Hannah Arendt (2012)

Directed by: Margarethe von Trotta
Country: Germany / others

Movie Review: German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt’s biopic is a compelling drama that captivates mostly for the realistic and sober way the scenes are presented. Known to be a great thinker of her time and student of Martin Heidegger, Arendt would become a political theorist who was many times misunderstood and criticized. Her work falls on themes such as totalitarianism, democracy, and authority. This film centers particularly on Arendt’s response to the 1961 trial of former Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, in a series of articles for The New Yorker. Arendt’s personality and ideas were depicted through conversations with her intellectual friends, or in school during her classes. Without any kind of dramatic exploitation, we get to know that this polemic woman was in a German detention camp in France, and for her the US was a paradise of freedom. Barbara Sukowa’s performance was worthy, giving the real notion of a woman who died thinking about her famous topic, ‘banality of evil’. Despite all these favorable aspects, I believe some others could have been improved. The pace was steady, while most of the scenes were cold and straightforward, sometimes lacking motion and emotion. That’s why “Hannah Arendt” wasn’t made to please everyone. Margarethe Von Trotta’s risky approach must be praised since it is anti-sensationalist, but in several moments the film fails to engage, and we absorb the divided world created by this frontal woman with a certain distance.

The Wall (2012)

Directed by: Julian Polsler
Country: Austria / Germany

Movie Review: A fantastic surprise coming from Austria, “The Wall” is a poetic and very human essay on isolation and survival. It was based on Marlen Haushofer’s novel with the same name, and directed by Julian Polsler who gives here his first step out of the TV scope. A woman (Martina Gedeck) gets mysteriously trapped in a delimited mountain area that became surrounded by a transparent, preventing her from any human contact. Assuming the rest of the world is dead, her only companies were animals: Lynx, a dog that belonged to her compulsive collector friend, Hugo; Pearl, a cat that appeared in a rainy day; and Bella, the cow that helped her to survive with its milk. Her concern for the animals took a considerable weight from her back, since she didn’t think so much in herself or in the abominable situation she was. In order to help her state of mind, she decided to create a kind of report where she annotated all the relevant occurrences that might happen. Her voice and occasional excerpts of Bach’s classical music were the only break of the forest’s heavy silences. Efficiently narrated and acted by Martina Gedeck, and dazzling us with its sharp cinematography, “The Wall”, created a prison that made me feel frustrated rather than claustrophobic. I was absorbed during all the film, which only came to an end when the paper was over and Gedeck was forced to stop writing. This lyrical mystery tale, winner of Ecumenical Jury’s prize at Berlin, comes with the stamp ‘required watching’.

We Are the Nobles (2013)

Directed by: Gary Alazraki
Country: Mexico

Movie Review: “Nosostros Los Nobles” a.k.a. “We are the Nobles” is a Mexican comedy that was turned into a top box-office in its origin country. Gary Alazraki’s directorial debut gives us the story of a rich family that suddenly became poor, in a stratagem of Germán Noble, a protective father and owner of a well-succeeded company, who made all the arrangements to teach their three slacker children a lesson on how tough life can be. Javi works with his father but only wants partying and is lost in ruinous business ideas; Barbara is the most spoiled and arrogant, willing to marry an opportunist who tries to pass himself as Spanish; Carlos, in turn, is a zen guy who makes part of an anti-capitalist group and is having an affair with his teacher. Therefore, no other option is available for them than start working hard in order to have some food at the table. After create this pretended situation, even Germán will understand that he himself has many things to learn about their children. Eased by the solidly built characters, the cast did a good job, helping to turn this social criticism in a watchable film, even considering its familiar tones and here and there some exaggerated situations. Adorned with warm colors, and more moralistic than really believable, “We Are the Nobles” gains in entertainment what lacks in originality, becoming the second comedy coming from Mexico released this year, along with “Instructions Not Included”.

