Decoding "Source Code": What's Your Interpretation of the Ending?

255 Comments

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• Chris | May 9, 2012 6:48 AMReply

  FUUUUUUCK. He has left his two year old son with the nanny and has now left with to start noshing Christina in Seans body. Tense!

• Steven | May 6, 2012 10:18 PMReply

  The real question is, ... What happened to the "World B" Sean Fentress? He's just chillin in the train with the girl, then suddenly Jake Gyllenhaal enters his mind? Okay... lol

• bruce | May 4, 2012 8:13 PMReply

  I think its strange that colter is ok with Christina thinking that he is sean. she knew this sean guy before and so loves seans conciousness and not colters. she doesnt even know him and its a little weird that he just playes along.

• Alex | April 30, 2012 6:43 AMReply

  I didn't read what anyone else said, just so thoughts don't get in the head (it's an interpretation after all). When I watch movies I think of real life situations, i.e if a movie represents realism. The only thing couldn't get my head around; how the fuck could telecommunication (txt) in a 2nd reality, reach real life reality - If realities are in two different time-lines, how could this happen? The text went to Morgan in the 2nd imaginary reality right? If the text message is sent to Morgan in the 2nd reality she should have technically received the text around 4 minutes before the bomb explodes, so what the fuck? In the message it says in an hour you will hear about a bombing? Can anyone explain this or is this just an editors error? Oh and the end, the moment after the freeze point is Stevens' afterlife - in the 2nd reality. This is because his soul was in the 2nd reality when he "died" (Morgan turning off life support). Can someone help?

• Manuel | April 25, 2012 2:36 AMReply

  Everyone is thinking waaay tooo much, the ending is actually very simple. In World "A" (Reality) Colter is dead and is hooked up to this "source code" which helps simulate situations in the past, right? Well everytime Colter went back, he would be going to World "B" (which could be considered to be the afterlife) The last time Goodwin sends Colter to World "B", he is able to "rescue" all the passengers. Once the eight minutes were up in World "A" Goodwin disconnects the life support from Colter (this means that he pysically is dead in World "A", which is the present day) When the disconnection happens, the timeline in World "B" has frozen and rapidly continues it's coarse once again. Colter has successfully allowed World "B" to continue (Afterlife) and now he will live happily ever after with Christine, but as Sean! A lot of other people are confused by the text message, but that is also very simple. In World "A" (REality) Goodwin never receives this message, she probably get's fired for disconnecting Colter, and she never hears from him again. The text message was sent when Colter was in World "B" (simulation) so this means that the message also arrives in World "B", in which Goodwin also lives and is another "version" of herself. In world "B" she's just at another day of work!! don't think it too much guys, it's not too complex!! xoxo

• jon | May 20, 2012 3:02 PM

  BOOM . what I was thinking

• Tee | May 13, 2012 11:12 AM

  I get the movie now. Manuel, I think you hit the nail right on the head with your interpretation. The movie makes so much more sense now. What a great movie!

• Harry | April 16, 2012 6:26 PMReply

  I can understand most of the theory endings proposed on here but what I really don't understand is how she knows the the terrorist (frost) when she is in the office and there has been no bombing...

• Ana | April 7, 2012 11:44 PMReply

  I believe that the end of the movie is actually the beginning of it. At the end, he (the captain) tells Goodwin to tell him that everything is going to be ok and it is just exactly what she does during the movie, also that in that last part he asks her to fullfill his wishes, which is also exactly what she does at the end when she sends him back and then kills him. Why would she put her own work at risk? Because she had already seen the message and knows that the mission is completed. I believe that source code works but I dont know how to interprate what is going to happen next. Maybe they are trapped in a loop in time where all the mission starts again and ends with that text message or there are alternate realities but I dont think that no mission is ever going to be accomplished.

• confused | April 4, 2012 7:32 AMReply

  Am I in the reality or this is just a dream? @_@

• anupam | February 23, 2012 2:28 PMReply

  ONCE i had seen A dreAM THat a beaker was been broken by me in chemistry lab and so in chemistry lab that very day i exchanged my seat with another guy the beaer did got broken and the other guy got fined . so did i created a new world ?

• anupam singh gautam | February 23, 2012 2:24 PMReply

  why you think that a person cant be at two places at the same time . at the time of dreaming one of us is sleeping on bed while the other is in new world. it's that a person cant be seen at two places at same tine by one .(those who see you in bed cant see u in dream and the one who dream cant see himself sleeping at the same time)

• Joanne | February 17, 2012 5:55 PMReply

  Hey I just had a friend that didnt like the movie because she said it didnt make sense and I explained exactly what you said! I didnt even think their was another option till she questioned me and thats when I started my research! SO THANKS!

• Junior | January 30, 2012 3:43 PMReply

  After some thinking. It is clear to me how the movie ends. Although the 'source code' isn't a time machine it worked that way. As Coltner is in the 'source code', he dies in the real world which let him stay in the 'source code'. The message he sends to the lady, i dont remember her name, gets there after the 8 minutes after Coltner changed the past with the 'source code'. That scene we see when she gets the message is like the first part of the movie. That lady has not talked to Coltner through the 'source code' before because it hasn't started yet and it will never because the bomber has been caught. Now Coltner is almost dead and probably would die in the real world but he would stay living in the 'source code' happily ever after. There is now two worlds we know of where there is a living Coltner in Sean's body(now hes gonna live Sean's life) and a dying Coltner in the other world.

• Colter | January 26, 2012 4:37 AMReply

  my name actually is colter, to this day I have never heard of anyone else having that as a first name until now.

• COLTER | April 29, 2012 1:41 AM

  lol

• Jimenez | January 14, 2012 1:38 PMReply

  I just watched the ending once more. It's clearly Sean who lives, and Colter dies. The world freezes at the moment she let him die. He knows he is going to die, so he wants to die in a happy moment. When the scene unfreeze, we can see a confused look on his face. He done't know what just happened, because he is now Sean. We can also see Sean in the reflection at the end. It IS Sean we see in the sculpture.

• junior | January 30, 2012 3:30 PM

  He looked like Sean before and everyone else sees him as Sean.Through the 'source code' Coltner takes control of Sean's body. Just like they have Coltner's brain they must also have some part of Sean's. Sean is dead in the real world and in the 'source code'.

• Jimenez | January 14, 2012 12:51 PMReply

  I forgot - it is very possible that Colter dies, and that it is actually Sean we see at the end, I've thought about that too. In that case the original Colter dies - I guess as you say the freezing is Colter, the continuation is Sean.

• Jimenez | January 14, 2012 12:42 PMReply

  Watch the movie again, and notice the question he ask near the end - "do you believe in destiny". Your interpretation is as valid as any other, but it is definitely not the one and only true interpretation. People below think that this movie happens "inside" the source code, but that’s not what the movie says. A near death guy is sent as a consciousness into the echo of another persons experience of the last eight minutes of his life. It is not stated how it's done, it just is. Whether the echo mentioned in a physical thing, or in fact some sort of gateway is not clarified at all. The purpose of all this is to show that the source code works. The source just creates a connection to the other mind, as stated by the scientist. They don't tell the protagonists the truth (which should be very, very obvious) The purpose of the exercise is not to save anyone, but to show that the source code works. As far as they're concerned, the alternative realities exists in eight minutes, and it has no effect on their reality, which is the only reality that matters to them. So when Rutledge tells something to Colter, he doesn't tell all he knows. In the initial part of the movie, it's obvious that they really never intended to tell anything to Colter. They only tell him what he need to know, and to convince him to continue. Every time Colter is sent back, he creates a new reality. These realities exists only because Colter does different things every time he is sent back. It is not the source code which creates the new reality, it is Colter who creates the new realities. The Source code only establish a link, and send him into the echo of the dead person - which turns out to be the actual person in his actual last eight minutes. This creates a paradox, because it must mean that in those eight minutes, it is always Colter's consciousness which exist in the teacher. At the end of the movie, he manages to save all people (due to accumulated knowledge of their situation, like in Groundhog day) and exist in this reality he created. This reality is just as valid as the reality he was sent from, none of the realities are more real than the other, or more original. This reality is just a consequence of a different set of actions by Colter. The movie suggests that he has to die for real in the reality he is sent from, in order to exist in the new word, and this entire world froze until that happened, after the eight minute point. I’m not sure why it had to be so, and the movie gives no real reason for this, afaik. He does exist longer than eight minutes in the alternate reality in one of the other journeys. It could be a goof. Maybe the intended the frozen "party" to be the end originally, so it would be more ambiguous? Nevertheless, the reason why he does as he does at the end is obviously that he can save them all, including himself. This is a result of his particular actions and decisions, due to the fact that nothing is predetermined, and there is no such thing as destiny, only a result of his decisions and actions. The initial reality we see is also a result of the actions and decisions of Colter. This is implied by Goodwin, who says something to him he told her to say.

• Mark | January 13, 2012 7:21 AMReply

  The ending is completely impossible. It was quite evident that the effects of the "source code" could not change reality outside of it. But somehow if the guy does stop the bomb from going off it changes the course of time. It's not time travel but simulation. It would be perfectly fine, if the Cpt. continued his simulation but to alter reality?? Also, what happens to Sean? He doesn't die through the explosion and also doesn't die through any other matter and just gets kicked out of his body.

• Ewan | January 13, 2012 4:00 AMReply

  Im not ahuge fan of the way youve written this article. To decide that others are wrong with this comment... ''Firstly, here's the incorrect explanations that I've heard'' Then to openly admit that you believe your conclusions are correct regardless of what others think with this comment... ''And hopefully all that makes sense, whether you agree with it or not'' Its all just a bit hypocritical. For example, any one can take apart anyone elses ideas with simple questions. I believe your afterlife/dream/sleep idea is incorrect. Why would his conscious mind end up living in someone elses body for all eternity in his own afterlife? To me that is nonsense. I have my own ideas.

