try. Show me the rest of the house. And then he takes his gun out and points it at himself and shoots himself. Rhys starts freaking out, obviously. Then, you know, the younger officer is like, okay, put your hands up. Like, don't move. Like, what the is happening? And then there's more screaming coming from Julie. And she exits with what I guess is a Jack and Jill bathroom door because it goes through both hallways. I don't know the layout of this house. I feel. I feel so deeply like this is a plot hole. Okay, I don't think that's a Jack and Jill bathroom at all, because why do they all only enter through the one hallway? And then all of a sudden, they enter through another hallway or exit through another hallway anyhow. So then Julie comes out, and she is bloodied up. And Franklin is also bloody, showcasing the same wound in the same place that as the older officer that shot himself in the chest. And the younger officer is like, oh, my God. Who the fuck is this guy? And Julie comes out, pleased with herself, and she looks at Rhys and says, I got him. Then this, you know, Fez character that was, you know, dead. The dead body was in the laundry room. And then Rhys moved it to another room to hide it. Comes walking out from around the corner as well. So they all sit together, and then snap. Rhys is. He was in a robe right when all this was taking place. Now he's in, like, a white tank top that has some blood splatter on it. And he's holding a hammer. [00:30:51] Speaker A: He drops the hammer. He's freaked. [00:30:53] Speaker B: And he goes to look into the living room where Franklin is standing behind a set of chairs that are all lined up together. And in each of the chairs contains a dead body. One is of Julie, one is of Fez. And then both of the police officers. And in the center, the roses that Rhys had brought home at the beginning of the film for Julie that are dying are. They're on the chair. And behind that center chair is where Franklin is standing. And he says, you know, there's a chemical that's released in your brain when you die. It's euphoric, and it doesn't hurt. Life hurts a lot more. We all have to die someday. What a beautiful day. The Lord awaits His top chair zooming in on the center chair with the roses. And the note that says, together forever. The film ends. And that is the chair. [00:32:02] Speaker A: Okay, y'all. So obviously at this point, you're gonna be asking yourself, what does this all mean? Mean? And I would love to be, you know, the person who has all the answers and, you know, be the keeper of all the information in the universe. I literally have no idea, because I have, like, four, I would say, decently strong theories about what I think and what my interpretations are here. But I don't really feel super strongly about any of them. Like, I think they all could be true. And I think that's the beauty of this short film is, like, sometimes you're watching a movie and you're like, oh, my God. You know, this movie's really confusing, but, like, they're being so over the top with the messaging. There's so many clues. Like, I've been paying attention, and I can put all these together. And then you watch the chair, and you're like, what the fuck is the clue? Where are the clues? Where did they go? Did they think to include them? Did somebody just not bother to include them? Like, this is not like any of the other films we've ever talked about on this show with that regard. So in saying that, let's start with my first theory. So here's my first addiction. What if this is about Rhys struggling with addiction and being in a partnership and illustrating what that Might look like struggling with an addiction while being in a relationship. I kind of initially felt this way because, you know, Julie is saying that she wants to see big changes in Rhys, and he does things he can't remember doing. He says he literally blacked out. And the use of the term blacked out would imply, like, to me anyway, that there's a type of substance. You don't typically just, like, not remember anything that happened to you unless, like, there's an external factor at play. And I think for this theory to hold any credence, we would have to speculate that he never actually killed anyone at all, and he metaphorically killed them by continuing his addiction and completely, you know, losing his life and sense of self to it. Because addiction is destructive to all parties that surround the addicted person. Right. So let's take a look at some symptoms and signs that someone might be struggling with drug addiction and. Or like their behavior surrounding drug addiction. You know, the Mayo Clinic obviously has great resources on this, as they do for many things. But symptoms and behaviors include feeling that you have to use the drug regularly, having intense urges for the drug that block out any other thoughts over time, needing more of the drug to get the same effect, taking larger amounts of the drug over a long period of time or a time longer than you intended to, making certain that you maintain a supply of that drug, spending money on that drug even if you can't afford it, not meeting obligations and work responsibilities, or cutting back on social or recreational behaviors. Ding, ding. Continuing to use the drug even though you know it's causing problems in your life or causing you physical or psychological harm, Doing things to get the drug that you normally wouldn't do still, such as stealing, driving, or doing other risky activities when you're under the influence, spending a good deal of time getting the drug, using the drug, or recovering from the effects of the drug, failing in your attempts to stop using the drug, or experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you attempt to stop taking the drug. They also go on to say, you know, other