You have to pay for everything: the meaning of the thriller Phone Booth (2002): plot summary, meaning ending, similar films
Country: USA
Genre: thriller, crime
Year of production: 2002
Director: Joel Schumacher
Actors: Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker
The films of Joel Schumacher are distinguished by gloomy psychology. Spectacular and ominous, his paintings tell the viewer about the disgusting, vile human vices. In this regard, the plot of the film “Phone Booth» (Phone Booth) is not original. The main idea of this creepy tape is that you have to pay for everything in this life.
What is the movie about?
Brief description of the content of the film “Phone Booth”. The plot revolves around Stu Shepard, a young, brash and cynical advertising agent. Stu’s job is to force various (not always necessary) products on customers. The guy does not have the best reputation, but thanks to the ability to lie gracefully and use various psychological tricks, he always gets what he wants.
Colin Farrell played the role of Stu Shepard. Frame from the film.
After getting his assistant a few urgent tasks, Stu heads to a phone booth – the last of its kind – to call his mistress, aspiring actress Pam. Stu is married and, in order to lie more freely, before the call, he removes his wedding ring from his finger. At that moment, a pizza delivery man knocks on the phone booth. To Stu’s annoyed question, the man replies that the pizza was ordered exactly at this address and it was in a telephone booth. Stu doesn’t give a damn about other people, so he responds to the pizza guy in an incredibly rude way.
He successfully lies to his mistress that he practically knocked out a chic role for her, which is claimed by eminent Hollywood actresses and asks her to drive up to the hotel. The girl doubts, but Stu says that a conference is planned there. However, Pam, guessing that this is a simple trick, still refuses.
Not particularly upset, Stu takes out an engagement ring, but does not have time to put it on – at that moment the phone rings in the booth. An unfamiliar voice on the other end of the wire tells the young man that he knows him very well and complains that he refused pizza. Stu communicates with him in his impudently boorish manner, but the stranger calmly replies that he knows his mistress Pam and is going to inform Shepard’s wife about her. After that, short beeps are heard at the other end of the wire. When the meaning of what was said comes to Stu, he becomes confused: if his wife finds out about his affair, his family life will end.
As the young man is about to leave the phone booth, the bell rings again. A mysterious person asks Stu to call Pam again and tell her the whole truth, to which the guy refuses. Then the stranger himself dials the girl’s number and tells her that she is being lied to from all sides, that Stu is married and has only a sporting interest in Pam.
Kiefer Sutherland as the caller. Frame from the film.
At this moment, a “moth” approaches the telephone booth and strongly demands that Stu come out. He answers her in his own way, and the voice on the other end asks Shepard to explain himself to his wife. Otherwise, he will do it himself.
Stu stops balking and calls his wife, Kelly, but cannot tell her the truth. The voice on the phone then informs Shepard that he is being watched through the scope of a sniper rifle. The stranger promises to shoot, but Stu is sure that he is bluffing. Soon he hears someone close by cocking a rifle. A moment later, an unseen sniper shoots a toy robot approaching a phone booth and tells Stu not to go outside under any circumstances.
At this moment, the “moth” again approaches the telephone booth and brings with it a “support group” in the form of a pimp and girlfriends. When the pimp starts to smash the booth, the sniper offers his help to Stu. After getting Shepard’s consent, he shoots the pimp. Frightened prostitutes, confident that Stu killed the man, call the police.
Shepard tries to call 911 on his cell phone, but a sniper, noticing his manipulation, shoots him in the ear.
The police officers who arrived at the call tell Shepard to immediately leave the booth. He is about to obey, but an ominous voice reminds the guy that he should only listen to him. Through Shepard, the sniper subtly trolls the police captain, after which he instructs his subordinates to break through from which number they call the telephone booth. By this moment, reporters drive up to the ill-fated booth, numerous onlookers come up. Helicopters fly in the sky, and Stu is shown on several channels, stuck in a phone booth.
The role of Kelly Shepard was played by Radha Mitchell. Frame from the film.
Kelly arrives at the booth, and Stuart suddenly screams that she is not his wife, but the sniper does not believe him and demands that Shepard tell her the whole truth – and then no one will get hurt.
The guy confesses to his wife in treason, hangs up and leaves the booth with his hands up. The police are preparing to take him, but at that moment the bell rings again. Stu notices a laser sight on Kelly’s head. The captain of the police also notices him and recalls the employees. Realizing that there is some diabolical meaning in everything that happens, he tells Shepard to answer the phone. Picking up the phone, he continues the conversation.