• Ewan | January 13, 2012 4:42 AM

  Heres a much better review.....http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/spoiler-talk-is-the-ending-of-source-code-open-to-interpretation/

• Steve | January 12, 2012 7:56 PMReply

  The part where I figured out what was happening was when he sits back down and she asks him if he saved the world or not and he says "Sort of". He didn't save THE world, he saved a version of it, and that is the version they both go on existing in after Steven's body is taken off life support while the 'other' realities keep existing-a very quantum physics prinicpal, that all alternate timelines are possible-including one where Steven's body is taken off life support, and another, where the events of the film have yet to take place-allowing for you to see his body "still in the life support box." Loved this film. Remember when movies were so good, they made you think about them afterward, for a long time? They only come along every once in a blue moon but thankfully, even in our reality, even a real blue moon comes along from time to time.

• JessyB | January 12, 2012 10:59 AMReply

  Read my first comment and then read this one. Okay, so basically everytime they send Stevens from reality 1, he created a new reality via source code but in all the reality he failed except the LAST reality he created. And in the LAST reality he created where he succeeded, Stevens was both in Stevens' body and Sean's body but the Stevens in Stevens' body have no memory whatsoever of what happened, he is a captain killed and now the brain cell is kept alive. AND the Steven's in Sean's body remember everything and he is the one who send the message and he send it to Goodwin in LAST reality when he was in the LAST reality. The movie ends in THE LAST REALITY. He, Christina and people in the train are dead in Reality 1 but they are all alive in THE LAST REALITY Stevens has created. So the director created a sci-fi movie whereby a machine called source code allows the user to create a parallel universe. So Stevens dies in universe 1 and all subsequent failed parallel universe except the VERY LAST ONE!

• Meli | February 18, 2012 7:56 PM

  And that`s why he asked Goodwin if she believes that it exists better version of herself somewhere where she made different decisions and was not divorced. I think the point is that through source code the world can result in different realities, depending on the different choices you make. Maybe not in the same time, if time can really be a measure of something in such abstract situation, but it can result either in many parallel realities or in one circular which continues to change, like a changing circle of time.

• JessyB | January 12, 2012 10:48 AMReply

  I think the answer is simple. Sean and everyone in the train are dead. This is Reality 1. Everytime Stevens goes back in 8 minutes, a new alternate reality is created but in all this alternate reality, everyone dies except the last one. In this last reality that he created, he saved everyone. According to the director(as it is a sci-fi movie) the source code which is a human created simulator can SOMEWHAT open up access to a parallel reality. We will never be able to explain this part of the movie cause its a sci-fi movie! lol Proof: Interview below "The idea is that it's a simulator, but it actually opens up access to a parallel reality," Jones explained. "It literally creates new realities where things can happen in very different ways. Every time Colter is sent into the Source Code, they're creating a new reality where a new terrorist event occurs. So in a sense, every time Colter fails, they actually created a new terrorist event." Then, when he created last reality whereby everybody is saved, he basically undo the whole bombing. Meaning those who died (including Cristina, Sean and Stevens) are dead in Reality 1 and all other reality except the last one. Note that all reality except reality 1, only starts when Stevens wakes up in the train, its a copy of reality 1 except Stevens is now Sean. (thats what source code does, it creates a new reality which starts with Stevens in train as Sean from Reality 1) Prove: Interview As the plot wraps up, Colter, who we've learned is being held at the Source Code facility, ends up not only preventing the second bombing but also the original one on the train. He permanently ends up in Fentressis' body, and no terrorist event ever comes to pass. That sets up a classic time-travel paradox of which Jones was well aware. "The idea that Colter Stevens, by going into this parallel reality and stopping the bomb going off, means that he was never sent on a mission in the first place," the director said. "In that reality, he must still exist at the facility. For sci-fi geeks like myself, that was a paradox I needed to address." Jones addressed the issue front and center, having Colter/Fentressis send a message to the facility alerting one employee to the fact that, even though a terrorist event didn't take place, the Source Code does work. Additionally, Jones introduced the idea that Colter had been fated to end up in Fentressis' body. "He's seeing flashes of this surreal experience that he can't figure out," Jones explained. "Over the course of the film, he sees more and more until eventually, he's coming to recognize this potential future where he's able to get out of the train and experience a life beyond those eight minutes." This is my interpretation of this interesting movie...!

• Mystery | February 10, 2012 8:01 AM

  Excellent Answer... Its like you've expressed my thoughts clearly with proofs... However, I find fascinating is that in all realities except the last one, both Stevens and Sean fail (die). It is only in the last one reality, he survives ergo he technically kills Sean's being/consciousness/life in the last reality. In addition, at the beginning of the film, I wonder how Stevens is able to guess his handler's name? It was his first reality so how is he able to pull of knowledge out of his brain with out ever gaining any?... Interesting film, good plot and storyline... reminds me of Matrix..

• CG | January 6, 2012 2:41 AMReply

  It's turtles all the way down.

• PaigeDayspring | January 30, 2012 8:04 PM

  YES!! You win the internet! (absolutely perfect response)

• Jon O | December 28, 2011 10:08 PMReply

  When you start off with "Firstly... [-] here's what's wrong." *I* think YOU didn't get the movie. lol But hey... whatever. Stevens and Goodwin's final exchange sets up the ending. When he asks her if she is married. She tells him she's divorced. He then asks her if she believes that there is another version of her walking around in a different time and place, a version that never married, a version that was never divorced. One that took and walks a different path. She tells him no, she doesn't believe that. He then declares, "You're wrong." The final eight minute window before she pulls the plug on him is Stevens proving Goodwin wrong. He averts the train bomb, saves the lives of the people on the train, and also averts the second disaster that was thought to be the ONLY disaster that could be averted in Dr. Rutledge and Goodwin's understanding of what Source Code was capable of accomplishing and what its limitations were according to their understanding of time. He did create a second timeline. One in which the people on the train and the people in Chicago proper were saved, and one in which another version of HIM, Stevens, still exists on life support for Source Code. That's my understanding, and everyone I've spoken to got the same deal. The only thing we've discussed at any length is the fate of poor history teacher Sean's consciousness in the second timeline. In Goodwin's timeline - his train never blows up. He goes on and gets on like all the other miserable turds in that carriage. Life. In the timeline Stevens creates he... seems to be the only casualty of Stevens' Source Code - hah look what it can REALLY do - success. lol {=D

• Michael | December 27, 2011 4:41 PMReply

  Erm, "this is how I expect the afterlife to be, like an eternal sleep/dream. " Wtf? If you're dead, exactly who/what is doing the sleeping/dreaming? Do you imagine that in addition to the brain, there is some kind of additional organ that is capable of dreaming? "Afterlife" is a pretty senseless concept, based on wishful thinking and without even a sensible definition!

• PaigeDayspring | January 30, 2012 8:06 PM

  STFU. Why are you attacking another persons' beliefs? A belief in the afterlife has inspired some very interesting fiction if nothing else.

• Mike | January 20, 2012 5:30 PM

  I'm not claiming to know everything about science; I am a robotics engineering student, but I have not studied any quantum physics principles or anything of that sort. So let me just make it clear that I DO NOT KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. That being said, you have to stop being ignorant and consider the fact that you too don't know everything about science. In ancient Greece, Aristotle theorized that the world was made up of tiny particles called atoms. Many people thought he was a lunatic. Today, science has verified this theory, as our technology has enabled us to see and manipulate atoms. There have been many instances like this throughout our history, when we, assuming that we know everything there is to know about the world, look down upon the revolutionary ideas of others and call them mad, or stupid. And most of the time, we eventually come to realize our mistake. You're correct; current science does not dictate that there could ever be thought without the brain, because we believe that the brain is the only part of the body that enables thought. We believe that consciousness could not exist without the brain. We believe that our lives are entirely in the hands of physical entities, that we can see and touch every component of life. But let's hypothesize, for a second, that we're wrong. Let's try to be intelligent for once and consider the possibility that there are metaphysical elements to our lives. Let's consider the fact that every person has a soul (whether you want to call it that or not, I don't care, but the idea most closely coincides with the very common religious belief of a soul). This is a metaphysical entity, which single-handedly composes our true selves, without which we are nothing. Our body is just a vessel; everything, including the brain, merely carries out the will of the soul, allowing us to physically exist and make something tangible of our existence. But if this thing truly exists, then our lives are not dependent upon our physical existence; once the vessel is destroyed, we can go on to live in the metaphysical world. This, as we know it, would be the afterlife. Before you make an ignorant comment, you should always consider the possibility that you have no idea what you're talking about. We have yet to unravel the mysteries of many sciences; among them are life, death, and love. We may never do so, and until we do, we can have our revolutionary ideas. We can hypothesize as to the meaning and nature of our existence. Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, and you'll find that it's an incredible film that covers all of the topics I mentioned above. I appreciate the time you took to read this response, and I would appreciate if you would give it some thought. Maybe someday you, too, will change your way of thinking, after experiencing a life-changing piece of art. Once again, I should clarify, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT. I'm just a kid with an idea, trying to be open-minded.

• JHY | December 25, 2011 12:43 PMReply

  In his text to Goidwind he says tell him that "everything will be alright." In the first train scene, it is not Goodwin, but Monaghan's character that tells him "everything will be alright" right before the blast. Why is that? not a coincidence, but what does that mean?

• Bill | December 18, 2011 11:36 PMReply

  My theory is not so interesting, but I have rejected all quantum jump/alternate universe stories because, when you think about it, anything is possible. One's actions have no meaning unless you dismiss all the universes except the one in which the protagonist lives. Too many bad stories use this vehicle as a crutch. He is still in the chopper dying. The whole thing is a dream as he dies...he did not finished his assigned mission, and created another. He needs a way to resolve his relationship with his father. Only after this is accomplished does the story progress. Much like "Jacob's Ladder", the story navigates along the prose in "An Occurrence at Owl's Creek Bridge" (1890), with a different set of colors. The difference I see is that there is no explicit footage where the viewer becomes omniscient and realizes that Stevens has passed. Perhaps we are to take the time freeze scene as such. Nonetheless the story is quite good.

