The scattering of a transverse electric plane wave incident from a linear media by a nonlinear Kerr film deposited on a good conductor is studied. Self‐focusing and self‐defocusing are included both above and below the critical angle. The solution to the complex second‐order nonlinear differential wave equation is constrained at the nonlinear/conductor planar interface by mixed boundary conditions and at the linear/nonlinear interface by the continuity of the tangential electric and magnetic fields. A potential‐well approach is employed to classify and isolate the various solutions. Several examples illustrate the two nonlinear analogies of the evanescent and harmonic field solutions. Additionally, we obtain the surface‐wave solutions and the transitional, hybrid, fields. Finally, we show that the reflectivity is multistable with respect to the incident intensity and that the reflected intensity is multistable as the incident angle changes for a constant input intensity.