The 1979 film ‘Stalker’ depicts a journey into the unknown. It follows a Writer, Professor and their guide, or Stalker, on a trek through the mysterious ‘Zone’ of the Russian countryside. The movie lends many themes from the book it is based on, ‘The Roadside Picnic’. References to a Zone filled with anomalies from beyond the stars are present in both. In the film, the protagonists are searching for The Room, which is said to contain little understood, perhaps even alien technology that can grand anyone their deepest desire.
The Anteroom scene takes place at the climax of the film, when the three protagonists sit defeatedly on the threshold of The Room, deciding it is too great a thing to destroy, and too evil a thing to ever use.
Out interpretation of this scene is not literal, but rather concerns poetic and symbolic meaning of the original scene. A scene that reflects the contrast and struggle among ones inner-self.