Big Sur (2013)

Directed by: Michael Polish
Country: USA

Movie Review: A big disappointment is what “Big Sur” revealed to be. Being a fan of Jack Kerouac’s novels and an admirer of some previous works of helmer Michael Polish, this film became a disillusion, suffering from the same problems of pace and energy, evinced in “On The Road”, other failed adaptation of the same writer, directed last year by Walter Salles. I wonder if the problem has to do with the difficulty of adapting the author’s works to cinema or if it’s the directors’ inability to deal with the written material. The film starts with a sober Kerouac, which is the same to say monotony is around, but even when he starts drinking, the somnolent narrative never gathered the right elements to drop all its torpor. The visual side was its stronger aspect, an asset in Michael Polish's attractive style, which alone was powerless to transmit the eloquence and dizziness that one may extract from reading a book such as Big Sur. The infinite words forming outbursts of elaborated speeches weren’t anything more than philosophical thoughts most of the times loose and disconnected, leaving me in a confuse state of mental dimness. This fact just proves that great books don’t always mean good movies. I was expecting something more 'out of the box', more extravagant, in order to depict an iconic work from the king of Beat Generation. Sadly, that didn’t happen, with Kerouac being vulgarized by this wishy-washy, pretentious exercise. Obfuscated performance by Jean-Marc Barr in the role of the mentioned American novelist and poet.

Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche
Country: France / others

Movie Review: Very few films about search of identity and sexual orientation were so raw, intense, and sharp as “Blue is The Warmest Color”, a three-hour drama directed by the acclaimed Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche. The film, Palme D’Or at Cannes, evinces a steady but very commendable pace without never losing direction or slacking intensity on the detailed occurrences it tries to emphasize. Through a completely new approach and uncountable close-ups, the director was able to extract the exact feelings and expressions from the characters, creating the appropriated levels of intimacy. But this was not achieved without some controversy, since actresses Adéle Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux affirm they won’t work again with Kechiche, accusing him of moral harassment during the shooting of the film. Polemics aside, the truth is that every single minute felt very real, and none of the protagonists faltered even once. Adèle’s shyness, sweetness, and sadness were very well depicted, and her concern and affliction after a failed sexual experience with a male classmate was totally convincing. With an interesting dramatic side, “Blue Is The Warmest Color” stands above many other films with the same thematic, only sinning due to its overlong duration. Some will love it and say it was thoroughly designed, some will hate it and refute that sex was overmuch explicit… For me this is a great achievement of modern French cinema, portrayed with honesty and relying on an admirable ending.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Directed by: Jean-Marc Vallée
Country: USA

Movie Review: Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée proves his enormous quality and versatility with this 100% American film about the battle of a Texan electrician and rodeo rider, Ron Woodroof (Mathew McConaughey), against pharmaceutical companies, medical institutions, and the authorities, after he was diagnosed with HIV. In 1986 he was told he would have only 30 days to live, in a time where AIDS was practically unknown and some medicines were being tested in first hand experiments. Getting progressively worse with the consumption of AZT, the only legal drug approved by FDA and administrated in hospitals, Ron decides to try alternative treatments, following the methods of a doctor who operates illegally outside the country. The success obtained led him to the idea of opening the Dallas Buyers Club, a place where paying members could find help on these non-toxic medicines. In order to do that, Ron will have to work hard to give up his drug addiction, as well as his homophobic behaviors. Matthew McConaughey has another memorable performance, well seconded by Jared Leto in the role of a transgender fellow patient and business partner. Vallée’s direction was noteworthy and straightforward, grabbing us intelligently for an authentic story. The lack of sentimentalism was another point in favor of this engrossing drama that, regardless how slovenly its characters might be, has a lot to teach about humanity and will to live.

Aftermath (2012)

Directed by: Wladyslaw Pasikowski
Country: Poland / others

Movie Review: Written and directed by Wladyslaw Pasikowski who has been dedicated to TV series since 2004, “Aftermath” is a Polish drama involving two brothers, decided to unveil a dark secret hidden by the whole village concerning the massacre of Jews in times of German occupation. One of the Kalima brothers, Franciszek, returned from America where he was working in asbestos removal and demolitions. His absence from his father’s funeral made his brother Jozef resentful, but in his rude way he will show a good side after finding some grave stones buried in an old deserted road. The brothers were not well seen by the community, a problem that came from the times when their father was alive. Technically there is not much to point here, with the film accomplishing its purposes of showing an oppressive atmosphere, but in terms of story and dialogue I was disappointed. The story drags itself for long periods, evincing sluggishness on the moves and methods that made me stop searching for the secret and boringly wait for the revelations, which were not surprising at all. Several times, a false tension was created without consequences, while in other situations the absence of that tension was unjustified and even required. Set up with dark tones and with a photography that remind me the 80’s, “Aftermath” never impressed, ending up in a sentimental family fuss that, once for all, thwarted its possibilities of success. It was considered best feature film at Jerusalem Film Fest.

