Endorphine (2015) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A nonlinear psychological drama in which trauma, consciousness, and time make memory indistinguishable from dream and reality.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

The Wound That Will Not Settle

Simone (13) witnesses the violent attack on her mother and becomes consumed by guilt. Her father tries to comfort her, but dreams keep the loss uncertain.

Key Events

• Counting Fingers to Stay Awake — Simone counts her fingers to anchor herself in waking reality and resist disturbing dreams. Characters: Simone (13) Location: Unspecified interior
• The Attack on Her Mother — Simone witnesses a man push her mother down and slam her face against the floor. Characters: Simone (13), Simone's Mother Location: Unspecified interior
• A Father's Consolation — Simone's Father tries to comfort her, but she remains convinced that her failure caused the death. Characters: Simone (13), Simone's Father Location: Unspecified home
• Dreaming Her Mother Alive — Simone repeatedly dreams that her mother is alive and believes she abandoned her. Characters: Simone (13), Simone's Mother Location: Dream space

Experiments in Unconsciousness

At school, Simone explores fainting, desire, and the boundaries of consciousness with Grégoire. Her experiment in the basement turns curiosity into physical danger.

Key Events

• Talking About Desire — At school, Simone discusses kissing and desire with her cousin Grégoire. Characters: Simone (13), Grégoire Location: School
• Experimenting With Fainting — Simone experiments with fainting as her interest in unconsciousness intensifies. Characters: Simone (13), Grégoire Location: School
• Choking Grégoire — Simone chokes Grégoire so he will lose consciousness, but he does not immediately wake up. Characters: Simone (13), Grégoire Location: Basement
• Entering Hypnosis — During hypnosis, Simone is guided back toward the memory of the attack. Characters: Simone (13) Location: Hypnosis session

The Memory Fights Back

Hypnosis returns Simone to the attack, but the recovered scene is not stable. Her encounter with her mother suggests that guilt and perception may alter the past.

Key Events

• Entering Hypnosis — During hypnosis, Simone is guided back toward the memory of the attack. Characters: Simone (13) Location: Hypnosis session
• Confronting Her Mother — Simone encounters her mother, who seems to want to live rather than simply remain a victim. Characters: Simone (13), Simone's Mother Location: Hypnotic memory
• Letting Her Go — Simone says that she let her mother go, leaving the memory and her guilt unresolved. Characters: Simone (13), Simone's Mother Location: Hypnotic memory

Adult Theories of Time

Simone (25) works and studies while suffering visions and repeated experiences. Her theories about sensory distortion and block time provide an intellectual frame for her instability.

Key Events

• Adult Life in Fragments — Years later, Simone works and studies while experiencing panic, visions, and repeated encounters. Characters: Simone (25) Location: Underground parking lot
• Extra Shifts Arranged — Mr. Porter arranges extra shifts for Simone as she continues her adult work and studies. Characters: Simone (25), Mr. Porter Location: Underground parking lot
• Theories of Distorted Reality — Simone develops theories about sensory distortion and time existing as a complete block. Characters: Simone (25) Location: Unspecified interior
• Repeated Encounters — Simone experiences visions of her mother and encounters that feel as if they already happened. Characters: Simone (25) Location: Unspecified locations
• Seeking a Present Moment — Simone asks a neighbor for a kiss, hoping physical experience can connect her to the present. Characters: Simone (25) Location: Neighbor's residence

The Dream Has No Boundary

The narrative reaches Simone (60), whose fainting and awakening further destabilize the distinction between dream and reality. The film ends without resolving her guilt or her mother's fate.

Key Events

• Intimacy Deepens Uncertainty — The attempted intimacy does not stabilize reality and instead deepens the dreamlike uncertainty. Characters: Simone (25) Location: Unspecified interior
• A Conference on Time — Simone (60), a physicist, delivers a conference on the nature of time. Characters: Simone (60) Location: Conference setting
• The Sixty-Year-Old Awakens — Simone (60) awakens after apparently fainting, further blurring consciousness and physical reality. Characters: Simone (60) Location: Unspecified interior
• Dreaming and Moaning — She is told that she was dreaming, moaning, and seemed to experience pleasure while asleep. Characters: Simone (60) Location: Unspecified interior
• Reality Remains Unresolved — The ending refuses to separate memory, dream, and reality, leaving guilt and her mother's fate unresolved. Characters: Simone (13), Simone (25), Simone (60), Simone's Mother Location: Shifting memory and dream states

Story Breakdown

• Childhood Trauma — Simone's early experience establishes the emotional wound that shapes every later version of her.
  • Maternal Attack — Simone (13) witnesses the violent attack on Simone's Mother.
  • Inherited Guilt — Simone believes that failing to intervene caused her mother's death.
• Dreams of Abandonment — Recurring dreams keep Simone's mother emotionally present while making the loss uncertain.
  • Mother Still Alive — Simone repeatedly dreams that her mother survived.
  • Father's Comfort — Simone's Father attempts to support her after the apparent death.
• Unconsciousness Experiments — Simone's fascination with fainting turns bodily experimentation into a dangerous exploration of alternate reality.
  • School Discussions — Simone and Grégoire discuss kissing, desire, and fainting.
  • Basement Choking — Simone chokes Grégoire so he will lose consciousness.
• Unstable Recovered Memory — Hypnosis transforms the remembered attack from a fixed event into a shifting encounter.
  • Hypnotic Return — Simone is guided back toward the attack during hypnosis.
  • Letting Her Go — Simone says that she let her mother go, intensifying uncertainty.
• Adult Reality Theory — Simone (25) intellectualizes her experiences while continuing to suffer visions and temporal repetition.
  • Work and Study — Simone works and studies, taking extra shifts arranged by Mr. Porter.
  • Block Time — She theorizes that time may exist as a complete block.
• Final Consciousness Collapse — The later timeline completes the film's movement toward an unresolved boundary between sleeping, dreaming, and waking.
  • Sixty-Year-Old Simone — Simone (60) appears as a physicist discussing the nature of time.
  • Ambiguous Awakening — She awakens after apparently fainting and is told she was dreaming and moaning.

Directed by

André Turpin

Key Cast

• Sophie Nélisse — Simone (13)
• Mylène Mackay — Simone (25)
• Lise Roy — Simone (60)
• Guy Thauvette — Mr. Porter
• Monia Chokri — Simone's Mother