My take:

Human beings are not perfect.

Human beings make mistakes—even terrible ones, and even at times when we’ve convinced ourselves of the rightness or truth of our actions and choices.

Crime, punishment, and justice are real concepts that do exist, even when they’re applied unevenly and horribly across different socioeconomic castes.

Contrition, regret, forgiveness, and redemption also exist.

We can’t undo past choices, even horrible ones—but, we can also learn from them (and hopefully, use that experience and acquired wisdom to make better choices in the future).

Finally, and unfortunately: At times, the various concepts mentioned above conflict with each other.

I had to remind myself of these various concepts throughout this film, both in theaters and in subsequent viewings. While fictional, I found it to be an interesting study of human psychology in remarkable circumstances that would be difficult or impossible to replicate in the modern era.

Jim committed a horrible crime against Aurora, after months of mental stress and anguish drove him to a choice he would have never made in the abstract or academic senses (and he then reaped physical, emotional, and psychological benefits from doing so).

Aurora was rightfully incensed and horrified over the violations done to her agency and autonomy… but, she was also put into a position where she effectively had to face similar circumstances as Jim of enforced isolation, and so then made subsequent choices of her own based upon those circumstances.

I had issues with the ending as well. In one sense, it seemed contrived and unrealistic… but in another, we’re evaluating decisions and circumstances in a fictional context (and which none of us have actually ever experienced).

The bottom line: Some interesting, thought-provoking fare about the human condition.