Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Labyrinthine
- Violence
- Mild
- eerie
- melancholic
- disorienting
- late night viewing
- arthouse thriller night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film visually inventive and well acted but muddled, pretentious, and emotionally thin beneath its brain-teasing structure.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Sam's investigation increasingly blurs psychiatric reality, subjective imagination, and a possible parallel world.
Recurring imagery, transitions, and spatial distortions provide interpretive guidance through the film's mystery.
The psychiatrist's concern for Henry's suicidal state becomes entangled with grief, guilt, and the unstable reality surrounding him.
The film sustains uncertainty over whether its events belong to ordinary reality, hallucination, or another plane of experience.
Films like Stay, and why
Mulholland Drive
surreal psychological mystery, unstable reality, and dreamlike visual symbolism
The Machinist
identity confusion, fractured reality, and a twist-driven psychological thriller structure
Jacob's Ladder
ambiguous psychological mystery with existential themes and disorienting visual design
The Sixth Sense
reality distortion, mournful atmosphere, and an emotionally charged final revelation
Movie Details
- Director
- Marc Forster
- Release Date
- 2005-09-24
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (1596)
Cast
- Ewan McGregor
- Naomi Watts
- Ryan Gosling
- Kate Burton
- Elizabeth Reaser
- Bob Hoskins
- BD Wong
- Janeane Garofalo
- John Tormey
- José Ramón Rosario
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Indie Club Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Stay about?
- A psychiatrist races to understand a suicidal young man's impossible world as reality fractures into grief-soaked dream logic.
- What is Stay like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Stay as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as labyrinthine.
- Is Stay violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Stay as mild.
- What did critics think of Stay?
- Critics broadly found the film visually inventive and well acted but muddled, pretentious, and emotionally thin beneath its brain-teasing structure.
- Which films are like Stay?
- Films with a similar feel include Mulholland Drive, The Machinist, Jacob's Ladder, and The Sixth Sense.
- How long is Stay?
- Stay runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch Stay?
- In United States, Stay streams on Indie Club Amazon Channel.
