I went in thinking this had been reviewed very positively by critics, and the premise seemed like a good setup (only two men stationed alone on a small New England island). The first 30 minutes or so were decent, as you're waiting for the suspense to ramp up. But there's no real hooks, just confusing symbolism, repeated scenes, and ultimately an ending that doesn't really deliver much of anything. I'll never understand why people laud directors like this as visionaries - he has a good technical sense, and the cramped screen aspect was a nice touch, but it's sort of like he set up the scene and simply said, "do something" to the actors. There's no story there, nothing that really compels the viewer to the next scene. I thought about leaving the theater around the halfway mark, but stuck it out till the end, which was all sort of wasted time, really. Rewatch 'The Shining' or 'Apocalypse Now' if you want descent into madness with an actual storyline.