This started off pretty poorly, playing like any number of haunted house type stories, but it gradually ramps up into something a little more interesting.
The story focuses on two main characters, playing off of their parents. The twist to the casting is that the story unfolds both in the present and the past, so two of the characters are played by four actors. There’s a lot of confusion about when events happen, and the story jumps back and forth in time, and occasionally overlaps. This is combined with a sense of confusion about what is real.
I liked one sequence, when a girl starts to eat an apple. Then she realizes that it’s actually a lightbulb she’s bitten into and is chewing on. Then she realizes that it’s actually an apple. The tricks on the viewer are endless, and it actually gets a little frustrating. You never feel like it’s clear what the viewer can believe is real. This is intentional, and it’s interesting to get engaged with a movie in this way.
I don’t know how I feel about the ending. Normally I’m not too picky about the endings of horror movies, but it didn’t seem to be what I expected. I think I would have preferred a bittersweet ending, with the mirror breaking and the sacrifice, but instead…
I wonder if this is an effort to leave the story open for a sequel. I don’t think it needed it.
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