What an interesting swan song for Kubrick to leave us on. While certainly nothing to scoff at, as the performances, the cinematography, the production design, and the music are, as in any Kubrick film, just stunning.

Clearly, the theme of the film is about sex and how it drives us to our mental limits. It’s clear that Kubrick shows dehumanization through it, as it’s Bill Harford’s (Tom Cruise) thoughts of his wife Alice’s (Nicole Kidman) fantasy with a naval officer that compels him on his sexual odyssey that ends up endangering his life.

Another theme that is dealt with is soulful love vs. physical love, which is represented on both sides through Alice and Bill, respectively. Alice is very emotional as she reveals things about herself, whether it be her fantasy of the naval officer, or her nightmare where he partakes in an orgy and laughs at Bill. On the other hand, Bill is very cold and mechanical about love, which certainly shows in his encounter with Domino.

The booklet inside my box set made a very interesting point that Bill’s profession was that of a doctor, as a doctor can understand women on a physical level, but cannot comprehend the mentality of even his wife about the matter of sexual desire when they argue around a half-hour into the film.

The crème de la crème comes in the form of the orgy cult, which houses Bill’s ideals of sex incarnate. Each of the members wear masks, which obscures any sense of pleasure of enjoyment for both the giving and receiving ends. It’s sex for sex’s sake. No emotion. No feeling. Just the physical act of intercourse.

It’s only until confronted about his intrusion and the aftermath the day after that Bill questions himself and his outlook on sex. The scene where he finds his mask on his pillow is both a reflection of himself: a physical object with which his wife pleasures herself, as well as his attempts of infidelity. Both of these factors leads him into breaking down in front of Alice and revealing all to her.

All seems well. However, in classic Kubrick form, it’s at the very last spoken word of the film that you may argue that the entire journey that Bill and Alice went through was for naught. On one hand, they are rekindling their relationship into something better than what it once was, but on the other, it may appear as their sex will be for sex’s sake and not for the purpose of reciprocating their love for one another.

It’s an extremely interesting film with a very complex and thoughtful outlook of one of literature and film’s most tired themes, and only a sheer genius like Kubrick could pull it off.