Isaac Weishaupt, author, podcaster and occult and symbolism expert, joins me today for a special Halloween episode discussing one of my favorite films and topics, Eyes Wide Shut. Listen along while Isaac walks us through the film and points out the occult symbolism planted by director Stanley Kubrick, highlighting obscure details that even I missed, someone who’s seen the film more times than I can count. It’s truly a timeless Hollywood classic that never gets old. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I always discover something new.
Isaac published a book, Kubrick’s Code, that psychoanalyzes Stanley Kubrick’s most popular films: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and his final film, Eyes Wide Shut. The book is available on Amazon.
“Eyes Wide Shut- the more you look at it, the more you find.” -Isaac Weishaupt
“Stanley was very much trying to initiate audiences. That’s what it was all about. Initiating the public unbeknownst to them through a ritual.”
“When you get into this movie, there is a lot of interesting stuff when it comes to the overall conspiracy of what’s going on with the elites? What’s going on with the Illuminati?” - Isaac Weishaupt
Story Based On 1962 Novella Dream Story
Eye Wide Shut was based on a 1962 novella called Dream Story, written by the eccentric Austrian author Arthur Schnitzler. Schitzler was labeled by some as a “pornographer,” who allegedly started a diary when he was 17-years-old where he would log every orgasm he ever had. Stanley Kubrick was fascinated by Schnitzler’s work and wanted to make a movie based around his novella.
Kubrick himself was very into the topic of sex himself. His longtime assistant said Kubrick was always fascinated by pornography and overt sexual imagery. Originally, he envisioned Eyes Wide Shut as a big budget porno.
Kubrick Casts Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Kubrick’s genius mastermind and careful attention to detail was evident from the start. Intentionally seeking out a real-life couple to play the lead roles of Bill and Alice, not only sparked immediate interest from the public craving a graphic and erotic sex scene, but also gave Kubrick a chance to mess with two A-listers emotions. Kubrick had a disdain for Hollywood, which is why he shortly left the city of broken dreams, never to return again. Before casting Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, he was considering Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger for the roles, which looking back on it now, is odd considering where Baldwin’s tragic fate eventually led him. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were happily married at the time they co-starred in the film. It was 1999. Peak Hollywood golden era, peak baby faced Tom and Nicole. Nobody cared about their interest in Scientology back then, they just wanted to see sex. Lots of sex. And can you blame them? Of course domestic audiences expected raunchy on-screen sex scenes from such a high-profile couple co-starring in a movie together. While their $5 movie ticket didn’t fulfill the primal desires they hoped for, moviegoers definitely left the theater asking themselves a very honest question…“what the f did I just watch?!”
Kubrick was known for notoriously creating tension between his actors on set. He would allegedly create high-tension environments during the filming process. It wouldn’t be hard to believe that Kubrick used the dark storyline of the film itself to naturally instigate jealousy between Tom and Nicole.
When Nicole Kidman was making out with the naval officer, Tom Cruise wasn’t allowed on set. When Tom Cruise was walking around the sex house, Nicole Kidman wasn’t allowed, which makes us wonder if Kubrick was purposely toying with his actors’ emotions. Nicole and Tom split up in 2001, only two years after the film was released in 1999.
Eyes Wide Shut is a tale ahead of its time, questioning monogamy and the sanctity of marriage, back at a time when a strong heterosexual family unit was applauded in media. It’s also the token film of reference for those who believe the world is ran by an elite secret society who participate in ritualistic orgies.
Symbols Used in Eyes Wide Shut
During the opening scene of Eyes Wide Shut, you see a few symbols that show the main characters entering a new realm of reality. These symbols are used to show these characters entering a new world to witness how the elites behave.
Mirrors: symbolically representing entering a new realm. Ex. Alice in Wonderland through the lookin glass. Isaac believes Kubrick named the main character, Alice, to draw analogies to Alice in Wonderland. There’s several scenes in the movie showing the characters looking into mirrors, predominantly Alice.
Twin Pillars: representing the entrance to the mystical place, twin pillars are seen at the Temple of Soloman. This shows how the characters enter a new realm, entering a new dimension to see how the elites live.
Black and White Checkered Floor: “The Moses Pavement,” a common freemason symbol. Bill and Alice arrive at the party and are walking on the black and white checkered floor.
Eight-pointed-star of Ishtar: representing the Goddess Ishtar: The Mesopotamian Goddess of Love, Sex and War.
Blue lighting: seems to be used to evoke a dreamlike effect. The entire film has an ethereal quality.
Masks: representing the suppression of the ego to change the subject’s perspective’s on reality.
Hoodwink: A symbol used in freemasonry and occult rituals, where they cover the eye’s of the candidate with a hoodwink. This represents the candidate’s ignorance and is symbolic of them living in the darkness. When the candidate makes it through the ritual, they remove the hoodwink. They are finally enlightened hence have there are “eyes wide open.”
Nick Nightingale wears a hoodwink at the Gnostic orgy.
Alice Representing the “Goddess of Wisdom”
Isaac believes Nicole Kidman’s character, Alice, represents the Gnostic Goddess of Wisdom or the “Sophia.”
Throughout the film, Tom Cruise’s character, Bill, is portrayed as a moron while Alice is portrayed as sharp and all-knowing. Symbolically, you see this in the beginning of the film, when Bill emerges from a dark room and Alice is always in a light room, symbolizing that Alice is the “illuminated, enlightened one.”
