Tom’s speech “I’ve kidnapped you until you fall in love with me”, in my opinion, is the truth. I think this because the scene where Tom is standing over Ruby in the red light was a red flag for me. That wasn’t the actions of a worried boyfriend. That was barely controlled restraint. In fact, to me, until he tells her the story of the attack and starts to act kinder (because she’s finally playing along) he isn’t acting concerned for her at all. A concerned bf, in my opinion, would act like Adam Sandler did in 50 First Dates, not brainwash her to think she can’t walk. Not tell her she’s a hostage and HAS to fall on love with him.

By giving her the book, tea, certain foods, a song, knowing and telling her that they are triggers was another red flag. He said he learned it through research but that research could have been years prior, before this all happened.

Ruby’s flashback about the door. Obviously inside this cell/room. Tom says “One last thing Ms. Watts” and we see the syringe. This threw me until I watched it again. In this scene, just like in the last, we see how for Tom is willing to go to secure this illusion he’s trying to force on her that he is her savior.

The assault didn’t make sense to me either (then again I live in the states and I’m not familiar with UK laws) but you were right. In the states, that would have been self defense so she could have gotten proper help. Also, if Tom and Ruby were a couple, why would she be living with a male roommate while Tom was also in the city? Would they not live together if they were so much in love?

My theory is that Tom is 100% the bad guy here. That he was obsessed with her at university. That Ruby and her “roommate” were the actual couple. Tom drugged her outside her apartment, brought her in, raped her, the boyfriend came in and Tom killed him, took Ruby and lobotamized her. I mean come on! You mean to tell me he randomly found an abandoned, rundown house, on an island, condemned BUT with a pristine holding cell under a trap door and he’s the good guy!? He planned it all from the beginning! Probably a psych/med student with a chemical imbalance and refusal to take his meds. lol

1. In the U.S., he wouldn’t see much if *any* jail time for killing his GF’s rapist, in the act. Hard to believe it would be any different in the UK. (Although I’m guessing the U.S. is actually more lenient with justifiable homicides. Given that they allow firearms and all.)

2. Tom’s not good because he ignores the above, but also ignores the fact that SHE NEEDS GOOD MEDICAL ATTENTION. Like his flatmate tells him. Not his own half-assed efforts. Even if everything else he says is true. He’s at best being incredibly selfish here, and putting her health at risk in the process. In addition to forcing extreme discomfort upon her, apparently for years. So every if everything else is true, they were deeply in love, etc., he’s still an ass.

3. I thought the last line was actually her saying “I want to wake up!”, which would’ve made sense, but I trust what the other poster said. Which is that this is a repeat of his rommmate asking “Why won’t you wake up”, highlighting the fact that Tom is acting like a selfish madman, even if everything else he said was true.

4. I’m inclined to believe the rape by the flatmate is real, because she could be recalling her own memories of the walk home, not just his. And because drunk people sometimes have their ringers off, and miss calls. But it’s definitely odd that he would lay on top of his GF who has just been raped and hit, and try to kiss her. Highly insensitive, and possibly an indication that he was the actual rapist in reality. (The flatmate line about her “not letting him in again” is definitely a little odd.)

5. Ultimately, the film could be a metaphor for how we have to let love go sometimes, because people change. Tom refuses to “wake up” to this reality, and possibly commits murder as a result, and definitely commits an abduction and extended imprisonment as a result. Whether or not her memory issues are organic, caused by an assault by someone else, or caused by Tom’s pills is almost irrelevant. Because the bottom line is that Tom is refusing to acknowledge that her mind/feelings have changed, and she has other needs now that are more important than his need to be loved by her. Like her need to obtain proper medical care, and possibly a surgery that will actually fix her. (And why would he be afraid of that? This alone implies that maybe they weren’t happily in love by the night of the incident.)

Anyway, I guess that’s my take on the meaning of the film. You need to let people/love move on sometimes, for whatever reason, and you can’t try to tie people down, literally or figuratively, simply because you love them. Because that alone doesn’t justify anything.

P.S.: I don’t believe she was just playing along near the end when they have sex. If she was, she would probably attack him while they were having sex, or immediately afterwards. She wouldn’t have waited to fall asleep peacefully in his arms, and then only tried to kill him the next morning. Whether she forgot everything by sleeping too long, or had other memories triggered by the alarm, her mindset appeared to drastically change between the night before and the morning after.

And I don’t know if the final scene was actually the final scene chronologically or not, because he definitely seemed done for after the glass attack, and I”m not sure how he could’ve survived that blood loss, especially unconscious. He was definitely injured in the final scene, but was apparently limping, which doesn’t line up with the glass attack, but might’ve occurred during another escape attempt.

Maybe? Hadn’t thought of that. What a cool idea. I just assumed she had passed out. Super cool thought.

It appears that Tom is taking events that have some historical truth to them and at the same time using the power of suggestion to bend them to his preferred narrative. It would explain why things hold together in his voiceover — but only *just* hold together. I agree with others that say they did probably share some sort of relationship but it wasn’t to his liking, so he abdicated her and set to work perverting her memory through the use of drugs which would put her into a more suggestible state. He was likely the rapist in question as well.

(Also here from tiktok! ;)