• DethStarr | December 16, 2011 6:28 PMReply

  My theory: (I believe the movie actually explains and proves the afterlife/heaven theory) The reason why alot of people are having a hard time understanding Source Code is because there trying to analyze it from the wrong perspective. 1.Stevens is NOT in the body of Sean. Steven is in his own body 2.Sean and the whole situation regarding the bomb is NOT REAL...It is a virtual world that has been created around Stevens conscious and/or the little 8 minute gap within Steven's mind and here why: A.Lets say that the whole situation about Sean and the bomb was real..then how the hell did they get a hold of Sean's consciousness if he blew up with the bomb?? B. Lets say for some reason if was still possible for them to recover Sean consciousness after all, it still doesn't make sense because Sean had no way of knowing who the bomber was. On top of that, Stevens could only experience those 8 seconds from the perspective of Sean and clearly that didn't happen because every time Stevens died, he created a new realities of himself within one whole reality based on his individual choices. with leads me to my conclusion.. That the world Stevens is experiencing is NOT the TRUE reality.Its actually a whole new reality( world) created by he help of Stevens consciousness and the Source Code.That is why at the end, Stevens says: ''If you're reading this email, then Source Code works even better than you and Dr. Rutledge imagined. He thought you were creating eight minutes of a past event. But you're not. You have created a whole new world'' This also explains in one way why Stevens sees the face of Sean from the start because his reality, the projections and they way he experiences is all controlled to a certain degree. If they created all whole new reality for him then its highly possible that they can also control his SENSES within that reality aswell.Particularly his SIGHT. Now for me to further explain all this I have to go back for a moment and give you my definition of what consciousness is as simply as i can and here it goes as follows: 1.Its an entity or something that's its aware of itself and knows its living 2.Not only is it aware of itself, but also knows that its separate and different from everything else. Now where I'm trying to go with this is that the whole situation about the bomb/saving the world/Sean is all primarily based on those two principles.It was created to help Sean achieve consciousness within the world they have created for him. The reason why I make this conclusion is as follows: Let's say that that they were to create a world based on Sean's own memories and not the one mentioned in the movie, there will be a high probability that the project/mission would be a FAILURE because what will happen is similar to what happen to Cobb's wife in Inception. At some point within the reality, Stevens would have a hard time distinguishing whats REAL and what's not.Over time he would probably start to believe that the things that are happening really is happening and the LINE between whats REAL and whats FAKE starts to become blurred. The situation about saving the world/bomb/Sean is just a clever way of trying to ''wake up'' Stevens you could say within the reality they created for him. Its primary purpose was as follows.. 1''Wake him up'' 2.Give him a catalyst for him to continue with the ''mission'' Remember guys that if anyone wanted to go back in time and change ''a past event'' they have to be aware of the fact that's whats happening in going on in another SPACE and TIME and is not really ''REAL'' you could say Another question alot of people might have as well is ''How is it possible for Stevens to find out who the bomber was''? That answer to that question is that I believe at the of day...not only do we have the ability to CREATE are own realities based on our individual actions but at the same time are own REALITIES that we are projecting and creating is also shared between each other

• DethStarr | December 16, 2011 6:23 PMReply

  My theory: (I believe the movie actually explains and proves the afterlife/heaven theory) The reason why alot of people are having a hard time understanding Source Code is because there trying to analyze it from the wrong perspective. 1.Stevens is NOT in the body of Sean. Steven is in his own body 2.Sean and the whole situation regarding the bomb is NOT REAL...It is a virtual world that has been created around Stevens conscious and/or the little 8 minute gap within Steven's mind and here why: A.Lets say that the whole situation about Sean and the bomb was real..then how the hell did they get a hold of Sean's consciousness if he blew up with the bomb?? B. Lets say for some reason if was still possible for them to recover Sean consciousness after all, it still doesn't make sense because Sean had no way of knowing who the bomber was. On top of that, Stevens could only experience those 8 seconds from the perspective of Sean and clearly that didn't happen because every time Stevens died, he created a new realities of himself within one whole reality based on his individual choices. with leads me to my conclusion.. That the world Stevens is experiencing is NOT the TRUE reality.Its actually a whole new reality( world) created by he help of Stevens consciousness and the Source Code.That is why at the end, Stevens says: ''If you're reading this email, then Source Code works even better than you and Dr. Rutledge imagined. He thought you were creating eight minutes of a past event. But you're not. You have created a whole new world'' This also explains in one way why Stevens sees the face of Sean from the start because his reality, the projections and they way he experiences is all controlled to a certain degree. If they created all whole new reality for him then its highly possible that they can also control his SENSES within that reality aswell.Particularly his SIGHT. Now for me to further explain all this I have to go back for a moment and give you my definition of what consciousness is as simply as i can and here it goes as follows: 1.Its an entity or something that's its aware of itself and knows its living 2.Not only is it aware of itself, but also knows that its separate and different from everything else. Now where I'm trying to go with this is that the whole situation about the bomb/saving the world/Sean is all primarily based on those two principles.It was created to help Sean achieve consciousness within the world they have created for him. The reason why I make this conclusion is as follows: Let's say that that they were to create a world based on Sean's own memories and not the one mentioned in the movie, there will be a high probability that the project/mission would be a FAILURE because what will happen is similar to what happen to Cobb's wife in Inception. At some point within the reality, Stevens would have a hard time distinguishing whats REAL and what's not.Over time he would probably start to believe that the things that are happening really is happening and the LINE between whats REAL and whats FAKE starts to become blurred. The situation about saving the world/bomb/Sean is just a clever way of trying to ''wake up'' Stevens you could say within the reality they created for him. Its primary purpose was as follows.. 1''Wake him up'' 2.Give him a catalyst for him to continue with the ''mission'' Remember guys that if anyone wanted to go back in time and change ''a past event'' they have to be aware of the fact that's whats happening in going on in another SPACE and TIME and is not really ''REAL'' you could say Another question alot of people might have as well is ''How is it possible for Stevens to find out who the bomber was''? That answer to that question is that I believe at the of day...not only do we have the ability to CREATE are

• Grummc | December 13, 2011 7:41 PMReply

  Sorry missed a bit ... My previous comment has a jumbled bit that is supposed to read.... That any missions she has to activate colter Stevens for...

• Gruumc | December 13, 2011 7:38 PMReply

  Having enjoyed the film, I believe that when Stevens saves the train and kisses the girl for the last time, when the kiss freezes that is the point where the original timeline ends ( this is the point when his life support is turned off). After this point he is in an alternate timeline where he lives happily ever after with Christina. The text message he sends on the train is sent to goodwins phone also within the second timeline alerting her that source code has indeed done its job before it has even been needed in this new timeline. The text also let's her know that anyways ion that she has to activate colter Stevens for, she can do knowing that he can always "be ok" in the end!.... I think that makes sense??

• Brooks | December 11, 2011 3:03 AMReply

  Ok, gotta say this movie was good up until the final twist, which I think was nonsensical and ruined it. I can buy that Jake goes into the code one last time, and kisses the girl. This is where time stops, bc the plug has been pulled on his brain. Time resumes only bc he's now passed into the afterlife and its a projection of his afterlife. I can buy all that, it makes sense. But then that his text is read by Goodwin and it explains an event which has altered the future? Its complete bullsh*t!! For example, Goodwin locks herself in the room and pulls the plug on Jake...that's reality. She's likely fired or courtmartialed for that. To then show her coming in to work and receiving his text,...it's ridiculous.... as was already explained, the bomb has already gone off, those people are already dead. Anything Jake does during those 8min only exist in those 8min. ..filmmaker ignores their own premise and f*class up a good movie w a completely illogical and stupid (and unnecessary) plot twist. Final thought: Jake is physically dead w only low level brain function.. .why do they show him twitching and pursing his lips, etc? That part was a bit silly to me.

• PaigeDayspring | January 30, 2012 8:09 PM

  String Theory And WHERE do they say he only has low level brain function? That twitching we see could be a sign of REM sleep...which could open a whole lot of other theories....

• Johnson | January 3, 2012 2:01 AM

  Hey, Brooks just wanted to clear things up that Goodwin received the text IN THE NEW TIMELINE, the 'afterlife' of Stevens.. the bomb never actually exploded in that timeline, because he saved them in that world, do you remember near the end he sends a text on the train to Goodwin? In the original timeline where she unplugs Stevens, you are right, she was probably fired and Stevens died, BUT she never got that text, nothing was changed in that timeline, you get what i mean?

• ralph | December 5, 2011 10:58 AMReply

  It seems a lot of people are missing a point on this movie. He does NOT time travel. Somehow either thru code or physical wiring (brain to brain) he sees and lives in the last 8 minutes of the teachers life. Almost like the matrix. Now the inventor of the source code has mentioned that the people are already dead. They are just trying to find a clue to the next bomb. The source code doesn't allow for alterations. The inventor has obviously misjudged what can and cant be done in the Source Code. That's why the first time he save the girl (which he did) they said he didn't. Now every time he went in it (Source Code) reset, until the end when he saved the train. Here is the questionable part. Did the Source Code Download the Captains memories. This would allow Him to Die in our REAL world, but keep on living in the (Matrix) Source Code world. When he emailed it only happened in the Source Code world. Instead of coping what really happened in our world, he saved the train and in the Source Code (Matrix) world, the Captain hasn't yet gone on a Source Code mission. So technically he is alive in 2 places. In the body of the teacher and as the Captain at the Air force Base. Think of it like twins 2 separate people. I said questionable because this is assuming that the Source Code actually was like the Matrix and made a digital world and saved that world once we went past reset.

