Subjective or unstable reality
A technique in which the depicted reality shifts, dissolves, or proves unstable, mirroring a character's disordered perception.
Subjective or unstable reality in fiction: 9 works
A book-within-the-book and the I Ching suggest this reality is itself not the true one.
Layered false memories make it impossible to know which reality is true.
The characters' decaying, shifting world proves to be an unstable half-life reality.
Each altered dream overwrites the world, so no single reality holds stable.
The film keeps it ambiguous whether events are real or an implanted fantasy.
The film keeps ambiguous whether the traveler is a time-crosser or a delusional patient.
Each supposed 'reality' proves to be another layer of the game.
Visions and a doomed parallel timeline blur what is real and what is Donnie's delusion.
Nested dream layers make it impossible to be sure which level is reality.