Infinity Pool | Questions and Answers

In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for Infinity Pool, we answer questions you have about the movie. If you’re curious about plot explanations, meanings, themes, lessons, motifs, symbols, or just confused by something, ask and we’ll do our best to answer.

Cast

• James Foster – Alexander Skarsgård
• Em Foster – Cleopatra Coleman
• Gabi Bauer – Mia Goth
• Alban Bauer – Jalil Lespert
• Jennifer – Amanda Brugel
• Bex – Caroline Boulton
• Charles – Jeffrey Ricketts
• Dr. Bob Modan – John Ralston
• Detective Thresh – Thomas Kretschmann
• Written by – Brandon Cronenberg
• Directed by – Brandon Cronenberg

Infinity Pool | Questions and Answers

Was the real James executed or the clone?

This is what we see of the process the first time. 

• James is arrested. 
• Brought to a holding room. 
• They have him change into a hospital gown. 
• He’s taken from the holding room to a staging room. 
• They remove his gown.
• He’s put into the cloning room and the cloning room fills with liquid. 
• We see a James wake up in a hospital room. 
• Back in his original clothes, James is brought downstairs to a high tech lab where another James is. We’re told this is the clone. 
• The clone is in a red cocoon. It wakes up with a gasp. 
• We cut to the execution arena. 
• A James in a gown is tied to a stake. 
• A James in his original clothes watches from the stands. 

This is what we see of the process the second time:

• James, Gabi, and the other tourists in their group spend an evening causing absolutely mayhem. 
• A cut shows them all in the holding room at the police station. They’re all wearing gowns. 
• The main detective comes in, lectures them, saying he wants to make a statement, then has guards escort James and crew to the arena. 
• Along the way, Alban and others say they’re ready to pay to have a clone executed instead. It seems they were never given that option. 
• The cops lock each of the tourists to a block then execute them. 
• In the stands are James, Gabi, and the rest of the tourists. They applaud and cheer. They’re all wearing the clothes we saw them wearing from the night before. 

The first process makes it seem like the original James is the one that lives and the clone is the one that faces punishment. But there are implications between the first and second execution that maybe it’s the clones that survive. Which is what makes the second execution so interesting. Because the editing is such that we’re led to believe that the group went directly from the hotel to the holding cell and didn’t yet have the option of the cloning process. That it’s the “real” James that’s marched to the arena and executed. All of this is done to have that twist of James and everyone cheering from the stands. 

That begs the question, though: what happened between the hotel and the cut to the holding cell? Did James and the others already agree to the cloning process, go through it, and for some reason the clones were brought to the holding cell before execution? Why then does the detective make the speech? Why does Alban plead that he’s ready to pay? If they were the clones, wouldn’t they be aware of waking up in the clone lab? Wouldn’t they just be brought from the lab to the arena? 

If they’re not the clones, then it would seem they never did a second cloning procedure. In which case, the Li Tolqa police would have made new clones based on the original process, given the clothes to the clones, let the clones watch from the stands, then executed the non-clones. 

It is possible that in the first process, the James we think is the clone, the one encased in red, is the James from the cloning chamber. The process did involve filling the small room with a blood-like liquid. If that liquid dried, it would probably look a lot like the cocoon we see “clone” James in. So there’s an argument to be made that the first execution was the original James, not the clone. In that case, it would give more weight to the second execution being the “originals” and not the new clones. 

Honestly, whether it’s the real James or the clone, it probably doesn’t change the larger thematic purpose of the film. We’re dealing with the idea of rebirth. Whether it’s symbolic or literal, it’s all the same to the James that remains, since we’re told the memories and personality is 100% a match. So while it’s fun to try and solve this mystery, the reward is more the “friends we made along the way” rather than some big revelation that transforms everything you know about Infinity Pool.  

Why does James stay behind at the resort? Why doesn’t he go home?

We discuss that in the ending explanation. The short answer, though, is that he doesn’t want to return to the life he had been living, specifically his marriage with Em. 

Why does Gabi nurse James?

The main theme of Infinity Pool is rebirth. And the idea of nursing is tied to the idea of being a newborn. So to have James battle a version of himself to the death then nurse, it cements the idea of him ending an old chapter in his life and beginning anew. 

Why did James hide his passport?

Because he wanted to stay behind and spend more time with Gabi. There were already issues in his marriage with Em. So his choice to pursue Gabi has less to do with Gabi and more to do with making a choice to separate from Em. A decision he doubles down on at the very end of the movie. 

Is Li Tolqa a real place?

Nope. 

Is Infinity Pool based on a true story?

No. But Brandon Cronenberg did say he had some bad vacation experiences that informed aspects of the story. 

What questions do you have?

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