Ewan McGregor is Sam, a psychiatrist who finds himself charged with a new patient, Henry Lathem (Gosling).

Henry’s problem is that he knows he’ll top himself at the weekend, although he can’t quite explain why.

Nevertheless, he also appears to have a slight desire to live, hence his meetings with the highly confused Sam. Oh, and he seems to be able to see the future too.

It is clear from the opening frames that it’s highly unlikely you will be able to fathom this dreamy tale until shortly before the end credits roll.

With this in mind, one would think it essential that the Monsters Ball director construct a movie that supplies enough of the requisite emotion demanded from a thriller.

The classic, cheap thrills are certainly there – screeching violins, people popping up in unexpected places, the occasional bout of sudden violence – alas, they are but tent poles designed to prop up any flagging of interests.

And the only reason one’s interest wanes is because, without the knowledge that the final scenes provide, there is very little to take on board in the preceding 90 minutes.

The plot twist not only makes the movie, it breaks it as well.

In fact, any shortcomings the movie may have – McGregor’s psychotherapy dialogue, the intrusive transitions, Bob Hoskins – can be justified, rightly or wrongly, in retrospect. Although McGregor’s accent is as pointless as it is American.

Forster would know doubt point to the likes of an M. Night Shyamalan movie or The Machinist as movies that require a second visit to truly understand.

But on first viewing of the Sixth Sense and The Machinist, the viewer enjoys the journey as much as reaching the destination, while Stay creates a series of bizarre set pieces that could go on indefinitely before someone decided they ought to splice in the final scene – clearly written before the rest of the movie - to tie things up.

It’s by no means a bad film, and the twists and turns will no doubt please many.

But just as many are likely to walk away feeling let down, and in that case perhaps it’s better to know why almost nothing in the movie makes any sense before you sit through 90 minutes of confusion for a single moment of clarity.

Rich Phippen