• ralph | December 5, 2011 10:58 AMReply

  It seems a lot of people are missing a point on this movie. He does NOT time travel. Somehow either thru code or physical wiring (brain to brain) he sees and lives in the last 8 minutes of the teachers life. Almost like the matrix. Now the inventor of the source code has mentioned that the people are already dead. They are just trying to find a clue to the next bomb. The source code doesn't allow for alterations. The inventor has obviously misjudged what can and cant be done in the Source Code. That's why the first time he save the girl (which he did) they said he didn't. Now every time he went in it (Source Code) reset, until the end when he saved the train. Here is the questionable part. Did the Source Code Download the Captains memories. This would allow Him to Die in our REAL world, but keep on living in the (Matrix) Source Code world. When he emailed it only happened in the Source Code world. Instead of coping what really happened in our world, he saved the train and in the Source Code (Matrix) world, the Captain hasn't yet gone on a Source Code mission. So technically he is alive in 2 places. In the body of the teacher and as the Captain at the Air force Base. Think of it like twins 2 separate people. I said questionable because this is assuming that the Source Code actually was like the Matrix and made a digital world and saved that world once we went past reset.

• Insomnia girl | December 4, 2011 12:56 AMReply

  Ive got it!Read a few comments and I think I have a know what happened. But, really there's no great explanation which is prolly why it's a good movie. So what I think 1. Solider dude was in the brain of the dude on the train. 2. In all the source codes, the future was changed. It created an alternate timeline 3. In the last source code, because solider dude stop the bomb, he became trapped in seans brain. Why? Because he created a new timeline. Source code last 8 mins because a person dies. But since Sean lived, solider dude could live in his brain. 4. At the end of the movie, there are two solider dudes-one from the old timeline in seans brain and back in the lab (if u think about it: if u went back in the past and changed the future irrevocably, the present where u came from wouldnt exist anymore. The timeline where Solider dudes was trying to stop the bomb doesnt exist Anymore since he stopped the bomb) So this is why solider dude is trapped in seans brain. Ok I mostly wrote this for myself. I feel much since I have some explanation. U may agree or disagree...Lol.....

• insomnia girl | December 4, 2011 1:15 AM

  More thoughts on this!! Ok...so I now I think only the last source code altered the timeline. Obviously stopping the bomb altered the timeline making it impossible for sean to go back because to his timeline because it didnt exist. But Idk!!

• BlazeX64 | December 1, 2011 6:25 AMReply

  From my perspective on this matter, at the end, the text message is read. She lips "Derek Frost" as his name is said in the office. The man then said that source code would be used in a future disaster. He sent that text while he was still on the train, before even "turning Derek in". At the moment of his termination of life support, we then find he is now Shawn. In that very text he stated that Captain Stevens was laying there waiting for his mission. This is more likely a form of replication. His next mission, should he make a decision to alter the past would then create his memories in the survivor's mind. Using this kind of logic, he would be able to be anyone he wanted, with anyone he wanted, wherever he wanted. Those lives would be separate existences in the same universe. Now the ball buster. He altered the past, eliminating the need to use source code for that mission. Shouldn't that mean that he actually switched places with Shawn, and now Shawn is lying in a coma in a capsule?

• Faxu | November 15, 2011 8:46 AMReply

  I enjoyed this movie a lot. I love how it is in some way, secretive, and unexplainable in the beginning. I've watched it for a couple of times now, and it never gets old. As many of you have written about how he jumps between his own body, and Sean's body (the guy in the train) I agree on that. But as many other movies with time-traveling indicates, so does Source Code. I mean, if you would be able to go back in time and change the past, the faith would automatically make some kind of leaphole, that would make all things collide together making sense. In the way that if you change something, in the past the future, will after that change, look very different. What I noted was that every time Stevens fails finding the bomber, and the train explodes, we see him and Christina standing at the big mirror-cube where they are at the end of the movie. You know what they say that if you experience a near-death experience you see your life flashing by, but Stevens is already dead, in reality. So perhaps what he is seeing is his afterlife instead of his former life. Just as Campbell wrote, the time stops when Stevens and Christina are kissing, Stevens enter his afterlife. So as I mentioed earlier, faith already knew that Stevens were gonna change the events happening in the past, and therefore we see pictures of him and Christina at the mirror-cube before it actually happens. Faith at that point, already in the beginning of the movie knew the past was gonna change, so a new future had to be filled in. Thats how i would describe the leaphole which would make it all make sense. However, i've read many of your interpretations and i dont really disagree with any of them. I just wanted to think loudly, and tell you mine.

• mynci_boi | November 2, 2011 12:09 PMReply

  Excellent film. If a movie can provoke as much thought as it clearly has done on a forum such as this, it has succeeded regardless of how many holes ppl think it has. On a side note, relating to the parallels being drawn with quantum leap, did anyone else notice that the actor playing colter's father (voice on phone) was Scott bakula better known as Sam Beckett from quantum leap. Legend!

• Lisa | October 31, 2011 4:18 AMReply

  Some of the theories here are really cool. But guys all it said was that Colter was accesing the last 8 minutesof a memory Sean Fentress's memory. Now if Colter had discovered all his clues and saved everyone whileon the train this could have been believable. But the fact that he got off the train and went to parking lots and all that.... Sean Fentress didn't do all those things so there was no memory for Colter to access....The only reason the ending leaves room for alternate realities is because the guy that made this film realized he didn't have a big enough hollywood ending so he threw in some parallel universe garbage..

• Hollywood | October 30, 2011 10:24 AMReply

  I'm really dissapointed in two things : A) The utter lack of logic used by the writers B) The utter lack of logic used by the audience The majority of viewers are resorting to the fail-safe that is 'multiple reality' theory. Which is nonsensical. The movie and logic itself indicate that the machine/source code simply allows one brain to access the last eight minutes of another. This is useful because it can provide vital information that would otherwise be lost. That's it..and it's a great concept for a film. Nothing about the machine's purpose whether stated or in the undertones, has anything to do with M-theory, String-theory, multiple universes, alternate realities and anything of that such nature. Nor does it have any relation to time travel. If the film had been about a dead guy who accesses another dead guy's brain for information, that would have been fine. But it's not - it's some extremely far fetched fiction that has no way of explaining itself, and nor does it bother to. Viewers cannot seem to accept that the writing is just full of holes and are resorting to fictional quantum physics theories in order to justify it. The film was good until Captain Stevens decided to get altruistic and somehow think that he could 'save' people whom were already dead. They should have just had him figure out the information about the bomb and then ended the film. Ultimately, because they kept it going, there is no explination - it simply is what it is, terrible writing.

• Advocate of Son of Hollywood | December 28, 2011 9:53 PM

  "Whether you want to believe Coulter is, of course, up to you, but I see no internal inconsistency in the idea that source code was created to glean information from memories but actually creates other time lines." You;re right. It isn't inconsistent. At the end Colter asks Goodwyn if she believes there is a different version of her in another timeline. One who didn't marry and divorce, one living a different life. She tells him that she doesn't believe that. He tells, "You're wrong." Then she sends him for his final eight minutes and he essentially proves her wrong.

• son of hollywood | December 13, 2011 12:34 AM

  The theory of multiple time-lines is not illogical nor is it necessarily fictional or science fictional. I believe most of the scientific community acknowledges the legitimacy of certain, seemingly illogical tenets of quantum physics, such as the possibility that particles can be at two places at the same time. Of course, no one has proven that there are multiple, equally real time lines, nor is the kind of thing that one could prove given current technology, but, given what we already know about quantum mechanics, I'd say it falls within the realm of the logical and possible, though difficult for most of us to wrap our minds around. If you want to object to the film on other grounds (e.g. that the last twist felt somehow inorganic and tacked-on), that's more of a narratological problem. I agree with those who posit that viewers shouldn't assume that the inventor of source code knew the true potential of source code; thus, we should be skeptical of the inventors claim that someone using source code could not prevent the train bomb from going off. In fact, Coulter says at the end that he does not. Whether you want to believe Coulter is, of course, up to you, but I see no internal inconsistency in the idea that source code was created to glean information from memories but actually creates other time lines.

• Short and Sweet | October 20, 2011 4:36 AMReply

  Okay here is short and sweet explanation in my opinion... Please check this actions:- Dead->Brain->Used->For 8 mins->After 8 mins, only memory comes in brain->transferred to GoodWin through connection of SC and brain of Steven... At last, GoodWin shuts the machine down but still the freezing picture continues... That's the glitchy part in the movie. Interpretations:- 1. Another World... (After shutdown, he got trapped into the body of that teacher, hence he lives more there) 2. Changing past changed the future. (GoodWin received the message and asked to help him in future) 3. Think with your brain, or I will put it at the place of Steven, okay ? ;) CHEERS FRIENDS!!!

• Kevin Cox | October 20, 2011 3:54 AMReply

  My wife and I saw the movie last night and were very impressed with it. We talked for quite a while, trying to pinpoint what happened in the ending. I was sure that while the kiss freeze was on, that was the very end of the movie and I was happy with that ending. The ensuing ending was just even more satisfying, though confusing, as we all seem to agree. It didn't occur to me that he could just be in a dream state while in the coma. I'd prefer to think that he found that alternate reality and lives some sort of life with Christina. I was revulsed by, yet loved, the simulation of the upper torso with the lower half missing. Obvious that that body could not live or be saved, let us feel some sort of relief that it wasn't being wasted. Although, morally, I don't think it is conscionable.

