i get it (spoilers)

so i think i get it, or at least i've made an interpretation because i spent a lot of this viewing not having any idea what the *beep* was happening. i'd thought i'd share my thoughts for anybody else confused, maybe start a discussion about what the film could be getting at.

water is used as a connotation for 'manliness', or the stereotypically masculine lifestyle of a heterosexual man. this is mostly grounded through the image of len winning the race and being the champion. because he could swim the fastest, he is, for this instance at least, perceived as the best example of this 'manly' stereotype. this is conflicted by the underlying truth that he is gay/biseuxal.

in the water, len kisses the drowning girl, which may or may not have actually happened considering the fact that she appears as a hallucination multiple times throughout the film. either way, her presence further cements the idea that, in the water, len can be the strong, heterosexual man he greatly desires to be.

in fear of len's latent homosexuality, his father sprays him with water, the intention to cleanse him of these gay tendencies. this is later replicated when len sprays phil in hope that this will purge the former of the homosexual feelings he has for the latter.

phil is basically what every gay man will identify as 'the boy'; the boy we like whose presence jeopardises our fantasy of being straight, marrying a woman, and living our lives as the stereotypical 'man'. because phil can get in the water and beat len, becoming the 'man' despite his uncharacteristic homosexuality, len's philosophy of 'strongest in water = stong heterosexual man' is challenged, and this is what causes him to go like bat *beep* crazy. this is mirrored in the other race len and phil have to pick up women the fastest, which phil excels at, thus making him the stronger 'man'.

len is so obsessed with the idea of being straight that he ultimately buries phil with the intention of drowning him- again using the water to purify himself of the homosexual elements in his life. when this fails, with meat digging phil back up, len swims out to sea and drowns himself, losing himself to the impossible reality where he can be with a woman.

like i've been drinking a little so my delivery might be muddled, but i hope this makes sense. i mean i feel like i got what 'drown' was trying to do. i think this film is underrated, i thought it was very interesting.