Vanilla Sky Ending: Every Frame Explained

18. Dogs

Speaking of childhood memories, pets can form some of the most elemental and ingrained imagery that people carry with them their entire lives.

And so it's little surprise that we see brief flashes of two dogs in the montage, which whether stock images or genuine animal photos from Crowe or Cruise's own collections, are almost certainly intended to be David's old pets.

Eagle-eyed viewers might also notice the presence of Benny the Dog, the canine briefly featured in the movie proper who dies and is brought back to life thanks to Life Extension.

The fact that Benny is swimming around in David's subconscious, given his own similar fate, is no coincidence.