• E.J. Buno | October 19, 2011 12:12 PMReply

  the analogy is simply just like knowing which came first, the egg or the chicken. It just shows us that the loop exist on the timeline. The beginning is just connected with the ending. there are three universes that exist, the two were already mentioned and the last one is a delay of the universe where Goodwin currently exists. This time dilation occurred because the time when the source code is fully controlled by captain seeks its own reality making the first two universes coincide and the presence of loop is provided as an evidence to make all these possible...

• chris b | October 17, 2011 4:34 AMReply

  okay so this movie was big pile of shit, their is no type of logic or consitency in it. trying to make sense of the ending is like trying to figure out the meaning of life. sure there may be one little part of the movie that may be in theory possible scientifycally but with all the constant unexplained bullshit, lack of any type of meaningfull dialogue that might give us somewhat of a hint at what might have happened at the end, and of course the worthless ending, no scientific explanation can explain salavage this movie. i seriously thought M Night Shamalyan wrote this shit. and i find it hilarious that the author thinks this is a better movie than inception.

• jack | October 17, 2011 2:39 AMReply

  im a little late but what i think is that it was time travel from the very begginig. if sean were being sent into to the other guys brain { forgot his name } to live the last five minutes not only would they need his brain to begin with but they would only get to see and experince exactly what he did . second if thius has already happend then the must have wasted alot of time and the bomb would have exploded already . so if every second they used to send sean back in time for eight minutes only lasted a few seconds in real life idk ....

• Fraser | October 4, 2011 6:19 AMReply

  Needed to explain everything clearly and succinctly, for my own sanity: 1. Assume that Colter's helicopter went down, he was put into an permanent induced coma and prepared for the first source code event. Call this Universe A. Now, in Universe A the train explodes. Colter is sent into source code and subsequently inhabits the body of Sean. This instantly creates a new Universe. Universe B. Therefore, each time Colter is returned to the train it creates a new universe. However, each new universe does not run parallel to Universe A. Instead, it begins at 8 minutes before the train exploded. Each time Colter's consciousness, existing inside Sean's body, dies, it ends his existance in that universe and he returns to Universe A. However, that universe must technically continue to exist, and is potentially different to Universe A based on Colter's actions (e.g getting off at the first stop and saving Christina before falling in front of the train). 2. Each time Colter wakes he sees a different set of images. These images become clearer each time. He even refers to these images at one point in the film when he approaches christina and tells her that 'he's been dreaming about her.' It is hard to quantify these images scientifically.. the only explanation on a fictional level, is that Colter was fated from the beginning to live out his existance with Christina. Compare this to the idea of fate as respresented by Shakespeares Romeo & Juliet, when Mecurial effectively says that both of them are fated to die. 3. As the film progresses, Colter begins to realise whats happening. He realises that his existance in the alternate universes can continue beyond the 8 minutes. This is proven in the two scenes where he is hit by the train and where he is shot by teh terrorist. He realises that in the absence of death, only Goodwin's manipulation of the source code machinery results in him returning to Universe A. 4. The important line from the email he writes to Goodwin at the end of the film is 'everything is going to be alright.' Colter knows his own consciousness, he knows that those words settle and control him. However, what this also proves, is that Universe A is not the 'first' universe that the source code was used in. We have no idea how many universes have been created before this one, it could be infinite. My theory is that, in Universe A Goodwin had already recieved an email, not from Sean Peltris but from another person, in relation to a completely separate event that had already been averted. This explains why Goodwin tells Colter all along that everything will be alright. It explains why Goodwin agrees to switch Colter off, in Universe A, enabling him to exist in the alternate universe within Sean's body. One more point that confirms this theory, is that when the Doctor is explaining to Colter that everything is just a simulation, Goodwin's facial expressions suggest that she does not believe him. This is because she has already recieved the email from Colter's consciousness which transferred itself to Universe A from the previous Universe. My two cents, great movie A+

• Joss | December 3, 2011 4:33 PM

  I think Fraser is spot on & I believe I can fill in the gaps and explain the rest of the film. Here goes - The film is partly a homage to Donny Darko (DD), (the first film Jake G starred in). DD had the exact same themes - quantum mechanics, time travel creating an alternative reality (for avoidance of paradox) & fate (in the form of a 6 foot rabbit) informing DD, what's going to happen in the future. The key difference was that in DD, Jake only jumped back in time once to create an alternate reality, and he did it to "save the world", hence why (in source code) when Colter jumps back for the last time to save the train & the girl asks him where he's going, he says (with a smile on his face) "I just need to go save the world". The director/writer did the same thing in this film as they did in DD. Pretty much every bit of dialogue & facial expression has a meaning & is a very subtle hint/cue as to what's going on. As Fraser said - the first reality/universe 'A' that we're presented with (when Colter first speaks to Goodwin over the monitor) is just another of an infinite number of alternative realities that Colter has created by jumping back in time, but it's only when he manages to avert the disaster that the 'mission' (which is testing the source code - in the particular reality that he's created) changes. The one constant is that, before he averts whatever 'disaster' it is that he decides to avert, he sends Goodwin an SMS & asks her to tell him 'everything's going to be alright' & to help him out with the next mission. Now - the hints that we're given to work this all out are - 1. Re that Colter's consciousness knows that these words settle/reassure/control him, is that he repeats them to Christina, i.e. he says to her (in one reality) 'everything's going to be alright' which suggests that he thinks those words will reassure her because when Goodwin said them to him, they helped him; 2. Re that the mission changes every time he averts disaster in the final new reality he's created, is that the Doctor pointedly says (in his office) 'that disaster may have been averted, but there will be another one to test the source code' (or something along those lines); 3. Fraser explained (brilliantly) why Colter knows this isn't just a simulation (ie that what he's doing is actually creating a new reality). Colter has to be killed off in reality 'A' (by Goodwin) in order to remain in the alternate reality (after he saves the train) b/c otherwise the Doctor would just drag him back again, to reality 'A' (maybe Sean would re-inhabit the body or a Colten-clone would continue to exist in that alternative reality). What's brilliant about this film is that, although it's far fetched, all of it is possible (hell anyone who knows anything about quantum mechanics knows that anything is possible, and that all of this could be the mainstream accepted theory in 100 years time). I even think that the 'seeing the future' thing isn't all that far fetched (if you accept that anything's possible). It was a theme explored in Donny Darko, through the rabbit warning DD that the world was going to end at a certain time. DD's psychiatrist tells him that, as he was an agnostic, while that meant he didn't (specifically) believe god existed, he was open to the possibility (albeit very very small) that the rabbit was 'god's' messenger rather than 'fate' informing him of the future. In other words, we havent (as yet) been able to prove or disprove that either either fate or religion is real (or fantasy) and quantum mechanics has shown us that, hell, anything's possible (note - I'm an agnostic, but in the "I think religion is ridiculous but would never categorically claim that god doesn't exist" sense, because we haven't yet been able to scientifically prove or disprove it, so (until we figure out the whole consciousness thing) we have to be (however unwillingly) open to that possibility. Anyway - fantastic film, fantastic actor and I'm so thankful for Fraser for his insights (I can now sleep).

• G squad | November 18, 2011 7:22 PM

  Exactly like my theory :) you explained it well! But still this theory is pointless. It is resumed to infinite realities? o.O

• Daniel Johnstone | November 11, 2011 6:42 AM

  This is the best explanation! I think now I will be able to go to sleep. thanks

• vince | October 4, 2011 2:02 AMReply

  this movie really lacks logic. ..im not saying i dint enjoy the movie. But the whole Concept doesnt make sense to me at all. How can u decode the information which was never there. wot im saying is Even if Captain Colter had an Access to account of last 8 minutes of SEAN's life , still captain colter could never had been able to access the information other than what was stored(encoded) in the brain of sean before his death. In simple words Captain had only limited access to the information encoded in SEAN's brain e.g the people Sean talked to or looked at, his surroundings, his experiences or wotever happened in last 8 minutes of his life. so the whole idea of Captain colter going into the brain of Seans n manipulating the past is fictitious or imagination

• Matt | October 3, 2011 2:49 AMReply

  First the idea that Colter killed Sean I disagree with, what I believe happened was that Sean died, he is over. But what the scientists were able to do was in essence capture the afterglow of the light bulb. And they were able to use Colters subconscious to basically drive the body that he is occupying. So if "Sean" lives he will be occupied by Colters subconscious. And because it has no other body to go to (he was let off life support) it just stayed there. That is more or less what I think happened. This idea that Colters mind cannot be in two places at once makes me think of Schrödinger's cat. Not sure why but when I think about it, it ties in nicely with the parallel universe thing that this movie is almost based off.

• Felix M. | October 1, 2011 1:54 AMReply

  Hmm... I think I've figured it out. The short version? Colter became Sean in the alternate reality. The long version? I shall qoute a few lines from the movie from when Colter asked what the Source Code was: "When a lightbulb is turned off, there is an afterglow... a lingering halo-like effect. You seen it?" "The brain is like that. It's electromagnetic field remains charged just briefly even after death. Circuits remain open. There's another peculiarity about the brain, it contains a short-term memory track that's approximately 8 minutes long." "Now combining these two phenomenon: circuitry that remains viable post-mortem and a memory bank that goes back 8 minutes, Source Code allows us to capitalize on the overlap." "Sean Fentriss died on that train. Of all the passengers aboard, he was your best link. You two share compatibility in terms of gender, body size and your synpatic maps." Colter: "What happens after the 8 minutes?" "After? Nothing. You cease to exist on the train. You cannot exist inside the Source Code beyond Fentriss' 8 minutes. Source Code is not time travel, rather it is time reassignment. It gives us access to a parallel reality." From this, we can quit the guess work (and even though this is still pure speculation on my part, I'm trying to apply logic given what I can work with) and see a number of things though this stuff is far from scientific and I shall need minds more brilliant than mine to crunch the science: A) Source Code links Colter's consciousness to Fentriss' by "hacking" into the electromagnetic field that lingers from Fentriss' brain. Don't know whether the science is right (anything less than the "hacking" part because that's all sci-fi), but that can explain how with Sean being blown to bits, Source Code can access him. B) This electromagnetic field needs to attach itself to an actual brain : the closest match of which is available in parallel universes at the same time and in the same situation. Also, there needs to be a match between Colter and the SC "hackee." C) The idea that Colter can't exist in SC for more than 8 minutes comes from the fact that is the limit given the biology of short-term memory. But you will notice that in the end, Colter seems to have continued. Here's the thing: he failed all the other times because one way or another, he was killed or died within the same 8 minute time frame. However, in his last attempt, he succeeded in averting disaster and avoiding. So that 8 minute limit doesn't apply as not only did he not die, SC didn't pull him out because his physical body was killed therefore he lost an original host for consciousness and stayed in Sean's body. The compatibility between them allowing him to use it as his own. Also, there is another chance if my logic is debunked by being based on unsound facts to begin with, Colter's ending comes from the brain still being active for a while after-death and he is playing out the ending from his final SC jump. Though Goodwyn getting the e-mail and stuff seems to make this one less likely than the previous conclusion.

