THE EMPTY MAN (2020) Explained 

Because of my PTSD from serving in Iraq as a combat medic, I can't do jump scares very well. Thanks to foundflix, I can enjoy a good story without putting myself through stupid jumpscares.

"Yeah, no." Smartest horror movie character ever

A cult creates a man out of pure thought, gave him a tragic past, then tell him all that pain is meaningless because he literally is three days old and THEN gave him the ability to warp reality, I'm pretty sure he would like to have so words with the people of the cult

Lots of Lovecraftian cosmic horror themes in here: -Cultists -Another sphere beyond reality (the dreamscape in lovecraft's terms) -Mere contact with the old ones makes you go mad -At the firesite, I am pretty sure they chanted "Nyarlahothep" at some point. In lovecraft lore, Nyarlahotep is the collective thoughts of the old ones in a bodily form. And it fits perfectly into this scenario.

The Empty Man: “Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself.”

20:43 the most intelligent decision in a horror movie man really said “Yeah... No.” and took off. The man is thinking what we’re thinking 90% of the time.

I love how the main character is like a real person, the things he says and his decisions, are mostly fairly realistic. Wish more horror movies did that.

I was blindsided at how this movie wound up being a film that I can actually say is, “Lovecraftian”, without having to make exceptions to define it as such

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends got really weird at the end

I feel like the Empty Man is just a construct of the “call to the abyss” phenomenon, where people get the overwhelming urge out of nowhere to fling themselves off a bridge, cliff or crash their car...

I love all these secret Lovecraft movies coming out, Underwater and The Empty Man were so surprising! The monster at the end is straight up Nyarlathotep. Cosmic horror is really starting to happen more and more.

The enemies of empty man will be the overthinking man.

If someone told me they manifested me I would just say- actually I manifested you to believe you manifested me. Because what they going to do? say no? Lol

I was so impressed by this especially seeing how the reception and performance of the film was underwhelming. It is a bit messy and convoluted and overlong, but man it is so thoroughly enjoyable and ambitious. I actually really liked the fact that the title only drops 25 minutes into the movie, I found it really bold and I think having a drawn out intro like that was interesting and if it was super short it would have felt pretty typical to me.

The San Frisco line made me laugh everytime

The most frightening thing I see here is that woman's appalling bowl cut.

One of the first movies you've explained I haven't heard of

1. James' surname, Lasombra, actually means "the shadow" in Spanish. 2. Pontifex means "bridge maker". 3. One of the folders in Camp Elsewhere is named "Quail/A" (Amanda Quail) which may also pertain to the concept of qualia - a term use to describe the nature or content of our subjective experiences.

I *LOVED* this movie. Thought it would be a Slenderman deal, but was pleasantly surprised. It was very ambitious and upon the second viewing, it was even better. So much bridge symbolism. Camn we talk about how the hospital looks just like the Scientolgy headquarters??

When they told you the worst she can say is "no" but she says "iugh" *the empty man*

"This man empty.... YEEET"

I saw the beginning of this movie and was gobsmacked by the realistic reaction the guy had when getting stabbed. The delay as he didn’t yet comprehend what was happening then immediately panicking as it sinks in.

I wish at the end he started warping reality at the end of the movie, creating his family and sitting with them at the end

*end credits of The Empty Man start rolling* 30 seconds later: “Hey guys, welcome to FoundFlix”

The sentence “Luckily there was an abandoned house” is extremely telling of what is about to happen

Maybe Amanda was just avoiding reality because of her haircut

I don't think they actually manifested him at all, that was a false reality they created in his mind by breaking him down. That is the meaning of the line about repeating your name until it's gibberish. His trauma was real and necessary to complete the ritual, they just needed to mould him into an empty vessel through 'gibberish'. That's also the significance of the scene where he sees himself on the gantry - that is him accepting his new role in their reality. They used triggers like the bottle repeatedly, and told him he was the empty man, until he became the empty man. Plenty of other symbology such as the shaven heads and repeated mantras of the cult also hint at this being the true meaning, imo.

The whole solipsism thing is actually a mindset I’ve fought off and on for a long time. Especially as a kid, and I mean even well into my teens, I couldn’t comprehend everyone around me were their own being, each with individual pasts and thoughts and issues and so forth. Nothing felt real, it’s like my eyes always sat at the very back of my skull if that makes sense. All I thought there was in this world was myself and a god that loved hurting/provoking a reaction out of me. What a great time that was😅

So I thought the guy who plays Paul kind of looks like Aaron Paul and upon further investigation found out the actors name is Aaron Poole. That was fucking amazing.

So technically...with the power of thought, I can manifest an entire pot roast in front of me right now. (Edit) *Didn’t work*

At the end, before crawling inside of James, the Empty Man turns into an avatar of Nyarlathotep.