behaviors could include things like having problems at school or work or, you know, physical health issues like a lack of energy, red eyes, not being able to sleep, a neglect, neglected appearance like your lack of interest in grooming or your looks, changes in behavior, money issues. They're so many. It's such a. There's no, like, one size fits all for something like this. But he doesn't exhibit all of these behaviors outwardly. Okay? And there's nowhere in the film that they ever talk explicitly about using a drug. But if we consider the fact that he doesn't remember an entire week of time. He, you know, has psychological issues, obviously, and participating in risky activities. We can maybe assume that the chair, the object, is a metaphor for the drug. He's kind of afraid of it, but he also, like, can't stop it. And Julie, you know, at first is like, no, I don't want this chair in my house. Maybe she doesn't want him using drugs in the house or obviously using them at all, perhaps. Or, you know, then when she brings it back and he's, like, upset, it's almost like, oh, my God. Well, I just made it a whole week without it. Now you brought it back. Why would you do that? It's almost like, you know, you can't win. And the toll that it takes on those around him maybe didn't actually kill them, like we saw on the screen when they're all lined up at the end, but maybe, like, you know, just robbed the people around him of their ability to enjoy life or enjoy time with him or, you know, if Julie is acting as his caretaker. Like, caretakers go through a lot psychologically. Like, that's not something that just, you know, is a simple, easy thing to do. It's actually incredibly taxing. So that is my first theory. My second theory would be Alzheimer's. Okay, I know what you're gonna say. Why Alzheimer's when it was explicitly mentioned? Well, that's exactly why I'm thinking about it. Julie tells him that he has Alzheimer's, but he keeps forgetting. He keeps asking if he's sick or saying that he needs help. I think that Franklin, in this scenario would be the embodiment of what Rhys is scared to turn into. He's almost looking at, you know, Franklin as what his life could look like in the future if, you know, or as this disease progresses. Like, there's really nothing he can do to stop it. And it's obviously something that I think a lot of us would be afraid of. So let's again, reference, you know, Mayo Clinic for more info on the symptoms of people with Alzheimer's. Early in the disease, people may have trouble remembering recent events or conversations. At first, someone with the disease may be aware of having trouble remembering things and thinking clearly. Right at first, he's, you know, basically begging Julie to believe him. That, like, he doesn't remember the entire past week, or he doesn't remember getting fired from his job or, you know, saying that he wanted to kill his friend with a rock, or he doesn't remember any of these things. And she's just not empathetic to it. She's like. It's almost like she feels as if he's using this illness as a way to get out of facing the consequences for any of the things that he's done. And to her, that's not acceptable. Additionally, as signs and symptoms get worse, a family member or friend may be more likely to notice. Julie definitely notices. For sake. She notices. She is the one who, you know, is telling him, like, you're acting weird. You're sick. I don't know what you're sick with. I made an appointment for you to see a doctor. Why are you saying these things? Like, what are you talking about? And so people with Alzheimer's disease may repeat statements and questions over and over. They may forget conversations, appointments, events. I mean, Reese does that. They might misplace their items, putting them in places that don't make sense. Why did he have Fez's body in the laundry room? And why didn't he remember that it was in there? In terms of thinking and reasoning, the disease causes trouble concentrating and thinking, especially about abstract concepts. And doing more than one task at a time is particularly difficult. Judgments and decisions. They may make poor judgments and poor decisions in social settings or wear clothes for the wrong type of weather. And everyday problems seem really difficult to solve. In terms of personality and behavior. Right. Symptoms would include things like depression, loss of interest in activities, social withdrawal, mood swings, not trusting other people. He's incredibly, you know, distrusting of pretty much everybody, mainly Julie. Anger, aggression, sleeping habits. I mean, he can't sleep. Wandering. Maybe that's what he was doing the whole week he was gone. Loss of inhibitions and delusion, which can be. There's a clear distinction here I want to make about the difference between delusion and hallucination. Healthline has a really great article that I'll link about this. And I always link my sources so you guys can reference them later if you're interested. But Healthline makes this. Hallucinations and delusions are often grouped together when talking about various illnesses or conditions, but they're actually not the same. While both of them are part of a false reality. A hallucination is a sensory perception and a delusion is a false belief. For instance, hallucinations can involve seeing someone who isn't there or hearing people talking when there's no one around. Delusions, on the other hand, can involve someone thinking they are celebrity when they're not. Okay, so that would be the difference. So hallucinations can be caused by many, many Things, substance use, mental illness, lack of sleep, medications, migraines, seizures, isolation, deafness, blindness, epilepsy, high fevers. Like literally so many things. But they can be visual, they can be olfactory, they can