This is a symbolic/metaphorical depiction of a death-rebirth experience.
(from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey")
(Copyright Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1968.)
The death-rebirth experience is prefigured in the Prophet's sayings: "Die before you die," and again: "People
are asleep, they wake up when they die." The Star-Child, eyes wide open, that appears at the end
symbolizes the Spirit-Child (tifl al-maani) or the Child of the Heart (walad al-qalb), mentioned by such Sufis
as the Grand Sheikh Abdulqader Geylani.