“Game Over” Explained !

2018 gave us a brain mash in Andhadhun, one of the movies of the decade with a convoluted plotline which engendered innumerable fan theories. With “Game Over” we may have stumbled upon the first such brain mash of the year!
The movie at its surface is a simple story about a troubled woman who finds her inner strength. However, if you strain your brain cells a bit you’ll start noticing how a lot of elements within the script allude to a labyrinthine plot. We watched the movie again and here are a few plot points we decrypted :

Throughout the movie the characters of Swapna and Kalamma reference Swapna’s parents without actually showing them. Even when Swapna attempts suicide, they don’t even show up! What if, both her parents are in fact dead and their death was part of the event which took place a year ago? Also, what if Kalamma herself is a figment of Swapna’s imagination and she’s actually a manifestation of her mother (amma)? Even her name seems to be a subtle hint that Swapna (‘dream’ in English) is delusional.

Pacman, the game, has more importance in the movie than simply being a video game which Swapna is addicted to. We spoke about how delusional Swapna can be. One thing about being delusional is that you start confusing imagination as reality. While in the game 3 characters chase the Pacman, Swapna saw 3 mysterious men invade her home with their faces hidden. Did they really invade? Were their any men? Or was it an elaborate game of Pacman played inside her head?

Besides the underlying “game theory” as we would like to call it, there is yet another way that the sequence of events could be dissected. After all, let’s be honest, no one gets multiple lives in the real world and the film had not given us any indication to us, prior to the home-invasion, that it was a movie that catered to our supernatural sensibilities. So, what could possibly explain the three lives that Swapna is bestowed with, if the supernatural element is factored out ?

In the first act of the film, we are provided with glimpses of “an incident” that Swapna has gone through recently which has entrenched an uncontrollable fear of the dark in her. During her session with the Psychiatrist, we see an unconventional method that is used to allay her fears – a VR program that takes her gradually from a well-lit room into a dark room. This is, again, a nod to the virtual world that she lives in as a game-designer.

Now, here’s the theory – Being a game designer herself, what if she designed an elaborate VR game to help her cope with her Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the entire second act is actually that game that we see. This would explain the three lives that she gets without having to resort to outrageous supernatural plot-devices like the spirit of the murdered girl coming to help her. If that were indeed the case, she would probably have saved her from attempting suicide in the first place. Secondly, it also seems too convenient to think that the home-invaders chose her house right after she is injured.

What would make more sense is that she is overcome with guilt after learning about the courage of the girl and decides to cure herself once and for all, using the very thing that she is good at: Game Design and Gaming.

Do let us know if we missed any other theories. And do watch the movie again after reading this. Should be a fun second viewing!