Jacob's Ladder

Seriously one of the most unique plots and done ridiculously well. At first, you think that our little Jacob is going through the usual PTSD from his time at war (the Vietnam war to be exact), BUT as the movie progressing you learn that Jacob was exposed to an experimental drug called "Ladder". So we think, damn, this dude not only has PTSD, he also has been exposed to a whack drug that is making his PTSD must worse. THEN we find out at the veryyyy end that Jacob actually died in war so was he in purgatory?? Did the drug make his last moments extremely vivid and this whole movie was just like the last few minutes of his consciousness?? I think it is left to interpretation. I'm prone to believe that his last moments were him believing he was in purgatory. I am not a religious person, so it is hard to say anything about purgatory being real, but all the biblical names and references make it seem like the movie is pointing the viewers in that direction. The movie essentially is Jacob's journey of detach from worldly elements such as relationships and past lives. As the chiropractor said (along these words) "hell burns the attachments we have to the world" don't remember the exact quote and too lazy to look up so don't come for me. The "Ladder" is symbolic of Jacob's climb to heaven, and it is sort of noted that he does make his ascent to heaven when he takes his deceased son's hand and they go upstairs together. It is in the next scene that the viewers realize that Jacob is not alive. It's also like his consciousness explores alternative lives as Jacob goes between two "realities" where Sarah is his wife (and hadn't left) and a coworker named Jezebel who knows how heavy Sarah is on his mind. Like a lot of our dreams, they are a mixture of our experiences that we have lived and possible experiences we have yet to cross the barrier to. The messed-up thing is that is partially based on a true story. A drug called BZ was referenced at the end of the film, and it was used as an experimental drug on soldiers (many without their knowledge). Last thing I will say about this movie is that the way they made those heads shake in random scenes was so creepy!

Shudder rating: 5 out of 5 skulls 

My rating: 4.3 out of 5 skulls