be, you know, in terms of taste, they could be auditory, they could be tactile. Someone might think they feel bugs on their skin or hear somebody talking to them, but there's actually nothing present. And, you know, there's many different types of delusions. Delusion of persecution, delusion of infidelity, delusions of love, delusions of grandeur, religious delusions, delusions of guilt or unworthiness, nihilistic delusions. And conditions that may cause delusions include schizophrenia, affective psychosis and delusional disorder. So there are any number of things, right? The brain is kind of a scary place when you think about it. And a psychosis is when this person has actually lost contact with reality. The person has disturbances in thinking and perception, and they may not know what's real and what isn't. And I think that the film very clearly illustrates that I almost don't know what's real and what isn't during the duration of the film. So, that being said, Franklin, I think, is a hallucination and is the embodiment of what Rhys is afraid to turn into or afraid of what his future might look like. Especially in the scene where they're at the breakfast table and Franklin is sitting behind Julie and they're both talking at the same time. And then Franklin jumps into, he forgot about me. He keeps forgetting about me. I think Rhys is afraid of being forgotten about. If he really is this sick, I could totally understand why he would be afraid. Often sick or ill people are forgotten about by loved ones and by society. And I think everybody else's behavior, right, is a hallucination and. Or delusion. If this theory is true, I can't imagine a world where Julie is, you know, laughing in such a way or, you know, mocking him or screaming in the middle of the night and then saying she doesn't remember doing it. It just doesn't make a lot of sense in terms of. Which kind of falls hand in hand with the one I just talked about. My third theory, okay, would be schizophrenia. Mayo Clinic. Again, schizophrenia is a serious mental condition that affects how people think, feel and behave. It may result in a mix of hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking and behavior. Okay? Delusions are involved around firm beliefs, beliefs that things are not like they're. They're revolving. Things that are not true, that people believe Are true. And these people that are diagnosed with schizophrenia, they can seem to lose touch with reality, which makes daily living very, very difficult. Many people with schizophrenia actually don't know that they have a mental health condition, and they may not believe that they need treatment. And a lot of research studies have examined the results of untreated psychosis. People who have psychosis that's not treated Often have more severe symptoms, like, they may have more stays in the hospital and poor thinking and processing skills, Injuries, or even death. But early intervention can actually, you know, make this so much better. Schizophrenia, unfortunately, Needs lifelong treatment, right? So let's look at the symptoms. Delusions, for example. People with schizophrenia could think that they're being harmed or harassed when they actually are not. They could think that they're the target for certain comments when they're not. They could think that they're famous, like I said, or they could have some great ability when that's not the case. Or they could feel that a major disaster Is about to occur when that's not true. Most people with schizophrenia have delusions. Hallucinations. These usually involve seeing or hearing things that other people do not observe. For people with schizophrenia, these things are real. They can occur with any senses. But hearing voices is the most common. Disorganized speech and thinking. Disorganized speech causes disorganized thinking, and it can be hard for people with schizophrenia to talk with other people. The answers people with schizophrenia give to many questions May not be related to what's actually being asked at all, or questions may not be answered fully. Rarely, speech may include putting together unrelated words In a way that can't not be understood at all, and this is sometimes referred to as word salad. Extremely disorganized or unusual motor behavior. This may show in several ways, from childlike silliness to being agitated for no reason. Behavior isn't focused on a goal, so it's hard to actually complete tasks. And people with schizophrenia May not want to follow instructions, so they may move in ways that are atypical or not appropriate to the social setting for which they're in, or they may not move much or respond at all. Negative symptoms. People with schizophrenia May not be able to function in the way that they could with prior to their illness. For example, they may not bathe, make eye contact, or show emotions. They may speak in a monotone voice and not be able to feel pleasure. They may lose interest in everyday activities and socially withdraw and have a hard time planning ahead. Symptoms can vary, and they can sometimes get better, and they can also get worse. And sometimes all the symptoms may be present all the time. So it's incredibly, incredibly important that this is treated or that treatment is sought or someone is supportive of treatment. Right. And one other thing I want to point out is that there's also a list of complications here, and I think that these are important to mention. Suicide, suicide attempts and thoughts of suicide, anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, misuse of alcohol or other drugs, including nicotine, not being able to work or attend school, money problems, homelessness, social isolation, health and medical problems, being victimized, and aggressive or violent behavior. Although people with schizophrenia are more likely to