Escape Plan (2013)

Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Country: USA

Movie Review: Excluding “Evil”, released in 2003, the films directed by Swedish Mikael Hafstrom’s tend to be forgetful. “The Rite” was a complete failure on horror and the new “Escape Plan” isn’t much better, being another weak blockbuster stuffed with the same stereotypes and machinations. Hafstrom tries to take advantage using two tough icons of action genre, Stallone and Schwarzenegger, fact that will certainly save the film financially, but didn’t improve a strained story depicted with a standard approach, where nothing new happens. Ray Breslin (Stallone) is a skilled expert on finding security breaches in maximum-security prisons. Known for his talent of escaping, he and his business partner will be tempted by a CIA agent to accept a last risky job. Kidnapped and incarcerated in an unknown prison, which seems more a spacecraft, he will try to escape the tight security with the help of another inmate, Rottmeyer (Schwarzenegger) who gained his trust, and the facility’s doctor. “The Escape Plan” doesn’t reserve enough surprises and its heroes adopt the same defiant pose that we are used to. With too sophisticated methods and theories, I wonder how can be possible to know so much about a place with so little observation time. Consequently, its lack of credibility instantly corrupted the idea. Among kicks, punches, and sneaky tricks, this is a narrow-minded film that only might work for fanatics of MacGyver series, so popular in the 80’s and 90’s.

All Is Lost (2013)

Directed by: J.C. Chandor
Country: USA

Movie Review: J.C. Chandor’s sophomore feature film, "All Is Lost", proved the filmmaker’s abilitiy behind the cameras, since this one-man film carried so much intensity and let us prostrate with so many frustrating situations along a turbulent journey. The simple plot covers the afflictive story of a solitary sailor, performed with sobriety by the legendary Robert Redford, whose boat is accidentally hit by a shipping container that was drifting in the Indian Ocean. Struggling against time and facing adverse weather conditions, this man will try to remain calm and use up all the possibilities to save himself from drowning. It was noticeable that Redford committed himself to this role with all his soul and the result is a real test to our nerves and comfort. Being limited in story and almost speechless, it was incredible how strong and powerful the images were, making impossible to take our eyes off the screen. Every minute was worthy and Chandor’s sense of direction was astoundingly surprising. If in “Margin Call” he employed a talkative approach to tell a story wrapped in some complexity, here the strategy was completely opposite, yet not less efficient. Even with a predictable finale, the film was rigorous in its details and realistically depressive in its calamitous occurrences, ensuring that the viewers remember it as a reference in survival genre. Mesmerizing, “All is Lost” also makes us anticipate Redford in the run for the coveted Oscar.

Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013)

Directed by: Stephen Frears
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” is an innocuous drama disguised of documentary, directed by English filmmaker Stephen Frears who gave us great works in the past, such as “Liam”, “The Queen”, “Dangerous Liaisons”, “High Fidelity”, and “Dirty Pretty Things”. The story, written by Shawn Slovo (“Captain Corelli’s Mandolin”, “Catch a Fire”), focuses on boxer Cassius Clay’s court battle against US when he refused to take part in the Vietnam war. Clay had changed his name to Muhammad Ali after embrace Islam religion, and invoked religious beliefs for his decision not to defend his country in war. This cost him his Heavyweight Champion title at the time. What Frears offers us here is more the fight among Supreme Court’s jurists, headed by John Marshal Harlen (Christopher Plummer) who, after vote to condemn Ali, decided to reverse his decision, influenced by his recently hired lawyer Kevin Connoly (Benjamin Walker). The exhibited footage of Ali’s fights and statements were the most interesting part, while the story’s recreation never created the desired impact. My interest was brought down by the way Frears chose to address and depict the matter, failing to gather the right elements to make it enjoyable. Sometimes I thought I was watching a TV movie; even when the tempers flared in the justice office, I remained comfortably sleepy in my chair. Unbalanced and devoid of any thrill, this is probably one of the weakest movies in Frears’ career.

