The film The Jacket, inspired by Jack London’s novel The Star Rover, pulls the viewer into a whirlwind of time travel, where reality and fiction intertwine. After suffering a severe head injury and being accused of murder, Gulf War veteran Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) becomes a test subject in a psychiatric clinic where an experimental “treatment” opens doors to altered states of consciousness that resemble lucid dreams.
The doctor’s experiments open a portal to the future for Jack. There, he learns of his imminent death and meets Jackie Price (Keira Knightley), a girl from his past who becomes his guide in an attempt to change his tragic fate. But the more Jack learns about the future, the more tangled he becomes in the past as he tries to uncover the cause of his death and find a way to prevent it.
Naturally, the techniques shown in the film—for example, when Jack is placed in a straitjacket and locked inside a morgue drawer—should not be imitated. In a state close to clinical death, his mind is transported into the future. This resembles forced meditation under the influence of strong drugs and in extreme conditions of complete isolation, and this physical and psychological pressure becomes the trigger for his “journeys.” Jack doesn’t control his transitions but tries to make sense of what he sees and use the information to change what lies ahead.
Have you seen the film? Does it remind you of real phase state practices?
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