Stalker

The Stalker has just returned from prison and is reunited with his wife and daughter. His wife greets him with horror and suspicion, highlighting how fragile their life has become. The domestic tension foreshadows the dangerous journey to the Zone that lies ahead.

The Writer and the Professor hire the Stalker to guide them to the Zone and obtain access to the Room. They meet in a rundown bar-café where the Stalker lays down strict survival rules. He warns them that they must obey him and respect the Zone’s dangerous, living nature.

The Stalker explains that the Zone is a living thing whose dangers must be treated with reverence. He cautions that the straightest path is not always the shortest and that the Zone tests every visitor. The travelers listen, partly skeptical and partly anxious about what lies ahead.

They evade the Zone’s military guards by following a train that slips through the gate. The trio boards a railway work car and rides deeper into the Zone. This marks their transition from the outside world to the heart of the unknown.

Inside the Zone, the Stalker tests for gravitational anomalies by tossing metal nuts tied to cloth strips. The test adds a sense of risk and wonder as the group presses onward. The Writer remains skeptical while the Professor cautiously follows the Stalker’s lead.

They discuss their reasons for seeking the Room. The Writer fears losing his inspiration, while the Professor desires scientific prestige and a Nobel Prize. The Stalker frames his purpose as helping desperate people, hinting at a mentor who profited from the Room before hanging himself.

They reach a decrepit industrial building guarding the Room, where a Meat Grinder anomaly tests entrants with a deadly requirement. The three hesitate as the possibility of entering the Room becomes a moral crossroads. In a small antechamber, a phone suddenly rings, adding to the tension.

The Professor answers the ringing phone and uses it to call his former boss to gloat about finding the Room. The moment exposes his vanity and willingness to manipulate others for personal gain. The others react with growing distrust as the stakes rise.

Just outside the Room, the trio engages in a tense stand-off as the Professor reveals his plan to destroy the Room with a 20-kiloton bomb. The Writer and the Stalker challenge the plan, seeking a resolution that avoids catastrophe. The confrontation leaves them exhausted and morally conflicted.

The Room’s true power appears as a mirror into each soul. The Writer realizes that the Stalker’s mentor hanged himself after sending his brother to the Meat Grinder for money, illustrating how selfish desires corrupt the Room’s gift. The moment reframes their understanding of what a wish really means.

The Professor abandons the destructive plan and dismantles the bomb. The Writer argues that it may be impossible to use the Room for selfish ends, and the trio chooses not to attempt entry. They leave the threshold with a fragile, uneasy accord.

Back at home, the Stalker laments humanity’s loss of faith, a prerequisite for traversing the Zone with integrity. The wife delivers a monologue about choosing a hard, meaningful life over an easy one. Martyshka, the daughter, appears to move glasses with her mind as a train passes nearby and Beethoven’s Ninth fills the air, sealing the film’s haunting mood.