Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Iwakura Lain. Who IS she, really?

This is the question the series asks, and stubbornly refuses to answer, at least completely.

The Synopsis:

Computer genius invents a method of transmitting network packets via the Schumann Resonance to human brains, causing a giant network with human brains as the clients. This causes the perceptions of the clients to conform to the reality percieved by the network. The catch? The inventor encrypts a "digital copy of his own personality" as mandatory header fields in the Schumman packets, and then kills himself. This leaves an echo of himself present in every transaction occurring through his network protocol. According to the mechanics at work here, this makes him a god in the universe presented to the clients. Unhappy with aloneness in the Wired, he creates a secondary process, and attempts to train her, without informing her of who she is.

This makes things really weird for her, as she starts hearing rumors about a second Lain that's doing strange things and pinning them on her. Also, she's recieving email from the dead.

The first episode comes across as relatively normal, but the movie grows progressively darker and stranger, and more confusing as it continues, and nothing is ever really explained entirely. That part is left mostly up to the viewer.

The imagery here is pretty creepy all the way through. This is not a movie to watch just before bed. There's really only two truly horrific scenes, one towards the middle of the movie, and one towards the very end. The real creeps come from what you DON'T see. The power lines are everywhere in this movie, humming in third octaves, but WHY? Why do we see her walk the same way to the bus station over, and over, and over again, and everytime she gets to that one corner, all the background goes away? This movie gives us plenty of time to think about stuff like that, because much of the time nothing is really going on, and there's no dialogue, and the background noises are negligible, but we're watching ANYWAY.

Final thought: Your coworkers will think you're a little weird for a while after watching this movie. See it anyway.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age