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A Hellblade Interpretation (mild spoilers)

Submitted by twovests in killallgames

So, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is about the character, Senua, who suffers from psychosis. But the setting is 9th century Orkney, and so she and those around her view her condition from the lens of mythology, that she is "cursed" with a "darkness". Senua's goal is to travel to Hell to revive her deceased lover.

It is actually Really Good and I recommend it. There is a common point of criticism though: Further spoilers, in a flashback, her scholarly lover Dillion tells her that she is not "cursed" but "gifted". He continues that, just as one should not blind themselves because they're afraid of the dark, that she should not try to cure herself, because her visions are worth her nightmares.

Obviously, that's a kind of shitty thing to say because psychosis sucks hard and doesn't actually offer ~magical insights~. Others interpreted that as the directors talking to the players.

But I saw it as a moment of dramatic irony, a bit of characterization for Dillion, and an elaboration on the experiences of Senua's life. He is shown as The Most Understanding of Senua and the least adhering to a religious view of the world, but even then he still misunderstands her condition and views it through the lens of religion and mythology.

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