The once-buff and hunky Christian Bale lost 60 pounds to play the
role of Trevor the machinist, a psychologically disturbed man who
has not slept for a year and doesn't know why. Something seems to
be eating his body from the inside, making him looking like the
gaunt survivor of a concentration camp.

As his insomnia and paranoia gets worse, strange things start to
happen — mysterious Post-It notes appear in his crummy apartment,
a new employee arrives at his workplace whom only he can see, and
his prostitute-girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) seems to be plotting
against him.

This psychological thriller is grim and intense, shot with a metallic
grey colour that makes you feel claustrophobic and uneasy. You never
quite understand what is happening to Trevor — until the film's
dark and potent conclusion.

For lovers of art films, The Machinist is the film to
catch this week.