be assaulted rather than assault others, it's also incredibly important to note that those with schizophrenia often are in a nearly constant, at times, overwhelming state of confusion. So for Rhys, he is. He's confused the whole time. He's confused the whole movie. Like, he doesn't understand why things are happening, where they're coming from, how they happened. He doesn't understand what people are saying to him sometimes or what they're talking about. And, you know, sometimes the feeling of overwhelm, feeling of being overwhelmed, can cause, like, erratic behavior. But I don't know that that's really the case here. But it is also important to note that people with schizophrenia do not black out, okay? They perceive reality differently. So when Rhys says, I blacked out, it's like, I blacked out for that whole week. Well, I mean, it could be that he didn't black out, right? Like, if. If this is the case and this theory holds any truth, then he wouldn't have blacked out. It's just that his perception of reality is not what everyone else is saying. Everyone else is saying, like, oh, you were saying you're gonna kill your friend and you got fired from your job, and this and this and this and, like, what do you mean, you went to work today like, you don't have a job? Like, there are so many things that, like, he's confused about. Okay? The last theory. And again, I don't really know that I feel passionately about any one of these theories more than the others, but my last is that this is just a descent into madness, possibly coupled with depression. And I perceive the end of the film as. As Rhys being dead, as him committing suicide. So Julia thinks that Rhys is sick, but she's not sure with what exactly. And in this case, I think the chair is a metaphor for all the sadness and despair that Rhys feels for himself and those around him. Okay. He talks specifically about how the Chair is pulsing with sadness. So while he remains mostly not emotional, like, not emotional at all throughout the short film, all of that could be contained within that chair and those around him. Meaning mainly, you know, Julie, he. He's sad. Like, he knows that there is something wrong with him. He's not doing enough. And she is disappointed and in the way that their life is going together, and no matter how bad she wants to help, there's just not. There's just really nothing she could do. Like, there's nothing that could make it better. So in this case, I think that Franklin is a hallucination that speaks and acts for Rhys and guides him ultimately to his death. It could be that Rhys is so depressed that all he wants to do is die and starts to not care about his life or any actions, you know, that he commits, like losing his job or killing his friend. Right. He doesn't even care. It's maybe not even that he doesn't remember. Maybe he just doesn't care. The chair as a gift for Julie could have been, you know, his one final attempt to make her happy. And once you're already in that really, you know, depressed place where you don't care about anything and you don't feel like anyone is pleased with you and you actually try to do something to please someone else, it doesn't work. That is, like, devastating. It's almost like you're not doing. You're not. He wasn't giving this chair to Julie to make her happy. He was giving the chair to Julie to make her happy so that he could feel like he had a purpose. Right. And that ultimately isn't what happened. Rhys is afraid to face death. If Franklin is the walking embodiment of death, Rhys is terrified to face it. Rhys does not want anything to do with Franklin. He's afraid of Franklin. He's afraid of dying, but he also doesn't really care anymore. And you know, Rhys at the end of the film holding the hammer with all of, you know, the. The people in the house at the time being dead. I think the hammer was just a metaphor for all the destruction that he may have caused by being this mentally ill and not even realizing that he's doing this to other people. And at the very end, I think that Rhys is comforted by his eventual death and feels that it's almost like a noble. I think it could be twofold. He may feel that it's like a noble act to put those around him at the end, you know, to put them out of their misery. Right. If he's not around anymore, then they don't have anything to kill themselves over, like to, to work to improve, you know, they don't have to be a caretaker anymore. But on the other hand, it could also be that he did kill all of them and he was simply so angry that no one was willing to help him and no one was willing to listen that it was an act of revenge in a way, and that, you know, death was the final piece of that puzzle for him and he just wanted to be done. So. With all that being said, I think that wraps up the show for today. I really hope that you enjoyed this episode. I'm so glad that it is a new year and that I'm back with you all. And of course I have to remind you that the final girl on 6th Avenue is part of the Morbidly Beautiful Network. Please go to morbidlybeautiful.com to check out all of the film reviews and the podcasts and the content that we create. It's really an amazing thing. I can't speak highly of it enough. You can find this podcast on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Music, and Pocket Casts. If you enjoyed the show, it would mean the world to me if you left me a five star review and subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts. For any questions, comments, concerns, smart suggestions or requests, you can email me at finalgirl on6gmail.com or you can send me a message on Instagram at Final Girl on six. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I enjoyed making it, and I will talk to you all very, very soon. Take care. Never Forget that I am 6 Aven is very.