• Hugh | September 26, 2011 9:26 AMReply

  Great blog here, I have a different interpretation of what happened in the film. I've tried submitting already but it hasn't appeared yet, so I'll try again. (Maybe I've been posting within a Source Code as Well !) The whole concept of a “Source Code” and what we know as “Reality” really gets the mind going into overdrive. To crack the “Source Code” you have to try view the film from the point of view from the Source Code programmer & the variables that allow the Source Code to Work. Variable A : The Source Code, Program/Machine/Simulator that has been developed/built to allow one persons Sub Conscious to be Transferred into another Persons Memory/Sub Conscious. Variable B : Colter Stevens, who’s comatose or near dead body is being kept alive on a life support machine in the Beleaguered Castle military base. Colter is physically hooked up to the “Source Code” Program/Machine/Simulator and when “Paired” with another donor or in this case a dead donor’s brain, his Sub Conscious can be transferred to the donors last 8 minutes of memory before he died. Variable C: Sean Fentress, who in the Real World has died on the stricken train. Although we never actually see a physical representation of what is left of Sean or how Sean’s last 8 minutes are accessed by the “Source Code” Program/Machine/Simulator, we can assume that his brain or part of his brain has been recovered from the blown up train and in a similar way to Colter Stevens, Sean is now physically hooked up to the “Source Code” Program/Machine/Simulator”. So taking into account the 3 variables used to make the “Source Code” work, it becomes clear that : 1.All Coulter Steven/s new experiences take place within the recovered Memory of Sean Fentress. 2.Each new jump/transfer Coulter makes into Sean’s memory, creates a new Timeline/Reality but crucially a new Timeline/Reality WITHIN SEAN’S MEMORY. 3.At the end of the film, even though Coulter’s life support has been turned off and his REAL physical body dies, Coulter can live on as Sean Fentress within (The brain of containing) the REAL Sean’s Memory, 4.The key is THE REAL SEAN FENTRESS or more than likely his brain that is somehow being kept operational and still physically connected to the “Source Code” Program/Machine/Simulator” SO once the Physical Brain or whatever is left of Sean Fentress is disconnected from the Source Code, all the new Realities that Coulter has created will cease to exist and Coulters Sub Conscious will die. It essence the Source Code is more or less an advanced virtual reality game that uses Real Peoples Bodies/Brains/Memories to make it work. Just like a normal computer game, the real Sean Fentress’s Memory is used as the platform for the Source Code to work, Coulter Stevens Sub Conscious is used like an interface in a game to allow interaction when within Sean Fentress memory (The Games platform) And just like a computer game, once the Real Sean Fentress has been “Turned Off” or disconnected all that has happened within in the game will cease to exist.

• Gabriel | September 25, 2011 3:10 AMReply

  WOW. OK, I STUDY QUANTUM MECHANICS IN SCHOOL. YOU GUYS IT'S NOT THAT HARD. THE MOVIE WILL ALWAYS HAVE AT LEAST TWO FLAWS. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED: The source code essentially created a new reality/universe. In reality one, the train explodes and Stevens dies, but they save chicago. In reality two, which was created when he was killed while being still in the source code, he stops the bombing and lives a happy life with Christina, just in Seans body. The e-mail that he sent Goodwin was in the second reality where he stopped the bombing and now is together is Christina. OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE TWO FLAWS WITH THE MOVIE. One is that Stevens now has to have two consciousness', one back at the army base and one in Seans body. Maybe we are just meant to look past that or actually believe you can have two consciousness' at once. The second flaw is that we never know what happened to Seans consciousness. But again, I believe we are just meant to look past that. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.

• Samantha | September 24, 2011 8:14 AMReply

  I agree with a good portion of what a few people posted. I do believe it was a memory he was reentering through the course of the movie. I also believe that memories can be altered to what we want. A very good example, is hypnosis, many people have had their memories altered, purposely or unpurposely, to believe something else. We also, ourselves, can change our memories. I think when Goodwyn pulled the plug Colter's mind wouldn't let him die. His mind went on in the altered dimension of his mind but not as the same dimension in which he went back in time to change. This movie had an ending that I enjoyed greatly, actually the movie was so much better than I expected it to be.

• Mattusa | September 18, 2011 4:14 AMReply

  This is taken from imdb synopsis - Stevens and Christina kiss in the last seconds before the eight-minute mark. In that instant, Goodwin turns off his life support per his request, but to Stevens' surprise, his mind remains in Sean Fentress' body. He is then able to safely leave the train with Christina, also saving the rest of the passengers. Now in the alternate universe, an alternate version of Goodwin receives an email from Stevens explaining what has happened and that the Source Code can alter the target alternate reality. The movie ends with Stevens taking Fentress' place, and asking Goodwin to help Captain Colter Stevens and tell him that "everything will be OK.", which Goodwin had told Stevens earlier in the film. ...just sayin...

• David Duque | September 16, 2011 9:22 AMReply

  To further support the afterlife theory, I clearly remember at the end of the movie when Colter is supposedly living his "alternate reality" after preventing the explosion, him telling Christina something along the lines of "wow, what a beautiful clear day it is today", this something we can associate with the afterlife. Now you can also interpret this as him just feeling sort of a victory rush for getting what he wanted, and therefore contradicting the afterlife theory. Personally, I believe more in the multiple universe ending with a bit of a paradox twist conclusion, for one reason and one reason only. In the final stage of the movie when Colter is finally in Sean's body infinitely, and he's walking with Christina they run into that reflective sphere/monument in the plaza, the same object that flashed as visions every time after regressing from alternate reality(hence the reason why a paradox is in effect b/c he has already lived or will live that experience). In conclusion, I do believe that the parallel universe/alternate reality, with a paradox theory has more validity in terms of how this movie was presented. Now, the one huge flaw in the film, which is understandable, is how was it possible for Colter to link with Sean's body, if somebody has a theory please explain. I came up with the idea that in the explosion's aftermath they somehow managed to recover Sean's body or at least parts of it, including his brain, and were able to purge the eight minute mental 'recording' per say, but that's extremely unlikely and science fictional, which after all, this movie is. A viewer also posted this: "I like the interpretations where each time Stevens goes back to the train he creates a parallel reality. But there’s a problem: the time that Stevens goes back and gets Christina off the train and then beats the crap out of the guy with motion sickness then gets hit by a train on the tracks, shouldn’t that have altered reality such that Christina would have lived? When Stevens insists to Godwin that he saved Christina, she looks up Christina’s info and finds that she died. Sooo… do his actions affect the future or don’t they??" The reason why Christina was dead is quite simple really. In the universe/dimension where Stevens insists to Goodwin he saved Christina, the explosion had already happened earlier that day, but in the other dimension, Stevens successfully saved Christina and Sean for that matter, effectively changing reality there but with no effects on the universe where Stevens was trying to convince Goodwin about his heroics. Hence the name parallel universes with alternate realities.

• Robert | September 15, 2011 3:50 AMReply

  Just watched the movie, and there's a few things that don't make a whole lot of sense. If that 8 minutes is the conjured up memory of a dead persons last 8 minutes of life, then why is it not the same every visit? The persons memory should be a play/pause/stop sort of deal - whereby every visitation to the memory is exactly the same, the people do the same things etc. With this being said, if Colter can enter this memory and things change every time, would it not suggest it's infact not a memory, but an alternate dimension? When he dies in that alternate dimension - he is brought back to the one where he was sent from. He remains alive in the very last visit to this other dimension and can carry on a life in it.

• Brandon Dean | September 9, 2011 4:27 AMReply

  David, I don't think that's possible, as his consciousness can only be in ONE location at any ONE time (while still in this 'world' ) It must be that way. IF it was as you say, that means during all those 8 minute frames Coulter would have been both present on the train (IN sean's body) AND present still in the source-code (able to communicate with Goodwin) But we know that's not how it happened. We know during the 8 minute frames Coulter was NOT present in the source-code, because during those 'frames' or simulations, the 'agency' (goodwin and co.) HAD TO WAIT for Coulter to come back at the end of the 8 minutes. See, they just 'travel' Coulter (his ONE conscience) from the souce-code to the train, and then 8 minutes is up, he goes back to the source code -- at which point he can relay information to Goodwin. So, during that last 8 minutes, Coulter is NOT in the source-code per say, because he is in SEAN (back in time, on the train ride) The agency figured IF they 'turned off' the machine Coulter would just cease to exist. Yet, as edwin pointed out, to Goodwin's surprise (in the other reality...) Coulter was alive as Sean. But then, this completely contracts the idea that his conscience can only be in one place at one time, as i stated above. because that means in the new reality - edwin - that coulter is in sean, and inside the source code, at the same time. However, if that's possible, THEN THAT MEANS, the movie is flawed = the only explanation. because he can not have 2 consciousness, as he is only ONE. Like everybody else. That's why during the 8 minute frames, he can only be on the train, or in the source-code. but never both at the same time. because he is only one. ....... nothing more to be said as far as im concerned. but i'm willing to receive correction if it's there

• David | September 8, 2011 5:55 AMReply

  I think what happens is the moment she pulls the plug he dies. The pause at the end of the 8 minutes where everything freezes is when he dies, and everything after that- him hanging out with the girl, even his email at the end is all his after life world in his mind of what would happen so he would believe that all those passengers lived and that he would still be going on missions. That is all his own imagination and what he would like to happen. But in reality, the people on the train died, he thwarted the future disaster and he is dead as well. My only question is how would he know what he looks like in his imagination in the source code state?

