So he becomes drawn toward joining the Victory Project. We don’t see how he first traps his wife in this VR hell, but we have to assume that he drugged her and must keep drugging her daily to keep her trapped in the tech. We are later told that all the men are responsible for “taking care of their wives” (although it is horrifically suggested that some of the women in Victory are randomly supplied by the project since Jack chose to supply his “own wife”). Upkeep would presumably also include feeding and even putting wives into diapers. But again, the movie glosses over the messier details.
Jack later rationalizes to himself and Alice (when she learns the truth) that this is somehow all for her, that she is overworked and needs a better life… that they need a better life. Frank’s answer, trapping women in a simulated “perfect” male-dominated world while depriving them of their real lives, appeals to Jack. Alice is understandably outraged that he would take away her agency, her life, and her ability to make her own choices.
When the men in Victory go to “work,” they exit the simulation themselves and go back to whatever they do in the real world—in Jack’s case, he has to earn money to pay Frank to remain in the simulation, although we don’t know exactly what that job is. And he takes care of Alice, her physical being, anyway, who lies hypnotized on their bed, hooked up to a machine, her mind perpetually in Victory.
What Happens When Alice Goes Back to Victory?
After the shock treatment seemingly resets Alice’s mind and wipes her memories of her real life, she returns to Victory, seemingly happy and back to normal. She is cooking and cleaning at home, wearing her glamorous little dress, and waiting for Jack to get back from work. But when he gets home, he begins humming a song that triggers Alice’s memories again, and they come flooding back.
This time she’s done with Victory for real, and she intends to leave. She and Jack struggle, and she smashes a glass over Jack’s head, which for some reason kills him (we also learn that if you die in Victory, you die in the real world, although it’s not clear why that happens since Victory isn’t real). Bunny enters the house, sees what has happened, and tells Alice she has to run before they come and get her, which will almost certainly mean her death. Bunny, you see, has always known the truth.
Why Does Bunny Stay?
While we don’t get to know Bunny very well, she certainly comes across as a queen bee of the wives and the central information hub for all the local gossip. She is also fiercely supportive of their lifestyle in Victory, which makes it all the more inexplicable that she has known all along what Victory really was.