Lost On Purpose (2013)

Directed by: Eshom Nelms / Ian Nelms
Country: USA

Movie Review: Nelms brothers, Eshom and Ian, had to ask for a financial help via Kickstarter to release their second feature film, “Lost On Purpose”, which became satisfying along the way after a boring start. The story, set in the rural Californian area of San Joaquin Valley, focuses on two brothers, Fever (James Lafferty) and D-1 (Aaron Hill), who are part of a group of five friends hired to work in a ranch owned by Ms. Liz (Jane Kaczmarek), a determined third generator farmer with alcohol problems. Struggling with health and financial problems, Ms. Liz is doing what she can to keep the ranch working properly, avoiding doing business with Delbert Furgeson (C.Thomas Howell) a greedy and successful co-op owner who wants to buy her ranch. The story, narrated by Fever, also provides us with more information about each of the friends: their relationships, frustrations, concerns, family environments, and dreams, which include to be successful with their band. We already have seen this stuff before but the truth is that the story, being simple and realistic, gets better as it reaches the end. Cinematography by Johnny Derango has some credit, as well as most of the performances, while direction was fair but not remarkable. Not everything ends up fine in this low-key independent film but one lesson can be taken: sometimes dreams don’t become more than dreams, but if you have a clean conscience and the support from your friends, life will be easier to endure. Better the story than its execution.

The Past (2013)

Directed by: Asghar Farhadi
Country: France / Italy

Movie Review: Asghar Farhadi’s first cinematic experience totally made outside Iran wasn’t so rewarding as his previous two masterpieces “About Elly” and “A Separation”. Set in France, there is no question about “The Past” being an adult film, but the plot didn’t shake me or intrigued me, and I felt a sort of distance towards the characters. I watched it with eagerness for some kind of astonishing revelation or a better twist, but the film let me dry in the end. The story follows Ahmad who travels from Teheran to Paris to finish his divorce procedure with his wife Marie whom he didn’t see for 4 years. He stays in Marie’s place, taking the opportunity to be with her two daughters from two previous marriages. But for his surprise, Marie is pregnant and has been living with another Arab, Samir, whose wife is in a coma due to suicide attempt. Samir also has a son, Fouad, who is showing problematical behaviors and reveals a clear need of attention. Marie’s older daughter, Lucie, becomes a key-character in the story’s climax, hiding a relevant secret that justifies her deplorable state of depression. “The Past” ends up being a modest family drama that, taking all the aspects into account, seemed more planned that complex. Nevertheless, and in the same line as his prior works, the film conveyed great simplicity of processes, composed with sharp images that were quite appealing to the eyes. Farhadi’s direction was never in cause, in a story about breaking up ties with the past, that despite likable, failed to enrapture.

Imagine (2013)

Directed by: Andrzej Jakimowski
Country: Poland / Portugal / others

Movie Review: Shot in Lisbon and spoken predominantly in English with some occasional Portuguese, “Imagine” is the third feature film from Polish director Andrzej Jakimowski, better known for 2007’s “Tricks”. The film follows Ian (Edward Hogg), an enigmatic blind teacher who arrives at a residential school for blind to make a total revolution through unconventional methods. Sustaining that blind people are able to walk without a cane, Ian will embark in an adventurous but dangerous trip into the outside world when he challenges quiet Eva (Alexandra Maria Lara) for a walk in the bright sunlight of Lisbon’s streets. Other curious young man, Serrano (Melchior Derouet), wants to follow them, showing signs of fascination by Ian’s sites descriptions and rich imagination. However, disillusion and mistrust will come up in this game of sounds, where we, viewers, also imagine and search for something well aware of our senses. Innovative in concept and very European in style, we have here a good alternative to Saramago’s “Blindness”, which cinematic adaptation by Fernando Meirelles didn’t run so well. Even if sometimes we may notice an inconstant pace and intermittent efficiency in the narrative, “Imagine” became an unprecedented experience and deserves a good, relaxed watching. Jakimowski was considered best director and won the audience award at Warsaw.