• Brandon Dean | September 8, 2011 4:09 AMReply

  One question i have is How did Coulter know Goodwins email address?

• Brandon Dean | September 8, 2011 4:00 AMReply

  Heh, well i must admit you are absolutely correct. And thank you for the post. You cleared up any confusion i had and saved me the time of rewatching that final "email" scene. Now that you explained that, i do recall the details of what happened and so again, you are right. Later!

• Edwin Irizarry | September 5, 2011 11:12 AMReply

  A lot of typos and missing words in my previous posts. Sorry for typing with an iPhone...

• Edwin Irizarry | September 5, 2011 11:06 AMReply

  Dear Brandon Dean, I agree with most of what you said but I believe you are mistaken in a small detail. I will quote below: "To Goodwin’s surprise, Colter was right. Once she turned off the source-code machine (while colter was still in the 8 minute frame) guess what? the 8 minute frame never stopped.  How did she realize this?  He sent her that email remember?  And the email went through.  When she got this email, it confirmed to her, that indeed – another ‘reality’ was in existence at the same exact time.  Colter was ‘alive’ inside another body – living in a different ‘frame’" Yes Goodwin is surprised. But it's not the same Goodwin. It's the Goodwin from his new timeline. She got the e-mail before the train explosion which obviously will never happen thanks to Colter. He realizes he's in a newly created timeline and knows that the Colter from the new timeline is alive awaiting his first mission. Which will not be the Chicago bombing but maybe another "first" event which we could see on a sequel. If you wanna call it something like that. So we have 2 timelines here (that we know of). A: The train explodes and Colter dies peacefully after saving Chicago and being unplugged by Goodwin which most probably gets processed legally her benevolent action. And so on... B: The teacher (Colter) secretly saves Chicago again but this time saves the people on the train. He then sends Goodwin an e-mail letting her know in a small paragraph that she is part of a newly created timeline. And is being contacted by Colter already living inside the teachers body. He instructs her to take care of the still alive Colter from this new timeline. Since he understands that they will eventually use him for a mission and most probably will go to the same horrible process he went trough on the timeline B. So no e-mails cannot travel on different timelines. But the soul of a human being CAN. he has just the first interdimensional traveller. (Sort of speak) and he decides to let the secret out to the only person he knows he could trust in the future. Infinite timelines?? Hell yes. The Colter from timeline B will eventually do the same thing. If he is able to be unplugged without dying in the source code. If he achieves such a thing. Which I believe he will because now Goodwin understands more about the Source Code than the creator himself will cooperate with the still alive Colter. I forsee another timeline with another e-mail saying "Thanks Goodwin" be surprised because the Source Code works even better than u guys think". Infinite. It will all depend on what events happens in the future of that new timeline. There will be a lot of Colters in different timelines living other people's lives. I'm just sorry for the people he's matched with. Dead or alive, they have no choice. I think I veered of from my point but this movie works minds. I hope we can discuss about this e-mail thing. And if you differ from me please be so kind to explain why.

• MARK | November 23, 2011 5:18 PM

  Ok, forget my earlier take. I am sure now that Coulter was sent back in time "even though" he nor the creator of source code realized it. This is the only explanation for him saving the day and sending a text and the text being recieved. And the past was changed b/c he saved those people. OR>>>>> the movie takes us down the current universe where he is alive and with the girl and totally abandons the beginning universe where all those people died. I am thinking the writers want us to believe that he altered the past which eliminated the unpleasant present!!! WOW!!!!! Only 1 real universe after all. One that can now be effected by time travel.

• MARK | November 23, 2011 3:49 PM

  Your offering is awesome. This movie puzzled me. The first time I watched it I was really impressed with the notion of going back into some recently deceased persons memory. But... When he began to alter the memory by having his own experience and discovery period i dismissed it as writers carte blanch and shrugged it off. Then the second time i watched the movie i was thinking that maybe the real secret to the souce code was not that it let you experience the donors experience but to actually relive it in their timeline. I believe the creator did not realize this capability but Coulter did. Then it all makes more sense. As far as feeling for the the match don't be sad in that timeline he had already died! Now after Coulter was able to save himself and the passengers yes that match lost his own consciousness. Sucks for him but that's life in the movies. To me the email at the end does not make sense b/c Coulter had saved the train when he sent it so he would be sending emails from one timeline to the next.... that is the only hard part of this movie to buy into!!! just saying!!

• Dr. Beckett | September 2, 2011 5:16 AMReply

  Anyone ever see the tv show "Quantum Leap" ? I was thinking about the show when I watched Source Code. I think he must have figured out somehow he was leaping back in time otherwise he would not have sent Goodwin that text. He changed the timeline or an alternate time line to one where he exists as Sean and in the coma like state.

• tom | September 2, 2011 5:02 AMReply

  attention BRANDON DEAN explain to me how he trasferred a message from one reality to another? Was his service provider with verizon lol also what happens to sean's conciousness in the reality that colter stevens takes (at the end of the movie)?

• Brandon Dean | September 2, 2011 3:19 AMReply

  >explain to me how he trasferred a message from one reality to another? Was his service provider with verizon lol He used a cell phone. >also what happens to sean’s conciousness in the reality that colter stevens takes (at the end of the movie)? Perhaps sean's consciousness exists in the inifinite other realities (as the movie would theorize) but in the Last frame (and all the 8 minute frames before that) Coulter's consciousness exists in sean's body. This is why the movie emphasized the fact that Christina had basically just been acquainted with 'sean' (they didn't know each other very well) so "Coulter" picked up on that fact, and realized he had plenty of an opportunity to be with Christina as himself, because she hardly knew sean. granted, coulter was willing to do so in a body that is not his lol

• AP | September 1, 2011 4:29 AMReply

  The commenary by the director and writer is that thre were multiple realities. in one coulter lives on as we see in teh end and starts the whole thing going again.. But they acknowlede iti s open ended and capable of multiple interpretations. the afterlife one certainly makes sense, as do a numner of explanations.

• Brandon Dean | August 30, 2011 10:40 AMReply

  Remember the ‘agency’ has already admitted that the train passengers are DEAD and not coming back (regardless if colter saves the train or not) why? because it already happened, it’s over. HOWEVER, the ‘attack’ on CHICAGO has NOT actually happened YET in the present-time. So the agency’s ONLY goal is to prevent that attack on Chicago (those are the lives they’re trying to save). The agency simply realizes that if Colter can find out who the bomber is, if he can identify the bomber, then they can find the bomber, and stop him before he blows up Chicago. That’s it. It’s that simple. So what happened in the last scene? Well, the agency GOT what they wanted. That’s why they were celebrating. Colter found out who the Bomber was. Then, the bomber shot him with his gun. And the 8 minute frame ended, but Colter came back to the source-code and told the agency who the bomber is. The agency informed the government, then the government got the bomber and stopped the attack on Chicago. Goodwin’s boss was so happy – and he wanted to keep the source code ‘operating’ in order to use it (colter and the machine) again for future ‘attacks’ BUT, MEANWHILE, Goodwin out of good character decided to let Colter go back (she rewinded him back into time again, and hit ‘play’) and from there he had another 8 minutes. She couldn’t understand why Colter wanted to try this because the train was already blown up, people were already dead, it already happened. couldn’t be changed. But remember, Colter was asking Goodwin rather or not she believed there was more than one of her alive. She said ‘No.’ He said he disagreed. He believed there are several ‘universes/realities’ . Understand now? Colter told Goodwin that she, and her boss and the agency, were was just plain wrong. he ‘believed’ in his soul (who he is) that IF she put him back again and then TURNED OFF the machine that HE COULD REMAIN (in sean’s body) AND HOPEFULLY SAVE THE TRAIN and then life would just go on. His motivation for this was the woman Christina. Love simply has no limits. To Goodwin’s surprise, Colter was right. Once she turned off the source-code machine (while colter was still in the 8 minute frame) guess what? the 8 minute frame never stopped. How did she realize this? He sent her that email remember? And the email went through. When she got this email, it confirmed to her, that indeed – another ‘reality’ was in existence at the same exact time. Colter was ‘alive’ inside another body – living in a different ‘frame’ The implication then, of the movie, well, it all boils down to this: infinite realities exist… and Colter and the source code just proved it. for instance, I am Brandon Dean. I work at a restaurant. But all through my past (in this life) I’ve had countless different opportunities, and options, and events to act upon. For all of those ‘choices’ i’ve had to make, perhaps each choice i made, a part of my conscience CHOSE another path. Therefore, i have this conscious mind. BUT, i have many others, all living out different lives based on different choices. So again, the implication is that there is infinity universes For we ALL have several different choices to make each and every day. THEREFORE, The movie is simply an old theory – infinite universes. That’s all – just a theory. I mean, i for one do NOT believe in ‘inifinite universes’. Why? This is just imagination. Pure imagination. I can literally recall moments in my life from each year starting at child hood. I can connect the dots from present time all the way back to the time i was a child. 20 years ago. And from childhood until right now, those dots (or events) have perfectly shaped who I am today. Where I am today. And how I think today. ONLY ONE conscious exists in me, always has, always will until the physical body dies. The movie is rather silly in theory, HOWEVER, very entertaining.

