Mystical things are afoot in the Latvian countryside.
Deimantas Narkevičius‘s film is only being shown in theaters because it was shot in 3D. The 3D images are incredible and seem to be stretching back into the screen. They are so beautiful that they almost make the film worth seeing…
…the problem is that outside of the images the film has nothing going for it. It isn’t scary despite there being supernatural entities and is simply long and dull and incredibly unclear. How unclear are things, apparently some of the characters are alive, some are dead and a few are mystical beings. Which is which, or even the fact that not everyone is a living human, is only clear in the final couple of minutes and even then we aren’t sure who is who.
Worse there is no narrative. I’m not sure what is really happening or why. Add that to the uncertainty as to who the characters are and you have a real mess of a film. I don’t even know when the film is set since candle mix with electric lights. Yes the promotional material fills in a lot of the questions I have but my almost unbreakable rule is that films that require you to read on them to have them explained is a failure. This film requires you to read on it so you can have everything explained.
I’m puzzled as to why the film is being listed as a horror film in some places, when nothing horrific happens. Yes one character dies, but it isn’t even remotely spooky. This is more a supernatural fantasy than anything as seen by the bird drifting in an out of one character's mouth.
Sadly outside of the images this film is a total failure.
Not recommended.
(And before you see this film find out if they are using a bright enough bulb. The press screening I attended had the theater using a regular bulb which made many sequences much too dark to fully grasp what s going on)
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