I think the reason it got a 60% is one it was 2 hours long and most humans can’t comprehend concepts like this. I want more horror like this because it truly can make horror better

You know that girl's crazy with that haircut.

“You wanna be cool? You better blow in this bottle or else, okay?” This might be the funniest thing I’ve heard today.

Omg I left for a while and just realized you title the videos as just “explained” instead of “ending explained!” I think it’s a good change :) another great vid btw! I love watching films through you because I love horror but I’m also easily scared, and you always make it light-hearted and creepy at the same time

Its also filmed extremely well and the shots are gorgeous.

"It's not real" "Then why fight it?" Is actually a really really good argument...

"Wait your telling me my entire pained and torturous existence has been of YOUR own creation and now I have the power to warp and change reality......" Cult member: Hey is anyone else starting to hear the dark souls boss music?

I wonder if the feelings that the main character is feeling throughout the whole movie up to his realization is what the first true artificial intelligence would feel like when it realizes what it truly is.

This is actually one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I went into it without even knowing what it was about, and my god it blew me away.

Getting "how can mirrors be real if our eyes arent real" vibes from this whole thing

The first 20 minutes of this movie are incredibly masterly, I wish they had kept going that way.

Thank you for your watching and breaking down the movies. Your good. You let me find movies worth watching and sum up others I have no time to watch but find interesting. Your insight and time is appreciated. Keep up the great work.

did you notice that the man digging into his wounds, then into a bowl, has more fingers?

My cousin is the little boy who plays James Lasombra’ son in the movie, so cool to see it was shot here in Cape Town South Africa

I mean when I was a kid I watched Digimon where the bad guy wanted to break the barriers between realities, and it was bad. I guess all those people at that church thing didn't watch Digimon.

This honestly was one of the best horror/thriller movies I have seen in a while. Sure, it has its flaws, but I found it to be great. I’m sure some people don’t like it because they have to actually pay attention to the movie to understand what’s happening (though they’ll never admit it). I would recommend and watch again!

It was a decent movie. It gave me Hereditary “you can’t outrun your fate” vibes along with Shutter Island, where they had him play out the ruse so he can come to the truth on his own & that he was the person he was looking for.

One of the worst things in this movie is that these people would pick up a random bottle off the ground and put it to their mouths to blow on it! Who does that?

How dare they make a movie about me. The nerve. The shade.

Just want to point out when Lasombra asks Garrett, “Where’s Amanda?” He tells him, “She’s on the bridge.” When Lasombra later finds Amanda, she’s sitting on Paul, who is their current bridge to the noosphere.

That was pretty deep. Could anyone else also suggest some movies with mind blowing plot twists like this. Example : Oculus, Identity, Shutter Island, Orphan, The Others

that cult scene at night across the river was top notch lol

I don’t even watch movies anymore, I just wait for you to explain them. If you would’ve told me 10 years ago I’d be on RU-vid listening to a guy tell me what happens in a movie, I would’ve laughed in your face!❤️

i liked the first 20 minutes better than the rest of the movie combined. should've been a short film.

The fact he was created via their thoughts was a big shock for me when i watched it ! Very cool story

Hairdresser : what haircut you want Her: you watch naruto? Hairdresser: say no more rock lee it is.

A very weird movie, but maybe the most relatable protagonist to the audience I’ve ever seen.

Me with ADHD this video hurts my soul, and FoundFlix is the grandmaster of explaining movies. The movie will definitely hurt me physically.

Don't know if you changed your editing but I found myself feeling more entertained while watching your video. 👍

The movie has its problems for sure, but I think it's really underrated. Also, who else was amazed by the VFX where the camera zooms in on the map and then transitions into a top-down view of the car driving through the forest and proceeds to zoom all the way down to road level!? I know we live in an age where special FX are everywhere, but that was actually super cool!

Wow I’m early for once in my life on one of your videos lol

I really needed this thank youuu

Finally dug into this one, gotta say, though over-ambitious, I kinda liked it, especially for a directorial debut. Btw, Lasombra translates roughly to 'The Shadow'.

The title is on tier with "The bye bye man"

I’m going to concentrate really hard on the thought of a million dollars until it manifests😅

The main character has multiple interactions with Amandas mom in the three days after he was supposedly created where she clearly knows him and even talks about their affair... If his identity and memories were really fake and no one knew him then there should have been some serious confusion when he shows up to Amandas house while her mom and the police are there and he just walks in and starts talking to people and snooping around...

The first 20 minutes is what kept me watching, i love this movie, all the scenes are so interesting.

