Fact Check: Is Rebecca in Eileen a real character? Mystery explored

Eileen is a captivating and riveting psychological thriller film based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Ottessa Moshfegh. The film, directed by William Oldroyd, follows the titular character portrayed by Thomasin McKenzie. She becomes drawn to her colleague Rebecca Saint John (played by Anne Hathaway). Set in mid-century 1960s Massachusetts, the film explores themes of self-actualization, queerness, abuse, and violence.

One of the most thought-provoking parts of the film is whether Rebecca's character is real or just a figment of Eileen's imagination. Throughout the film, viewers see the timid protagonist get enamored by Rebecca, a new psychologist at the juvenile detention center where she works.

By the end of the film, Rebecca disappears from her life in a very Tyler Durden-esque manner, leaving viewers wondering whether she was just a part of who Eileen aspired to be rather than the person she was. The author Ottessa Moshfegh clarified in an interview with The Guardian that Rebecca was indeed a figment of Eileen's imagination. She stated:

"Rebecca was somebody else’s character, a character from a movie or a book read long ago. She is an imaginary person in another sense too in that Eileen has imagined her."

Follow the article to learn more about how Rebecca was a projection of the protagonist's mind.

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Actress Anne Hathaway suggests that Rebecca is a figment of Eileen's imagination

The film was released on October 8, 2023, and left viewers in awe of the riveting storyline centered around the timid protagonist who gets infatuated with a headstrong and beautiful colleague named Rebecca.

Thomasin McKenzie's lead character lives at home with her widowed, emotionally abusive father. She works at a juvenile detention center, where the glamorous Harvard-educated Rebecca joins to replace an older psychologist. Rebecca is working with an inmate named Lee Polk (Sam Nivola) who is convicted of murdering his s*xually abusive father.

By the end of the film, viewers see the protagonist and Rebecca share romantic moments and eventually murder Lee Polk's mother. The two of them decide to run away to New York. However, Rebecca ditches Eileen, leaving her on her own.

The protagonist finally gains newfound freedom and leaves the town by herself. The ending suggests that Rebecca might have been a part of her imagination all along, highlighting all the characteristics she wanted in herself.

A still from the film (Image via NEON)

Actress Anne Hathaway has supported this theory in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. She said:

"It’s a little suspicious how perfect she is, right? [Director William Oldroyd] and I talked a lot about how it was very important that, once you understand what the shape of the film is, it take on a different dimension than you thought you were looking at. You thought you were watching something literal, but maybe it’s not... "

She continued:

"It doesn’t matter what really happened [because] this is the story that Eileen has. It's the firsthand account of it; it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily true. It's like she just stepped out of a movie, right? Have you ever met anyone like Rebecca? We’ll never know. The only person we can ask is Eileen."

The actress also said that the protagonist is an unreliable narrator as she was retelling the story years after the incident. She was also filled with fantasies in her head and often had homicidal and suicidal visions.

Many details about Eileen make sense if the Rebecca we see on screen is her mental embodiment. Rebecca becomes a character based on who she wants to be and how she wants people to view her—all of the things she is not. This also clarifies her interest in Lee Polk's case, since she empathizes with the youngster since both have an abusive father.

By the film's conclusion, the protagonist realizes that she has the power to take control of her own life and does not need the alter-ego of Rebecca to portray a stronger self in the world.

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The psychological thriller film is currently available for streaming on Hulu.