Sublime

George Grieves checks into Mt. Abaddon Hospital for what is described as a routine procedure. He expects standard medical care and a quick recovery, unaware that horror lies ahead.

After what is described as a colonoscopy, Grieves awakens and is told that due to similar patient names, he was mistakenly given a sympathectomy to treat sweaty palms. The revelation leaves him disoriented and wary of what actually happened to him.

As days tick by, Grieves’ post-operative experiences become more strange and frightening. He encounters distorted perceptions and nightmare-like episodes that blur the line between reality and illusion.

Grieves understands that something has gone wrong with his recovery and that he is trapped inside a nightmare realm constructed from his fears. He feels unable to wake or escape back to the real world.

Within the dream world, his worst fears manifest as concrete threats he must confront. He moves through increasingly hostile environments that reflect his inner anxieties.

Back in the real world, doctors reveal a complication during the colonoscopy that created an air bubble in his bloodstream. The bubble traveled to his brain, causing extensive damage and a vegetative state.

From the family’s perspective, Grieves has been ‘dead to the outside world’ for 10 months and faces pressure to end artificial life support. The doctors explain the prognosis while the family grapples with the difficult decision.

Inside the dream, Grieves decides that the only escape is to end his life there, hoping that it will trigger the collapse of his real body and free him from torment. He steels himself for a final act.

He gathers the resolve and leaps from a seventh-floor window onto the concrete below, in the dream world’s attempt to end the torment. The act represents a desperate bid for release from the nightmare.

The final shot reveals his real-world body lying in an empty hospital room as the heart flatlines and the eyelids close. The dream’s fate mirrors the physical end in the waking world.

With Grieves’ death, the nightmare and the real-world tragedy converge, leaving the audience to interpret what was real and what was imagined in his final hours.