The Machinist Explained: Is Something Sinister At Play?

No, there is nothing supernatural at play in The Machinist. Yep, we wanted to get that out of the way before we proceeded to explain the story of the film which is already complicated without adding the “supernatural” aspect to it. Yes, at times it feels like Christian Bale’s terrifyingly thin character Trevor Reznik is a victim of something paranormal but the truth is the opposite of it and far more horrifying. 

What is The Machinist about?

The Machinist begins with Trevor dumping what appears to be a dead body wrapped in a carpet at the river only for someone with a flashlight to arrive at the scene. The story begins with Trevor who works as a machinist at a factory. He has barely slept in the past year, has been continuously losing weight, and seems to be obsessed with cleanliness, especially his bathroom tiles and his hands. He often sleeps with a prostitute, Stevie, who is genuinely concerned for his well-being and ready to leave her life as a sex worker behind for him. After Stevie, it is his random conversations with a waitress, Maria, at an airport diner that bring him some comfort.  

One day, when Trevor comes home, he sees a note on his fridge with a six-letter hangman game ending with the word “R.” He is spooked, worried that someone entered his home without him knowing. Things take a much worse turn for Trevor when at work, he gets distracted by a man called Ivan who he thinks is his coworker, filling in for another coworker, Reynolds. His lapse of attention causes another fellow machinist to lose his arm while using a machine. When Trevor mentions why he lost his attention, he is informed that no one by the name of Ivan works there. 

Another bizarre incident happens when Trevor takes Maria’s son, Nicholas, to an amusement park ride, “Route 666,” which was supposed to be a simple scary ride. But instead, the scenery provided inside becomes increasingly horrifying ending with Nicholas having an epileptic seizure. Soon after, Trevor gets fired after lashing out when his hand gets caught in a machine as his usual paranoia makes him think that his coworkers are plotting against him. Life becomes even weirder for him after he discovers a picture of Ivan with Reynolds in the former’s wallet, proving that the latter lied about knowing Ivan. He accuses several of his coworkers of conspiring against him but they are clueless. Trevor tries to follow Ivan’s car and fakes a hit and run to get his address from the police but the search for the car’s plate reveals that the car is Trevor’s and he reported it being totaled in a wreck about a year ago. 

He then sees the same picture of Ivan in Stevie’s room. She found the picture in his wallet and put it in a frame to appease Trevor but he flies into a rage and accuses of her plotting against him with Ivan even as she stresses that Trevor is in the picture. Infuriated by his claims, she throws him out and he finds Ivan driving again. He appears to be with someone in the car and here The Machinist takes another bizarre turn- Ivan stops at Trevor’s house and it is Nicholas who steps out of the car. A terrified Trevor follows him inside where Ivan informs him that he killed Nicholas. Trevor then proceeds to kill him and wrap his body in a rug which brings us to the first scene in the film. But shockingly, when Trevor pushes the rug off, it opens up and there is nothing inside. And the double shock is that Ivan is somehow alive and is the one holding the flashlight to Trevor’s face. What on Earth is happening?!

The Real Story

All these weird events, the notes, Ivan, his car, Maria, Nicholas, the picture, everything are just effects of Trevor’s deep-seated guilt. Almost a year ago before the mind-boggling events of The Machinist, Trevor was recklessly driving the same car he saw Ivan in. While driving, he ducked down to light his cigarette and ended up hitting a small boy. As the mother ran to her son screaming in horror, Trevor made a run for it. He destroyed the car and reported it totaled in a wreck so as to erase any proof connecting him to the accident. While the fate of the boy is never revealed and Trevor manages to evade punishment, his consciousness is majorly disturbed by the incident. 

Even though his psyche suppresses the memory of the accident, his ever-consuming guilt makes itself felt in other ways. He barely eats, can’t sleep no matter how much he wants to and develops an obsession with cleaning as if he is trying to somehow erase the blood on his hands. He continuously notices the same time- 1:30 am/pm as this is the time that he saw on his dashboard right before the accident. The car he saw Ivan driving was just his memory of being in the car himself. In fact, half the major characters in The Machinist just exist in Trevor’s head. 

Who are the imaginary characters?

Marie, Nicholas, and above all, Ivan don’t really exist in Trevor’s life. Nicholas is the kid Trevor hit with his car and Marie is the child’s mother he saw crying for her son. It’s obvious that he doesn’t know their names and just gave them fictional namesakes. While he does visit the airport diner in his unconscious bid to escape, Marie never worked there. All those colorful conversations he had with her and his constant overtipping never happened. In reality, he just sat there every day, staring at his coffee and imagining himself chatting with her. It was his consciousness’ way of somehow assuaging the guilt he felt for not helping her and her son at the scene of the accident. 

This means that he never really went to the theme park with Marie and her son- he went by himself. The “Route 666” ride was a reminder of the locket bearing the same title which hung from the rear-view mirror of Trevor’s car on the day of the accident. That’s why when Nicholas tries to steer their cart towards the path marked “Salvation”.

What Do the Notes Mean?

The notes on his refrigerator are from Trevor himself. Call it a kind of split personality disorder where the aware Trevor wrote the hangman game note to remind himself that he is a killer while the consciously overwhelmed Trevor fails to connect the dots. He goes from spelling “Tucker” to “Miller” (names of his coworkers) before he remembers what he did a year ago. 

Ivan is the Manifestation of Trevor’s Guilt

Once you understand the whole story, it is easy to see how Ivan is just Trevor’s imagination. He sees him for the first time when he is lighting his cigarette in his car, something that caused the accident a year ago and ends up conjuring Ivan in his mind. He never met up with him for a drink and the picture he found was in his own wallet. It is not Ivan standing next to Reynolds in the picture but Trevor himself. 

That’s why when Trevor “kills” Ivan, he didn’t really die- guilt never does until you manage to forgive yourself. As Trevor regains his memories of the accident, he packs his stuff and leaves with Ivan i.e., his ever-present guilt to drive to the police station to confess to his crime. Ivan waving at him outside the police station is Trevor’s guilt, which had been eating him alive. He is taken into custody and locked up, where he finally falls asleep after a long time as he is now atoning for his crime.