The Machinist

Trevor Reznik is a factory worker whose chronic insomnia has begun to crack the world around him. Each day feels like a struggle to stay awake while machines hum and the shop floor grows stranger. A quiet, shadowy man appears wherever Trevor goes, always just out of reach of anyone else, keeping company with the already fragile mind of its host. As the lines between dream and waking life blur, Trevor finds himself haunted by small, unsettling incidents that seem to aim at him alone. The story follows his increasingly desperate attempt to separate truth from illusion before fear eclipses what remains of his life.

Brad Anderson directed The Machinist from a script by Scott Kosar, delivering a lean psychological thriller anchored by Christian Bale's commitment and a stark, industrial setting.

The film grossed $8,203,235 worldwide on a $5,000,000 budget, a modest result that nonetheless fits its niche appeal and the caliber of its critical reception.

Bale's drastic physical transformation for the role became a talking point in actor craft and genre cinema. The Machinist helped shape a visual style for psychological stress in thrillers, with stark lighting and a pervasive sense of dread that echoes in later indie horrors.

Critics praised Bale's immersive performance and the movie's claustrophobic mood, though some found the narrative opaque at times. The film looks at themes of guilt, memory, and the blurry boundary between reality and perception as Trevor confronts what haunts him.