Rewatch The Truman Show for a Darker, Thriller Experience

Released in 1998 by director Peter Weir, The Truman Show was a critically acclaimed movie about a man who doesn’t know he lives inside a reality TV show. However, the audience knows the truth from the start, since the film opens with interviews from behind the scenes as the creators explain the world in which the film occurs.

The Truman Show presents the main character, unknowingly trapped in a city where everyone has lied to him for his entire life. He is a real person who is used as global entertainment on televisions around the world, a precursor to reality TV. However, when rearranged, The Truman Show elicits a different response.

You Can Rewatch The Truman Show So That The TV Show Reveal Becomes A Twist

The big thing about watching The Truman Show is knowing that Truman lives a lie, and his figuring it out. However, if a person watches the film differently, it changes the entire way a person understands the story. If a person moves all the interviews from the start to the end, the viewer will learn the truth with Truman.

This changes everything, as it goes from being a psychological comedy to something much darker. Instead of the quirky scenes with a hint of sadness, the entire film becomes more of a psychological thriller as Truman realizes that things in his city are not right, with the film succeeding in creating concern for his safety.

The moment Truman sees the crack in the sky, followed by his later encounter with people watching him, would result in a horrifying feeling that the original film never expressed. Without the interviews, The Truman Show would be a straight horror film.

Why It’s Better The Truman Show Reveals The Truth At The Very Beginning

Removing the interview sections from the start of The Truman Show would have created a dark psychological thriller. However, that movie wouldn’t have the same reputation that this film ended up with. Instead of a thriller that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, The Truman Show is a smart, thought-provoking film about living a lie.

The ending makes The Truman Show a masterpiece because it asks the audience if they would give up the ideal, utopian life by living a lie, to go out into a strange, foreign world they know nothing about. Showing this fake life throughout the movie makes Truman’s decision at the end more difficult and profound.

If the movie were made without the interviews, the entire theme would be escaping this fake world. Instead, Truman had to consider what his life was and then decide whether to remain in the status quo or take a chance. The Truman Show is about making a difficult decision, and that only works with the curtains pulled back.