This film is complicated, but this review will approach it simply.
THE FILM. If you love pure cinema that doesn't necessarily need even a story, this is one for the books. Gorgeous scenery, lovingly filmed. The photography was measured to include natural structure of beauty and form, including the shoreline, the rock formations, the beach house, and even the police station. I found myself enamored of the set design, even when the story was quite interesting! THE STORY. Twilight Zone weirdness permeates, and Rod Serling would not be out of place narrating. Dimensional, or alternative universe, jumping is the pretext for deeper probing. First, what has the serial killing to do with it? This should be an easy guess for fantasy film cinephiles. Second, what has the rat brain to do with it? This is, to be fair, an apt metaphor. OK, but what about Wittgenstein? THE PHILOSOPHY. Actress Tilda Swinton seems to enjoy the deep end of the pool, with unending credits of philosophy in her filmography, including Francis Bacon, Vanilla Sky, and.. Wittgenstein. And actor Tom McCamus has a philosopher inserted into his last name. So we know the philosophy herein is deliberate. What is this philosophy? Relative existence.
Do we exist or do we not? Can we prove it? Do possibilities exist or are they "never-been" wisps? Are we someone's or something's lab experiment? Is there God? The answers to such questions are somewhat less obvious than you might think. Yet, if we are only experiments, or dreams, someone or something has created that experiment or dream. Therefore, a creator. Therefore, an existence. As for possibilities, both in reality and in this film, these are out of our control anyway, except for decisions we make at any given time.
Some might find the ending of this film to be "too easy." I find it embracing and satisfying. Blame writers Mighton and LePage if you disagree. I especially liked when George talks about fossils, evidence of the past. Are they evidence, or merely part of the construct? Shells within shells.
MUSIC. I cannot leave you without telling you how beautiful is the soundtrack, especially Peter Gabriel's haunting "The Nest." Well after the film was over, I was transfixed so much of the music that I merely kept staring ahead, awaiting more.
RATING. For utilization of budget, crafting of story, the passionate Tilda Swinton, and all else, I give this 10/10.
THE FILM. If you love pure cinema that doesn't necessarily need even a story, this is one for the books. Gorgeous scenery, lovingly filmed. The photography was measured to include natural structure of beauty and form, including the shoreline, the rock formations, the beach house, and even the police station. I found myself enamored of the set design, even when the story was quite interesting! THE STORY. Twilight Zone weirdness permeates, and Rod Serling would not be out of place narrating. Dimensional, or alternative universe, jumping is the pretext for deeper probing. First, what has the serial killing to do with it? This should be an easy guess for fantasy film cinephiles. Second, what has the rat brain to do with it? This is, to be fair, an apt metaphor. OK, but what about Wittgenstein? THE PHILOSOPHY. Actress Tilda Swinton seems to enjoy the deep end of the pool, with unending credits of philosophy in her filmography, including Francis Bacon, Vanilla Sky, and.. Wittgenstein. And actor Tom McCamus has a philosopher inserted into his last name. So we know the philosophy herein is deliberate. What is this philosophy? Relative existence.
Do we exist or do we not? Can we prove it? Do possibilities exist or are they "never-been" wisps? Are we someone's or something's lab experiment? Is there God? The answers to such questions are somewhat less obvious than you might think. Yet, if we are only experiments, or dreams, someone or something has created that experiment or dream. Therefore, a creator. Therefore, an existence. As for possibilities, both in reality and in this film, these are out of our control anyway, except for decisions we make at any given time.
Some might find the ending of this film to be "too easy." I find it embracing and satisfying. Blame writers Mighton and LePage if you disagree. I especially liked when George talks about fossils, evidence of the past. Are they evidence, or merely part of the construct? Shells within shells.
MUSIC. I cannot leave you without telling you how beautiful is the soundtrack, especially Peter Gabriel's haunting "The Nest." Well after the film was over, I was transfixed so much of the music that I merely kept staring ahead, awaiting more.
RATING. For utilization of budget, crafting of story, the passionate Tilda Swinton, and all else, I give this 10/10.