The Director did not set the movie up to 'trick' people.
I think you said what I think.
IF you want to argue for a pure mental breakdown then you have to say that the Director is haunting the asylum. Since Gordon does not have an actual connection to the Mary, the coincidences can only be explained by a godlike puppet master pulling his strings. And then what is the point of the title? and the entire backstory with Mary??
In general when I hear a horror film is ambiguous {The Shining, Exorcism of Emily Rose} upon watching I find there that only the ghostly reading makes sense. Or that the materialist one requires all sorts of leaps and bounds that results in it being barely plausible.

I don't trust anyone who is 100% cocksure about something, when they're wrong.especially considering the filmmaker's commentary.
The Director did not set the movie up to 'trick' people.
How did Gordon pick Mary's room, out of all the roomswith his own family's pictures on the wall? Why did the moment Mike found the folder with Mary's grave number on it, it flashed to Gordon showing him sitting right next to it - plot 444.
The connection between Mary and Gordon, is Simon, which is odd, wouldn't you agree - because Gordon hasn't been exposed to Mary's tape sessions. He knows nothing about Mary, yet he's gravitating towards her room and her cemetery plot, for what reason? How do you explain that, oh brilliant "DID" repeater??? Just a coincidence? In real life, sure, but the Director focused on these items on for a reason. Was it just to confuse us poor little 'demon' based theorists? NO. Directors show specific scenes for specific purposes. It is quite a 'coincidence' out of a heavily populated cemetery that the guy that is weak and vulnerable based on his personal circumstances suddenly chooses to hang around plot #444. And no, the same voice that speaks for Simon is the same voice that Gordon hearsdoes not make sense in the 'purely psychological' theory. Also "Why did Mary let you? Simon: "They always do, doc, they always do' while laughing." Oh, so here's a completely different voice, a completely individualized entity referring to more than one person when asked about ONE specific person, "Mary". Why did MARY let you and the entity responds "THEY always do".
Notice when the doctor asks 'Simon' where do you live - the camera shots take on a completely new view - floating above the building.
This is about mental illness as a vulnerability and an opening to influences, in this case demonic.
Not very original, but 'We accept the love we think we deserve.' Brilliant.

I don't understand how people don't think this movie is supernatural! How else did Gordon end up in room 44 when he put up all the bloody pictures that Mary had already begun to put up? How else did Gordon coincidentally make it to the gravesite #44 where Mary was buried, when he tried to call his dead wife? How did he hear the EXACT same voice as Simon when Gordon first entered the female wing if Simon wasn't a demonic or supernatural being?

I think Brad did many things to ensure nothing was set in stone. The first day Gordon arrives at the hospital, and the scene where Gordon see's the wheelchair, a dark shadow comes over him and stops. And then you hear the voice of Simon say, Hello Gordon
I dont think Gordon was just coming to terms with the bad inside himself by seeing the hospital or that wheelchair. That part just doesnt make sense to me if thats the case. The other two people he was walking with didnt create the shadow. From the lighting, the shadow was cast from something standing in front of him, in front of the light.

The voice. The voice Gordon hears is clearly the same as the one we hear on the tapes as Simon. It seems incredibly unlikely that Gordon would in fact have heard the tapes, so how could he know what Simon sounds like? He couldn't, which suggests a spirit. But maybe the actual voice we get to hear when it speaks to Gordon isn't meant to be taken quite that literally. Who knows? (I haven't read the entire thread, so excuse me if someone mentioned this already.)

I found it to be a great horror movie with an ambiguous ending because that's what they wanted. Plain and simple. You guys can argue all you want. In the end, it's just a movie.

Thats wasn't my interpretation at all. I absolutely think it was a demon, one that possesses people that are weak and broken down.
Still Shooting With Film!

I hate it when people think anything supernatural in films like this somehow make it "less than" by default. The brilliance of the film is that it's strong enough to support both theories.
People really need to stop thinking of horror as something dirty and artistically weak.

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Personally, I always have a problem with people being stupid.
Probably explains why so many people have a problem with you. Go figure.
It'd be a better world if people would stop trying to dictate what other people thinkespecially when it comes to fiction.
I gotta go feed that thing in Room 33.

Yeah my opinion is that the movie intended for it to be a supernatural possession of the emotionally weak Gordon. From the beginning when he walked into the place it latched onto him. At the end when they were looking for Hank, he was drawn to Marys room. Just my interpretation. The other theory isn't stupid by any means and certainly not wrong either though.