The Attack (2012)

Directed by: Ziad Doueiri
Country: Lebanon / France / others

Movie Review: Former first assistant cameraman turned director Ziad Doueiri gives us a completely different angle on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, seen from the perspective of a respected Arab surgeon who lost his beloved wife in a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, where they worked and lived. But “The Attack”, based on the novel by Algerian author Yasmina Khadra, is not as simple as that, because the said woman was accused to be responsible for the bombing and consequently for the death of 17 people. In shock and denial, Dr. Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman), decides to search for the truth in Palestinian territory, getting exposed to perils he wasn’t prepared for. The idea wasn’t bad at all but a better success was hampered by the lack of suspense and the option to discard any type of artistic approach. Thus, the questions aroused by the sensitive thematic were depicted in a raw and talkative manner, only interrupted from times to times by Amin’s recollections of some key moments with his wife, and the sad confirmation of reality. Episodic use of handheld camera efficiently gives the sensation of despair and confusion in Amin’s head, in this thoughtful thriller, which counted with an unshakable performance by Ali Suliman (“Paradise Now”, “Lemon Tree”). Auspicious and thought provoking, “The Attack” was never totally involving, but can be seen as a movie of considerable cleverness.

Jump (2012)

Directed by: Kieron J. Walsh
Country: Uk / Ireland

Movie Review: “Jump” is an Irish/UK drama based on a stageplay by Lisa McGee and directed by Kieron J. Walsh who has been recently engaged in TV movies and series. The plot, set in Derry’s New Year’s Eve, follows Greta (Nicola Burley), who explains her mother died due to an overdose and her father, the local crime-boss Frank Feeney (Lalor Roddy), just gives her money but not love. She decides to kill herself by jumping from a bridge, wearing a coat with angel’s wings but saying she doesn’t believe in heaven. That’s when Pearse Kelly (Martin McCann) appears, saving her life. He was desperately searching for his missing brother, Sean, a former employee of Limbo’s club whose owner is Greta’s father, and was fleeing from some thugs, accused of stealing a great sum of money from the place. In parallel, we see Greta’s friends, Marie and Dara, night partying, and ended up being involved in this chained story of failed love and crime. The film presents a stirring pace, but many times in a disjointed way, despite of the numerous connections that take place among the characters. While the coincidences were too strained, the structure was interestingly set up with time shifts, and the performances quite satisfying. Although the action side of the story has been OK, the sentimental one just didn’t work well, preventing “Jump” to get even close to those efficient British crime films, such as “Snatch” or “Wild Bill”.

Thursday Till Sunday (2012)

Directed by: Dominga Sotomayor Castillo
Country: Chile / Netherlands

Movie Review: Chilean Dominga Sotomayor Castillo’s directorial debut, despite its good intentions, was not a film for me to remember. Set in Santiago, the story follows a family road trip, seen by the perspective of Lucia (Santi Ahumada), the eldest child of a couple who struggles to stay together. Lucia, being sensitive and smart, certainly will remember this small vacation period, since she gives subtle signs of preoccupation about her family’s future. The performances were naturally convincing but this film seems more an exercise on dispersed life details than an effective story with beginning, middle, and end. Within the first hour of its 96 minutes, nothing really relevant happens and I got a bit lost in the apathy and vagueness of the most frivolous occurrences. After that period, we start to glimpse in a clearer way the director’s intentions but my patience had already gone away, making me wish the end of this little tale. The cinematography by Barbara Alvarez never impressed me with its highlighted whites in daylight and almost imperceptible moves in the dark of the night. The script, also written by the filmmaker, was too basic for the screen and presented with a sleepy and inconsequent sequences of images. It was a pity, since I really enjoyed the performances and the subject matter had potentiality to become much more appealing to the viewer. Notwithstanding, the film collected prizes in several Festivals, including Buenos Aires, Rotterdam, and Valdivia.

We Are What We Are (2013)

Directed by: Jim Mickle
Country: USA

Movie Review: Jim Mickle’s third feature film, “We Are What We Are”, gives continuity to the interesting experiences on horror/thriller that characterized “Mulberry Street” and “Stake Land”. Actually, the object of this review is much darker and moody than the two mentioned before. The story starts with the death of a woman whose body, when autopsied by Doc Barrow (Michael Parks), revealed to suffer from a very rare disease mostly present in particular tribes. This woman left a husband, the rigorous Frank Parker (Bill Sage) who also presents symptoms of sickness, and three children, little Rory (Jack Gore), the sensitive and angelical Rose (Julia Garner), and fearless Iris (Ambyr Childers). The family acts in a very reserved way, hiding a dark secret carried for long years. All this coincides with the discovery of human bones that are coming to surface after a big storm. The authorities believe they can be from one of the three girls who, in a span of 20 years, disappeared in town. Frank’s sense of family and tradition falls into madness and the story, in its final minutes, ends up in intensive gore, which impressed me somehow. Jim Mickle’s stupendous way of filming enhances the obscure atmosphere, creating a few mesmerizing images. The plot is surprising and its execution was able to extract all the coldness, agony, and suffering from the characters. With the sentence ‘It is with love that I do this. God’s will be done.’ as background, “We Are What We Are” is not so frightful as it could be, but surely is psychologically disturbing in many ways.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Directed by: Steve McQueen
Country: USA / UK

