The Machinist
The movie opens up with credits while we hear a struggling Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) trying to roll up something in a carpet, most likely a body. He drives his truck near a dam and does indeed have a body to dispose of. He hurries when someone starts to come closer, holding a flashlight. He pushes the body down, but the carpet starts to unravel, and we assume we will see the body. Just then, the man with the flashlight catches up to him and says, "Who are you?"
We now see Trevor washing his hands with bleach. He turns around and sees a post-it note that says "Who Are You?" We get back to this scene eventually, but for now we go all the way back to the beginning:
Trevor is with Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They've finished making love at her place, and Trevor washes up. She pokes fun at his extremely low weight. He creeps her (and the rest of the audience) out by arching his back to show his bones sticking out. He walks out the door, leaving money in her jar (she's a hooker).
We now get a look at his working environment. Trevor has some sort of industrial job, and is very chummy with his co-workers. However, we can see they suspect Trevor of drug use (due to his thin body).
Trevor is now at an airport restaurant. He is chatting and flirting with a divorced waitress named Marie (Aitana Snchez Gijn). He takes a look at the clock, which reads 1:30 (Throughout the movie he will notice when it is 1:30, which is important later). Marie and Trevor make joking comments to each other, implying Trevor is a criminal. Just like everyone else, Marie worries about Trevor's weight and fatigue. He eventually finds his way back to Stevie. During their pillow talk, he reveals to her that he hasn't slept in one year.
Trevor goes out for a smoke during work one day. While in his car, he hears someone in the next car say that a storm is coming. He looks over and sees a stocky bald man. He introduces himself as Ivan. He says he is a new worker, covering for Trevor's friend, Reynolds.
Back on shift, Trevor and his co-worker Miller are fixing a machine. Trevor looks over at Ivan, who gives him a throat-slashing gesture. Trevor takes a step back and his shoulder hits a button that turns on the machine. Miller's arm is caught and slowly entering it. They try to turn off the machine and free him, but can't do it in time. Miller's arm is slashed up, and seen still spinning around in the machine minus Miller. They call for an ambulance and Trevor goes into his boss's office. They ask him what happened. He says Ivan must have distracted him. His boss seems puzzled. They never heard of Ivan.
Trevor sees Ivan leaving in his car. Trevor follows him. He pulls up and says they need to talk. They go into a bar, where Trevor asks him some questions. Ivan insists that he does work there and that maybe his boss and co-workers are tricking him. Ivan also shows him his own deformity. His big toe has been sewed onto his hand due to an accident of his own. Ivan leaves to go to the bathroom, and Trevor looks in his wallet. He sees a picture of Ivan and Reynolds fishing. He keeps it.
Back at work his co-workers are angry with him. They say they do not trust him anymore. He has apparently become the outcast of the group.
During the next couple of days he starts seeing post-its on his fridge. They resemble a game of 'hangman'. They have six blanks to fill with letters. Trevor has no idea what is going on. Later on the next day, the blanks read _ _ _ _ er.
He takes Marie and her son to an amusement park. After a scary ride with many creepy sights, Marie's son Nicholas (Mathew Romero Moore) has a seizure. Trevor blames himself, but Marie doesn't and seems quite forgiving about the whole thing. They go back to her place and have some wine. He goes to the kitchen and sees a mother's day card Nicholas gave to Marie. He notices that his handwriting matches the "ER" in his last hangman post-it. When he goes back home, he makes a guess and fills in MOTHER. He looks at an old photo album of his own mother and sees a picture that eerily looks similar to one he took of Nicholas and Marie earlier.
Back at work, Trevor almost gets into an accident himself, which nearly costs his arm. He starts to become paranoid at everyone around him. He believes someone is after him, possibly Miller (the man who lost his arm). Most of his paranoia surrounds Ivan though. Back at home, he makes another guess at the hangman game: MILLER.
He goes to confront Miller (who is living a little more comfortably with a settlement check). Trevor accuses Miller of trying to get revenge. It turns nasty and Miller punches Trevor in the gut (ouch). Afterwards he sees Ivan leaving the scene and he pursues him by car, but Ivan escapes. Trevor is starting to believe there is a conspiracy against him.
Trevor goes back to Stevie's for a sex session. Afterwards we can see that they have feelings for each other. After some talking, she tells him she wants to leave hooking and start a relationship with him, which is what Trevor wants as well.
He goes back to the restaurant to see Marie. The waitress there says that nobody named Marie works there. Trevor starts to freak out and yells at the staff and customers. He accuses them all of playing along in the conspiracy. While leaving, he spots Ivan driving off again. He slowly tails him.
He discovers Ivan's plate numbers but loses him in a near accident. He then goes to the DMV. They won't help him unless he has a criminal complaint to file. Trevor then jumps in front of a car so he can go to the police and say he suffered a hit and run, giving Ivan's license plate. The plates end up being of a car that was owned by Trevor and reported completely destroyed by him one year before. The cops accuse him of pranking them. Trevor is confused and runs off. The cops give chase through some subway tunnels, but he escapes.
He goes back to Stevie, who tries to help him heal. He then finds the picture of Ivan with Reynolds, and accuses Stevie of being in with Ivan on the plot against him. Stevie tells him the picture is of Reynolds and none other than Trevor himself. She also has no idea who Ivan is. She says he left the picture with her last time. This leads to confusion, and then a heated argument, to which Trevor is thrown out. He goes back to his apartment building, only to find Ivan and Nicholas already going inside. He goes in and has a fight with Ivan. He manages to cut his throat but can't find Nicolas.
Now we are back at the beginning of the film. Trevor tries to dump the body, but discovers that when the carpet unravels, it is empty. The man approaching with the flashlight is Ivan. He asks "Who are you?"
The scene skips back to his place, where he is washing his hands with bleach. He sees the post-it that asks "Who are you?" He looks up at the mirror and can see Ivan in the background. Trevor starts to cry.
He repeatedly says, I know who you are.
In a flashback from more than a year ago, we see a healthy Trevor driving what we thought was Ivan's car. The time is 1:30 pm. He is distracted when he tries to light his cigarette. He ends up hitting and killing Nicholas. Marie runs to her child. Trevor ends up fleeing the scene.
Back in the present, Trevor completes the hangman game and figures out who he is. It says KILLER. His guilt has caused his insomnia and trip into madness, which created Ivan. He never knew Marie and Nicholas (if those are their real names). He takes a trip downtown. We find him in a police station, where he says "I'd like to report a hit and run". He turns himself in.
The cops want to know if he wants to make a statement or phone call.
He says "Later. I just want to get some sleep right now."
As he sits in his cell, he finally starts to doze off. The last image we see is a flashback of a distraught Trevor, driving down a road after the hit and run. Fade to white.
