SYNOPSIS:
Julia and Samuel move to an isolated estate on the outskirts
of the city with their children. It seems to be the perfect
place but very soon they find out that the idyllic estate holds
something else. From the very first day Julia has the feeling
that something strange is happening around her. Her fears increase
when she finds out that the estate is completely deserted and
nobody else lives there. Scared to death by the strangeness
of this situation and made wary by the lack of understanding
from Samuel and the children, Julia begins to feel that she
is the centre of a distressing plot...
MOVIE REVIEW :
It
must be the overdose of exhilaratingly heart-thumping thrillers
we have seen recently, but somehow, this 2005 Spanish production
comes across as bland and unexciting in comparison.
It
does not help that this reviewer was smart enough to guess
the “twist” of the ending within the first ten
minutes of the 88-minute movie. Let’s see whether you
are as intelligent as him with the following simple synopsis.
Julia
has just become jobless, and hoping to reduce her distress,
moves with her family of four into a new suburb. There, she
begins to see things that others don’t see.
Yes,
the above two lines about sums up the entire movie. The serious
lack of plot development makes the viewing experience extremely
dull and dreary. There isn’t much of a climax throughout
the movie, except for a nicely executed lovemaking scene which
gave it its M18 rating.
To
be fair, the cast members do try their best to bring depth
to their characters. Playing the exasperated Julia is Ariadna
Gil. Fans of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth
(2006) will recognize her as the suffering Carmen, and want
to watch her suffer in this Daniel Calparsoro-directed flick
as well. Her intensity is a testament of her commendable acting
chops. The father and the two sons in the family also deliver
believable performances.
So
it’s no fault of the actors if their roles are not written
well.
Then
there is the quietly effective cinematography by Josep M.
Civit. It is evident that he has put in thought in his appropriately
composed shots which convey what goes on in the deranged mind
of the protagonist.
This
is a classic case where the most important element of a film
is not in place. We don't not need to tell you what it is,
because we believe that it is an obvious answer. If this reviewer
could foresee the conclusion of this weakly-executed psychological
thriller, we believe that you could too.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
This Code 3 disc contains a trailer for the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
digital transfer is crisp and visually decent, and the language
audio track will not mar your viewing experience in any way
that will deteriorate your opinion of the film.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review
by John
Li
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