Much has been said about 1998’s Dark City. Other people have analyzed its similarities to 1999’s The Matrix, fawned over its rich marriage of murder mystery and science fiction, and explored its deeper meaning and symbolism. But there’s one aspect of the film that I’ve never heard discussed, and that’s what happens after the end credits roll.
Spoiler alert to anyone who hasn’t seen this amazing film before. At the end of the film, the main character (John Murdoch) learns that the city he is living in was actually created by aliens, known only as the Strangers, who are experimenting on the human inhabitants in search of the secret to the human soul, which they hope will preserve their dying alien race. No one is who they think they are. They have all been implanted with false memories and lives, and they have no hope of ever finding their true home because every memory of Earth was taken from them. John receives Godlike powers over the machines that the Strangers use to control the city, and he uses those powers to defeat the Strangers and restructure the city to his liking. He lines the outside of the city with water to create the Shell Beach that has been one of the few bright spots in his fake memories, and then he proceeds to meet up with the woman who was his wife in a former life, but who now has no memory of him.
Bad guys defeated. Good guy gets the girl. Happy ending, right? Well, everyone in the city is still stranded who knows how many light-years from Earth with no clue how to get back there or even what it’s called. There are a lot of questions I have about what John Murdoch should do at the end of Dark City. Let’s go through them. Continue reading →