The sniper asks him to take the gun, which lies on the booth, he refuses. At that moment, Pam arrives at the booth, and a psychopath with a rifle offers Shepard a choice: who should he kill – Kelly or Pam? He asks to keep both of them alive and quietly dials his wife on the cell so that she can hear the conversation.
Realizing what’s wrong, Kelly runs to the police. After listening to the conversation, they also understand what the matter is and the captain orders his people to find the shooter. The sniper takes aim at the captain and demands that Shepard chase him off, which he does. As the captain moves away from the booth, the sniper demands that the unfortunate advertiser pull out all his secrets – otherwise, he promises, someone will die. He agrees and begins to pour out his soul …
Phone Booth Ending explanation
Explanation of the ending of the movie Phone Booth. Closer to the finale, one of the police officers tells the captain that they managed to figure out the shooter. The captain informs Shepard about this, and he tells his tormentor that they are already following him. To this, the sniper replies that he will leave, but not alone, but with Kelly or Pam.
Desperate, Shepard emerges from the booth and demands that the shooter kill him. After that, they shoot at him and he falls to the asphalt. The police, meanwhile, in one of the buildings find a man with his throat cut and identify him as a shooter.
Stu comes to his senses – fortunately, he was shot not by a sniper, but by a policeman, and he is not wounded, but simply stunned by a rubber bullet. The captain who approached him tells him that he is lucky, but the exhausted advertiser sees only Kelly in front of him, who says that she loves him no matter what.
A gurney with a body is wheeled past, and Stu asks to be allowed to see his tormentor. In it, he recognizes the same pizza delivery man. Shepard is given first aid and sedated. Through the muddy veil, the guy sees an unfamiliar man approaching him. In a painfully familiar voice, he says that he hopes for his honesty, but now he will always watch him.
We can say that Schumacher left the finale open: there was no clue to the identity of the mysterious shooter and the motive for his actions remained unclear. In this regard, the meaning of the ending of the movie “Phone Booth” is probably that now Shepard will always be under the gun. Whether he will be able to live honestly and whether his wife will forgive is unknown.
Pamela was played by Katie Holmes. Frame from the film.
The meaning of the film
“Phone Booth” is an interesting but rather simple film without any hidden meaning. According to many viewers who have made an analysis of the picture, its main “highlight” is the intimacy of the situation. Almost all the action takes place in a small telephone booth located in the center of the US capital. Advertiser Stu went there quite by accident, and came out a completely different person.
At the very beginning of the picture, Shepard looks like a self-confident, arrogant cynic. He considers himself to be a skilled puppeteer and manipulator, as clients end up doing what he wants. However, fate brings him to a larger predator and there is no trace of Stu’s former bragging. He soon realizes that he has fallen into an intricate web from which he will not get out – unless he follows the rules of a terrible game. And they are extremely simple – he only needs to tell the truth about his sins.
Analyzing the essence of the film, we can assume that he talks about the reassessment of values. However, it is embarrassing that the “repentance” of the hero took place literally at gunpoint. You can’t change under duress…
The undoubted advantage of this bright thriller is the opportunity for each viewer to put himself in the place of the protagonist. And it seems that the meaning of the whole action lies on the surface: everything has its consequences. However, the moral of the film is still not entirely clear. It is not clear what drives Stu – sincere remorse or the instinct of self-preservation. The sniper’s motivation is also unclear. According to one interpretation, he is a kind of “evil” Robin Hood, other viewers believe that the hero met an ordinary psychopath who imagines himself to be God. But whoever this “social orderly” is, his ways of administering justice raise questions.
There are no crystal-clearly honest people in society – everyone has sins. Advertiser Stu is clearly not the worst inhabitant of a huge metropolis. So why did the shooter choose him? It has remained a mystery, worthy of the words from Shakespeare’s play: “And we will go to indulge in reflection.”
Forest Whitaker as Captain Ed Ramey. Frame from the film.
Similar films
Here are a few films similar in meaning to “Phone Booth”:
- “Buried Alive” (USA, 2010). Paul is a professional soldier. After an enemy attack, he loses consciousness and, waking up, finds himself in a coffin;
- “On the Edge” (USA, 2012). A former police officer is accused of a crime he did not commit. About to commit suicide, he enters into a conversation with a brilliant negotiator.
- “Alarm call” (USA, 2013). A female 911 call center operator receives a call from a young girl. She informs her that she has become a victim of a maniac and asks for help.
- “Dangerous passengers of train 123” (USA, 2009). A train in the New York subway is seized by terrorists. Threatening to kill the hostages, he makes several almost impossible demands.
