AThere are many theories about the movie circulating in the cyberspace. Among them are: 1. The soldiers died in the raid against the Germans on the Western Front when the enemy gunned them down and the gas was dropped on them. The trench that they come across is a form of purgatory for their sins in their previous lives. The men that escape or are murdered by their own comrades are free to start a new life and the men either killed or attacked by the trench have to repeat the whole process all over again under the eye of Friedrich (Torben Liebrecht), who resembles a type of judge.2. The whole film is an allegory of the Bible. Such events suggest this as a scene where one of the men is crucified, a biblical tagline, quotes from the Bible itself, a DVD case with the picture of a man wearing a crown of barbed wire, blood on a bible, and the cross. The soldiers are going crazy like the Boche soldiers before them under the influence of the gas the night before. In their insanity they kill each other, hear things that aren't real, see strange things like barbed wire growing out of the ground and see dug-outs that they recently exploded come back to their original formation.3. The soldiers are going crazy like the Boche soldiers before them under the influence of the gas the night before. In their insanity they kill each other, hear things that aren't real, see strange things like barbed wire growing out of the ground and see dug-outs that they recently exploded come back to their original formation.4. Friedrich is an evil entity. While the soldiers were wandering through the fog, Friedrich leads them to the trench. Here he tests them; those who fail are killed, and those who pass survive and are free to leave the trench. The ending scene in the movie could represent either the original soldiers coming to the trench, or a new group. The new perspective, from which we can see Friedrich's face, is meant to show a sense of knowing, suggesting that he planned for the soldiers to arrive so that he could kill the unworthy.Whichever of these theories is right, Director Michael J. Bassett is keeping a secret saying that it is important that people decide the correct answer themselves. As there are many compliments sent to the director on his website, there is also much criticism by people who cannot understand the end and the fact that the viewer must think about the ending for himself.
