The Machinist

Brad Anderson’s 2004 film is set in the United States but was shot entirely around Barcelona for Filmax’s Fantastic Factory arm. Anderson credits the result: they stripped out the cultural markers, he has said, and built a real sense of dislocation from their absence. The rule is literal: no laptops, mobile phones or brand names appear in frame. Anderson wanted the contemporary gloss gone so the story would stand as a parable. Nothing on screen dates the film or names the city, so there is no outside object to check Trevor’s account against. The only instrument left is Trevor. Scott Kosar wrote the script from Dostoevsky’s The Double, and the film does not hide it: Trevor carries The Idiot, a Crime and Punishment marquee stands on the street, and a supporting character is Ivan. The figures repeated about Christian Bale’s preparation vary between sources and are omitted here; Anderson has said it was never discussed with him beforehand. It took a little over one million dollars in North America against roughly seven million elsewhere. A good fit if you want a thriller whose production design withholds the era and city on purpose. Not for anyone who will struggle with a film that keeps Trevor’s body in frame in almost every scene, as a standing image rather than a passing detail.