Gnos·ti·cism: a belief that the world we live in his set up to worship a false God and humanity needs to find a way to move past this God and move into the real heavens.
Does Kubrick Reference Epstein and Ghislaine?
Film buffs examining Eyes Wide Shut closely have pointed out a continuity error during the famous Ziegler party scene. When Nicole Kidman, “Alice,” is walking off to the bathroom, there’s a grey haired man behind her who resembles Jeffrey Epstein standing next to a female who looks an awful lot like Ghislaine Maxwell, down to the signature gold buttoned blazer she’s wearing.
Kubrick was known for his incessant and obsessive filmmaking process, often making actors redo scenes sometimes up to 70 times, so it’s highly unlikely that anyone in this scene is a toss away reference under a renowned perfectionist’s thematic vision.
Rockefeller Plaza Parallels
Anytime you hear the word “Illuminati,” the Rockefeller name usually follows, as most occultists believe the Rockefeller family is the official bloodline of the Illuminati.
Interestingly, Maria Farmer revealed on a podcast interview that Ghislaine Maxwell once told her that her “biggest protectors” are the Rockefeller family.
At the world famous Rockefeller Plaza in New York City stands a statue of Prometheus. Prometheus is an archetype of these occult doctrines who believe there’s a Prometheus Luciferian figure trying to help humanity wake up to the truth that their God is a mean God. They believe Lucifer is trying to help mankind with technology so that man can surpass the false God. According to Isaac, the Prometheus archetype ties in with every digital matrix and transhumanism movement theory.
In Eyes Wide Shut, they talk about how Bill was helping Nuala Windsor get something out of her eye at Rockefeller Plaza. They said she had “something in her eye.” The all-seeing eye, of course, is the most common symbol mentioned in Illuminati symbolism, symbolizing enlightenment into the occult doctrine. In this scene, they are talking about Bill literally “opening her eyes.”
The Rockefellers used to own a restaurant at Rockefeller Plaza called Rainbow Room. On the Rainbow Room floor, there’s a giant eight-pointed star of Ishtar which you see at Victor Zielger’s place. Kubrick shows this star multiple times throughout the film.
Stanley Kubrick’s Obsession with the Rothschilds
Nicole Kidman once said that Stanley Kubrick was “obsessed with the Rothschilds.” The estate where the orgy scene was filmed was built for Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild.
The Rothschilds own a large percentage of the town Milton Keynes in England. The town square has statues wearing the same Venitian masks seen in Eyes Wide Shut.
Isaac’s “Over the Rainbow” Theory
There’s a scene in Eyes Wide Shut where Bill is searching for a costume for the party and goes to a shop called ‘Rainbow Fashions’ and when he approaches he has two choices: to go up or down the stairs, and he chooses to go up, over and above.
“There’s theories that this is a mind control element where people who go ‘over the rainbow’ and enter a disassociated state. And when they go ‘over the rainbow’ they’re sorta brainwashed and serve their masters in the hypnotic trance and they perceive reality like it’s a dream. So they kind of enter the dreamworld and never come back.”
The word “rainbow” pops up multiple times throughout the film. There is a scene where Bill asks two women flirting with him where they are taking him, and they reply by saying, “where the rainbow ends.”
“The rainbow symbolizes an entrance to a new world. Bill is about to be exposed to an Illuminati/elite world, a much different reality than normies know about.” -Isaac Weishaupt
In the Spirit of Halloween….Hocus Pocus Conspiracies/Parallels
The prostitute in the film, Domino, is played by an actress, Vinessa Shaw, who played the main character Allison in the original Hocus Pocus movie, in 1993.
During a recent Hocus Pocus deep dive, Isaac noticed that the spell book used by the witches was encrypted with a dark reference to a Satanic book from the 1980s. The witches throw the spell book down and the pages start to fly across the screen quickly. Naturally, Isaac being the detailed researcher he is, paused the movie to land on the frame spelling out a combination of Latin words, so he could make out what was written. He googled the words and found out that these specific words originally came from a book from the 1980s that had a whole section of Satanic witchcraft rituals, specifically sex magic rituals where the witches would pretend to have sex with the devil and chant. This scene occurs in the actual movie itself. This is not the first time we see hidden messages in films that only people who are looking closely enough would discover.
In Hocus Pocus 2, they have an Eyes Wide Shut party where they’re wearing Venitian masks.
Kubrick’s Death: Who’s Side Was He Really On?
Sex, death and wisdom are common elements found in occult research. These three recurring themes play a powerful role throughout the entire Eyes Wide Shut film. Stanley Kubrick died only six days after the film’s screening. Isaac always found the timing of his death strange.
Even after years of researching Stanley Kubrick, Isaac remains unsure whose team Kubrick was really on and whether Kubrick was trying to expose the elite or part of the elite himself.
“Stanley Kubrick was either exposed, taking part of or trying to reveal the truth about what happens in these inner circles of power and the elites.”
Other Films that Challenge Viewers to Question Reality
Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch both have made many films that share parallels with the Wizard of Oz. In one scene in Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick used the password “Fidelio” as the password to get into the party, but originally had the password as “Oz.” David Lynch once said, “there’s not a day go by where I don't think about the Wizard of Oz.”
Oddly enough, Kubrick’s daughter said that Kubrick hated The Wizard of Oz. She commented: “I know that he hated The Wizard of Oz. Ha Ha!”
Exploring the Symbolism in "Eyes Wide Shut" With Occult Symbolism Expert, Isaac Weishaupt: Halloween Exclusive