The film handles the Andrew character really well. There’s a really interesting line where he says, “You don’t feel guilty when you squash an ant—I think that means something,” which shows how he’s contemplating his darker impulses and trying to rationalize them.
Yeah, and if you notice in the movie, Matt, played by Alex Russell, is always quoting philosophy at the beginning of the movie, and once he experiences this gift with his friends, which allows him to partake in scenarios that to his knowledge no human being has ever experienced, he kind of drops the philosophy act. He’s a smart kid who sees the bigger picture and wants more out of life; he lives in a small town, and doesn’t see a lot of greatness around him, so he constantly looks to justify, philosophically, his own purpose in life. And once he experiences greatness in life for the first time, he drops that act.
Andrew, on the other hand, when he goes on that rant in the junkyard, it’s almost like he’s finding the philosophical justification of the way he’s feeling. So there’s a shift in dynamic there between those two characters, and how somebody tries to rationalize the world in front of them.
The Committee to Nuke Elysium 