With more flaws than virtues, it is a very experimental film that will be seen by a minority and soon after forgotten by everyone who saw it.
I didn't have very high expectations for this film. It's the best thing to do, and I recommend that attitude. The film begins with the arrival of a young couple at a large old country house in America. He's British, she's the lady of the house, who was her parent's and has been in her family for generations. So far, so good. What is really strange is to find, hidden there, a mysterious portrait that is very similar to her new husband and that shows an unnamed male figure common to other portraits in other houses in the city. Intrigued by the resemblance, he searches for more information and seems to stumble upon a dark town secret that, somehow, has something to do with him.
The film starts from a series of good premises and ideas but ends up not being able to use them and create something consistent. Justin Lange, the director, is young and still learning, and that is quite evident in his work, in a direction that is guided by indecision and experimentalism. The actors, of course, are not established stars, but Finn Jones even leaves us frankly positive notes, while Jessica McNamee and Thomas Murphy end up being the worst actors on the scene (she's not acting, she's just saying the lines, and he's histrionic and annoying).
None of this is really a problem if we assume that this film is something that doesn't want to be a cornerstone of cinema. It is a low-budget film that has positive ideas, but which is really lost due to the way it does not manage to put them together: and the end of the film, perhaps the most consensual weak point for those who have seen it, is the mirror of the problem. The film goes along well, creates a mysterious and interesting atmosphere, manages to capture our attention and suddenly, without any justification, it completely loses control, becomes ridiculous and completely loses interest.
2023-07-01
