The film presents two versions of the survival story—one with animals and one with humans—asking the audience which "better story" they prefer to believe.

: Choosing a "better story" (one with hope and wonder) over a harsh reality can make life's challenges more bearable.

He never searched for the film again. But sometimes, late at night, he'd see the watermark in his dreams: —burning like a third sun over the Pacific, just beyond the lifeboat's edge.

Curiosity, that old shipwreck, pulled him under.