YMMV / The Test (2012)

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Is Nathan in reality just a terrible person all along? Considering that his initial concern is his money and the lengths he goes to subject Julia to his "tests"; and when he makes an offhand comment to the doctor who helps him in faking a coma about "giving him a tip on Apple", sounds like the made-up accusation of inside trading has more merit than it seems.
  • Are Nathan's friends actually False Friends that in reality are jealous of Nathan and want to split him and Julia up?
• Designated Hero: Nathan, as we are supposed to root for a guy that goes great lengths to put his romantic partner through severe emotional stress (and actual harm).
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Julia at the end admits that she told Nathan that she was going on a date with the actor he previously tried to set her up with to push him over the edge, and calls herself "a worse person than him" for this. For many viewers there's no comparison between her actions and Nathan's, and her's are even understandable for many.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Nathan, considering all the crap he makes Julia go through. And how at the end he threatens to kill himself in front of her which puts him even deeper in the abuser territory. Even Todd, not a good person himself, is disgusted.
• Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: Julia takes Nathan back after breaking up with him, after he threatens to kill himself in front of her. Because according to her, she deliberately told him that he was going to go on a date with the actor in order to push him over the edge, thus she calls herself a worse person than he is.
• The Woobie: Julia, being put through all the abuse and humiliation of Nathan's "tests"; the part where she breaks down in tears in front of an apparently amnesiac Nathan begging him to come back to her is especially poignant.

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