The way I got it, and I admit, I was lost most of the time, too, but think about it in layers. Oh, sorry....
SPOILERS below!!!
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Think of it in layers. This is from the inside out so bear with me. The butcher was the basic story the author wrote about himself writing. That's why the butcher never seemed to see him. He wasn't a part of the story. The computer author was the guy in the freezer who was writing the story about the butcher....and he took it one step further and added himself in sneaking around behind the butcher. In that story, the butcher got him out of the truck and he meets the social worker character. He kept hearing typing in the other room....that was him. The typing guy was the next layer....he was typing the story about the computer author writing a story about an author being trapped by the butcher. He was then one more step outside....he was the author writing the story about the type writer and the lady with the kidnapped kid writing the story about the author writing the story about the butcher. The last layer....the author writing about the author writing the story where he declared it to be finished....could possibly have been the lady writing it about him writing it etc etc etc. He then took her story, the four plot deep story, and left her locked in the freezer.
That's really hard to put into coherent threads.
The butcher was the central story....the computer writer was writing about him....the typist was writing about the computer writer writing about the butcher....the lady, and this is just my opinion, was the one writing the story/wrote the story about the typist/computer writer/butcher. He was reading it and he then stole it. The room decor sets the layers apart.
I really enjoyed this one. It's a well written story, once you get the basic premise, with great actors and it allows you to think during and after it. We're still discussing it months later....that says a lot! It's confounding as heck until you see the pattern, though. Once you do, it's a good movie. Almost Kafka-esque in the layered psyche stuff.
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