Plot
After claiming he is an extraterrestrial from the planet 'K-PAX', 1,000 light years away in the Lyra constellation, prot (uncapitalized and rhyming with "goat", played by Kevin Spacey) is committed to the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan. There, psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) attempts to cure him of his apparent delusions. However, prot is unwavering in his ability to provide cogent answers to questions about himself, K-PAX and its civilization. Dr. Powell introduces him to a group of astrophysicists, to whom prot displays a level of knowledge that puzzles them.
prot also exhibits considerable influence over the other patients at the Institute, each of whom believes unquestioningly that he is indeed from K-PAX. prot, who claims to have journeyed to Earth by means of "light-travel", has explained that he can take one person with him when he instantaneously returns. Thereafter most of the patients at the institute ask to be taken to K-PAX.
Upon learning that many of his patients expect to leave Earth on July 27, Dr. Powell confronts prot, who explains that it is a predetermined date. However, Powell believes this to be a significant date in prot's life, a day on which he suffered a severe psychological trauma. Powell then decides to subject prot to regression hypnosis, which works well. Using information gained from these sessions, Powell figures out that prot may simply be an alter ego of Robert Porter, a man from New Mexico whose life has been devastated by the murder of his wife and child in 1996.
On July 27, prot is found lying, catatonic, under his bed. The other patients do not recognize Robert as he is being wheeled out of the room. In addition, one of them is missing: Bess, mute since her home was destroyed in a fire. She is never found.
The final scene's voiceover is prot explaining to Powell that the people of K-PAX have discovered that our universe will repeat its events again and again, so the mistakes we make will be repeated forever. With this in mind, Powell reconciles with his estranged son.
Read more about this topic: K-PAX (film)
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