Movie Review: Steve McQueen is a superb director who really knows how to handle a good story, no matter what its subject matter. After covering the true story of an IRA activist in “Hunger”, and the life of a sex addict in “Shame”, McQueen now turns his focus to slavery in “12 Years a Slave”, another powerful film based on the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free-born African-American from Saratoga, New York. In 1841, deceived by two rascals who offered him a job in Washington, Northup would be drugged and kidnapped, becoming a slave on the plantations of Louisiana for twelve years, after being released through the help of a Canadian abolitionist carpenter named Bass (Brad Pitt). He will be a continuous victim of physical and psychological abuses by several ‘masters’, especially Tibeats, a revengeful carpenter (Paul Dano), and Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), the plantation owner. With a fantastic pace, the film never loses grip, showing atrocity after atrocity with an excruciating precision. If Tarantino, in his “Django”, could make an amusing version of the theme, McQueen addressed it with seriousness, rigor on details, and in a quite distinguishable manner. A scene I cannot get off my mind is when Northup is hanged by the neck, barely touching with his feet on the ground, and many people pass through as if it nothing happens. Historically important, the film was based on Northup’s 1853 autobiography, and without a doubt represents one of the most solid achievements of the current year.

Child's Pose (2013)

Directed by: Calin Peter Netzer
Country: Romania

Movie Review: I was not wrong in expecting quality in “Child’s Pose”, since its script was written by creative Razvan Radulescu, co-writer of “The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu” and “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”. Built with well-worked dialogues and severe postures (nobody smiles here), the story follows Cornelia, a super-protective mother who lives to control her adult son, Barbu. When the latter kills a humble 14-year-old boy in a car accident due to excessive speed driving, she will use her high-society connections and influence to assure that every report and witnesses’ statements would be altered favorably. The title of the movie is quite explanatory, since Barbu is nothing more than a spoiled and irresponsible man who needs desperately her mother to cover up his reckless deeds but at the same time is completely suffocated by her obsessive control. Therefore, “Child’s Pose” works simultaneously as a compelling character study and poignant criticism of a decaying society where the power of money and socialite connections see no limits. Cornelia’s contempt regarding the victim’s family was outrageous and was able to infuriate me. However, an ambivalent finale expects you to make your own judgment of the situation. Netzer’s direct approach and shaken zooming camera not always led to good results, but the story was too interesting, for us to bother with it. The film won this year’s Golden Berlin Bear and counted with an inspired performance by Luminita Gheorghiu.

Haunter (2013)

Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Country: USA

Movie Review: Vincenzo Natali continues his explorations on horror and supernatural, although still without achieving the notoriety of his first work dated 97, the paranoid and psychological “Cube”. “Haunter” is the story of Lisa (Abigail Breslin), a 16-year-old girl who after establishing contact with a mysterious presence at her house, sees herself trapped in a timeless world populated by living and dead. Establishing contact with the identity that whispers for help, she will follow dark hidden places at home until find several objects that once belonged to missing girls who died in that place. Her waking dreams and repeated visions of her family in weird situations, will lead to the horrible conclusion that, together with all these girls, she and her family were also murdered by a sinister man (Stephen McHattie), a serial killer who lived in that house and continues haunting its dwellers. The film was well shot, evincing curious details and creating shadowy images that caused a desirable impact. But when the truth starts to be disclosed, the mysterious atmosphere vanishes, and the story becomes less scary or intriguing. Horror aficionados may find something entertaining here, but I must confess that nothing fresh was found in this mediocre, perpetual battle for justice and salvation. This is a perfect example of an interesting setup that turns to be useless as the story approaches its volatile conclusions.