• Brandon Dean | August 30, 2011 10:39 AMReply

  Colter’s physical body died in a helicopter crash 2 months before ‘today’ or the day of the terrorist/train explosion. For 2 months the ‘government’ agency was able to electrically circuit Colter’s body/brain to a machine (source-code) which kept his ‘conscience’ hostage. So Colter was NOT dead, for how can a soul/conscious ever die? The agency, through the machine (source code), was able to keep Colter (his conscious = who he is) attached to the world via electrical connections (they just need his body (his human brain) present in the machine, in order to keep his ‘soul’ or conscious from departing this world and going back to the eternal source (God) ) It’s as if they are ‘hijacking’ Colter’s soul from where it eternally belongs. OK? Hope this is making sense. Now, when Colter is inside the ‘cubical’ thing that he’s imagining himself to be in - THAT cubical is imaginary, as Goodwin told him (“your manifesting yourself, and you’re manifesting the box Colter.” ) This is again confirmed in the scene where it shows goodwin’s computer screen. She isn’t seeing Colter. She is just seeing ‘words’ on the screen. This means, goodwin and the agency are communicating with Colter (his soul = who he is) via electrical signals (remember his body is hooked up to wires/machine/source code which is keeping Colter (him, his soul) attached to our reality on an ‘invisible’ level. Electronically, they are communicating through the air-waves, thus, the computer picks up Colter’s communication and his conversation appears on Goodwin’s computer screen. Moving on… They’ve had is body hooked up for 2 months. Then one day, a train blows up, and subsequentally the agecy/government learns they have reason to believe the same ‘terrorist’ may be planning to destroy the city of Chicago. and so.. BINGO! – finally after 2 months the government has a reason to call the quantum physic (source code inventors) because now they have a reason to use the source code. The agency is ready on call. And so Goodwin’s boss orders the ‘men’ to flip the switch and begin the procedure with Colter. They let Colter know assuredly that what he’s doing is NOT time travel. Remember? They said that. Then what is it? Well – it can not be time travel, because NOTHING physical is involved. It’s all on the invisible level. Time travel is defined as a solid object going forward or backward in time. So it’s not time travel. Now listen – - the agency – - has the ability, thanks to their quantum physic breakthrough, to use SOURCE CODE (which IS the machine colter is inside) to REWIND or BACKTRACK through time. They can go backward in TIME. However, they can NOT see ANYTHING while they are rewinding, nor can they see anything when they stop rewinding and choose a ‘play’ or ‘resume’ point. In this case, the play/resume point is the train ride. The only thing they (the agency) can do is send the consciousness they’ve ‘hijacked’ (colter) back to whatever point they choose. At this point, once they pick a time to push ‘play’ or start’ they only have 8 minutes. Why? That’s just limited ‘technology’ LOL. THEN, after 8 minutes, the ‘consciousness’ (Colter) returns back to the present-time. Once he goes back to present-time, because his body is still inside the machine, this means the agency still has him. They’ve essentially stole his soul.. if you will. Then, they can rewind/resume at the ‘train frame’ as many times as they want so long as his soul/body is hooked up to the machine. Got it? How is it though, that they can ‘insert’ Colter’s consciousness INTO Sean? Easy answer – - Sean is already dead. Quantum physics (in the movie) is simply allowing the agency to ‘travel’ a consciousness back in time to a whatever point they choose. Then once they ‘release’ it, or ‘place’ it, into a point in time – that consciousness has 8 minutes until the source code loses it’s power. So... Their ‘source code’ ability allows them to send the ‘subject’ (Colter’s conscious) into whatever body they so choose. Why/how? Because a conscious can only exist within a body. OR, it can exist in eternity. In order to keep Colter in their ‘world’ they need colter’s actual body or ‘brain’ inside the source code machine and if they’re going to let it ‘travel’ back in time they need ANOTHER body (sean) in order for the consciousness to ‘travel’ or MANIFEST itself again. Think Biblically – - Satan ‘manifests’ in people. God manifested as Jesus. See? Colter simply manifests as Sean. They ‘travel’ him via quantum physics and send him into a different body. That is why when they rewind to the train-ride and then hit ‘resume’ (simultaneously inserting Colter into Sean) he has no clue who sean is. ‘Sean’ then is NOT present because ‘Colter’ has manifested the body. ...continued

• E | August 28, 2011 6:10 AMReply

  Here we go.... We were watching a single instance of both the real world the parallel being created. If could of been the first or one of many. This goes for the "real" and the parallel world. The eight minutes actually changes the timeline for both. Constantly spinning off. The mail showed that Source Code could indeed send a message across. The film completed that one instance of the Source Code world. The next crisis when source code will be used, the main character will again spin off another world with the "real" world splitting as well. The outcome could be very different each time. Goodwin in the tract we were watching now has understanding what happens every time SC is used. Both timelines and "worlds" could constantly change. It is all shaped by "choices" and Goodwin now understanding and empathy for the man within Source Code. When it comes down to it, pulling the plug has no real impact other then the instance created in the "real" world time tract we were watching. There you go...

• oday banihani | August 26, 2011 11:25 AMReply

  Don't think too much you will get confused .. just like i did :D the movie was great. and the reason why the writer made that end just because he wants the movie to have a happy ending :)

• Scott Rob | August 24, 2011 10:51 AMReply

  This is a very simple explanation but the way I would like to think it ended. Time freezes when the red button is pushed, which ends colters life. That moment when time freezes is when colter moves into the afterlife and what unfolds after that is the way that Colter would have wanted it to end but it hasnt. He is actually dead.

• Tom Guarda | August 24, 2011 3:08 AMReply

  I have just seen this movie and I have to tell you, none of it makes sense. Some people say he's in different universes and others say he's in a different time frames. If he is in a different universe how does he take over the teachers body at the end of the movie. what happens to the teacher? The only reason why jake took over his body was because the teacher died on a train and they could use his last remaining 8 mins of his life. At the end of the movie jake stopped the train from exploding and saved everyone including the teacher. They would never of had the teachers 8 minutes to begin with since he did not die. This theory can also be used with different time frames. There is no way he could have gone back to change a train from exploding if it never happened in the first place even if he is in different realities or not! My conclusion is that i don't think even the person that created this film even understands what movie he made.

• Ash | August 23, 2011 4:39 AMReply

  So how come after the first explosion Sean/Colter sees the big mirrored object from the end of the film ?

• JCoo | August 22, 2011 5:17 AMReply

  I like the interpretations where each time Stevens goes back to the train he creates a parallel reality. But there's a problem: the time that Stevens goes back and gets Christina off the train and then beats the crap out of the guy with motion sickness then gets hit by a train on the tracks, shouldn't that have altered reality such that Christina would have lived? When Stevens insists to Godwin that he saved Christina, she looks up Christina's info and finds that she died. Sooo... do his actions affect the future or don't they??

• The Movie Whisperer | August 20, 2011 8:30 AMReply

  To add to my last comment as it wasn't too clear after reading it, I think Sean was the real Sean after the freeze. I'm sure if they continued the movie everything prior would be a blur to him - the bomb, the text message, etc. I want to believe that there is only one reality and after the freeze, that became the new reality.

• The Movie Whisperer | August 20, 2011 8:27 AMReply

  I just watched this film for the first time. Personally, I thought the ending was the real Sean and not Jake in place of Sean. I guess you can interpret alternate realities after he saves the train, but to me I'd like to believe alternate realities only existed while in SC mode. I believe when he saved the train, that became the new reality... the freeze we saw was the transition. Sean was still Jake on the train when he sent that text message. So then you might ask what happened to Jake? Well Jake is Jake again. I think everyone is everyone. I could be wrong and I only saw the film once, but that's my theory and I'm sticking to it until I can re-watch the last 20 minutes again.

• Patrick | August 19, 2011 3:00 AMReply

  When this movie started it really made me think of a fiction novel I had read years ago.... I don't remember the title of the book but only vaguely remember things in it.... Basically a military agent or something was in a simulator that took her back to real crime scenes where she would have to get clues on what really happened or solve the crime... She kept messing up just as gylenhall was in this movie and I was wondering if this might have been inspired by this book, I wish I can rememeber the title of the book

• Kobe | August 19, 2011 1:58 AMReply

  The way how I see this movie is that Steven(Jake G) is now in a new world with Christina. This is the ending when they are together in the Plaza. Now when Goodwin receives the text from Steven she is in the past because if you remember the last scene where she enters the office of Dr. Rutledge the black guy, he is informed of what happened to the train. So, Steven sends a text to Goodwin who receives it in the past. What i got is that there is 3 world/dimension/time. The one Steven ends up with Christina, one where Steven actually dies and they stop the bomber, and the one in the past where Goodwin receives the text.

• john | August 18, 2011 7:59 AMReply

  The whole film is nonsense. The human mind is locked inside material. It simply cannot exist elsewhere. No amount of technology will make that happen! There's no afterglow for 8 minutes, no parallel existence inside another persons body. This is pure fantasy. Purely as fiction I think the end is his new reality.

• DJ | August 17, 2011 4:03 AMReply

  I read some of the comments and with some of my thoughts here is what i think...i think that every time Colter was sent into the train that was a whole new world...bc the fact that in the email when Colter explains what source code can do he says "a whole new world". Therefore this has to be the explanation. So all the times Colter was sent in a new parallel universe was created. However the only one that he lived on in was the very last one and he sent the text message in it & the text was able to travel along to another universe. idk i always find myself thinking i understand it and then i get confused! i love these types of movies that u may never fully understand and they just make u think! Crazy movie! loved it!

• mm | August 17, 2011 1:20 AMReply

  Great movie. I can def see an underground fanclub cult following with this idea if a episode series launched.