So the empty man is like kingdom hearts essentially

Honestly, I love this movie. I was expecting some shitty schlock from the trailer but ended up being super surprised. It’s a very subtle and slow burn movie and I love it. It’s one that was definitely worth seeing in theaters, the sound design in that setting was utterly amazing.

so I finally watched this and... wow. it was really awesome. totally underrated. the last ten min or so were so surreal, haunting and tragic. that's gonna stick with me for a while.

This is like something that could be in the Scp Universe.

I was waiting for this. This movie started out so interesting to me. The intro felt like a completely different and better movie than the rest of the film.

Felt bad for the guy at the end. None of his memories were real but they still meant so much to him.

It got a lot of the Lovecraftian aspects, a man with his own deep conflicts investigating an unearthly cult who want to bring chaos and end the world as we know it, represented in an ancient evil entity old as time. My type of horror, when evil wins at the end 😂 Loved the movie and i also was misled by the title. The performance of James Badge Dale was amazing.

Who else is here because of the Chris Stuckmann review. I saw Chris review the movie and I wanted to learn more

This movie wasn't that special. I've been an empty man for years (':

Dude your humor is the whole reason i watch these. Great Phuckin Review!😂👏🏼💯

Absolutely love the 25min opening. Feels different, great soundtrack, dig it. It's almost up there with Hereditary and Midsommar... For me at least✌️

As soon as i started watching this my light started flickering. If I don't reply to this comment tomorrow know that I am dead and that my search history has been cleared.

You get the best sound from blowing into a bottle when it is empty. Empty bottles resonate with their entire frame. In a way, it is bringing something (sound) from nothing (empty bottle) through blowing (human action) air (invisible but real). Kind of a smart link. The bridges are related to both the bottles and emptiness symbolism. They are an easy allusion to a journey or connecting things, but in this case, bridges are the spaces between things. If you are on a bridge between the mainland and an island, you aren't on either. You are in an empty area surrounded by nothingness. The space between here and there. As for the bottles, bridges are almost always spanning a chasm of some sort. The chasm creates pressure on either side as the wind blows through it, which increases the speed of the wind. Rivers cut through rock because they are forced through a narrow passage and pressurized. Chicago is called the Windy City because skyscrapers form an alley that makes the wind incredibly powerful. Maybe the area has always been windy, but the buildings form a channel that increases the speed and power of the wind to a point where it can knock you down on a bad gust. Bottles require air flow over them to make sound, and bridges have increased airflow around them that mirrors the increased air flow of blowing into a bottle. Neat.

You do such a great job of explaining scary movies to fraidy cats like me. Your voice is so chill.

When he standing in the snow, reminds me of ( return the slab ) from courage

Did you notice his last name on the file is Lasombra - spanish La Sombra = The shadow. Interesting

Okay but the girls thought of bringing things into existence with a lot of thought is BS. I know a guy whos one goal is to have sex with Ahsoka Tano and that one man can disprove her theory

My favorite part from this movie was when the cult members in the woods started chasing down the main character and when he escaped he literally started asking "What the f*ck!?" Also, I think the reason why they blow into a bottle is because the bottle is suppose to represent the empty man. If we look at all the bottles (+ the bone we see at the start of the movie) we all see they are hollow (for the bone) and empty (for the bottles). So...It was a nice little thing they did there. Of course this is explained in the video so if any of you skipped this awesome video and you where still asking "WhY DO TheY bLOW intO a BOTTle!?" now you *probably* know.

I am SO glad you did this because I was utterly confused 😂😂

I'm really proud that I already knew what a Tulpa was from Supernatural

As a kid I was scared of my mind potentially being the only real thing since I realized you never know when you make a memory and can only think back not necessarily in the present but then I decided that was dumb.

foundflix, you make scary movies funny for me. that "more you know" tidbit made me choke on my drink. thx

Love how you popped up in the chair lol. You're hilarious, thank you

You know it's gonna be a good night when Foundflix makes a video on a movie you've never seen before and it looks cool

This movie confused me so much that I literally looked to see if you had done a video on it yet...I am glad you finally got to it. You should really do the movie The Orphanage, it is one of my favorites.

I love the way you edit your vids

Honestly, this sounds like a perfect Lovecraftian horror movie. Like, the entire thing reeks of cosmic horror. You could almost fit this into the written anthology alongside The Call of Cthulhu or The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

i was surprised with this film. this could've easily been a limited series, it had a lot going on and kept me glued to the screen. some great concepts introduced as well. its actually very good, i'd love to see more horror like this, wherein several concepts are explored under the guise of simple horror film.

"I'm not touching you! You know what I mean? Anyone got siblings?" I felt that.

Thank you for your efforts 🙏

I’m just happy for the same whispers.. really hit the spot lol

Damn I had to pause at 5 minutes like wait there's more movie. That bit up in the mountains could have been an entire movie by itself, man I can't wait to finish this video to see how convoluted this gets.