The Machinist

Christian Bale’s perverse loss of weight (about 63 pounds) to star in this eerie psychological thriller is the most shocking element here, but not the only riveting one, as a machine-shop worker’s insomnia slithers into insanity. Trevor Reznik (Bale). He finds sanctuary of sorts in the bed of a hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and on a counter stool at a late-night diner patrolled by a nurturing, widowed waitress (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). Reznik’s declining physical and mental condition erupts into a full-blown nightmare of guilt, fear, confusion and paranoia when his co-workers ostracize him following a workplace accident. M.H.