[Sitges FF] The shadow. Rarely have shadows produced so much chill. The multi-faceted director builds a superb representation of the world of dreams / nightmares. It achieves an atmosphere of constant unease, thanks to a claustrophobic cinematography of grays and blues, in which reality and dreams are progressively confused, and to one of the best scores of the genre this year. We end up immersed in a world of dreams, trapped in a nightmare from which we have no escape.
For the first 2/3 of this film, Come True was setting itself up to be a shoe-in for one of the best of 2021. But then the climax sputtered...and ended on a laughably bad scene that was quite dumb and also very unnecessary. Honestly, if the movie ended at the height of the climax it would have been flawed, but still full of discussion worthy scenes, themes, and topics. Shared dreams, collective memories, the boundaries between dreams and reality, horrifying nightmare images...there's a ton of great stuff here, but it's overshadowed by the ludicrous ending. I still absolutely love portions of this film, but as a whole it is a bit of a miss.
Steaming hot pile of shit. Interesting 15 mins then completely fucked me - wasting my entire 1hr+ of nothingness. Go watch the YouTube trailer - that's the movie.
I'm sorry, but a really really interesting concept, and a very intriguing first half of the film just completely falls apart in the second half. It was similar to John Snow finding out he was Aegon Targaryen, but then meaning absolutely jack shit to the story. Such a great premise that was ruined by an ending that i'd expect in a 7th grade creative writing class.
not endorsing or suggesting this whatsoever, but should one happen to find themselves under the influence of ketamine or the like, i very highly suggest viewing this feature. it is truly quite a treat.
The most unique movie I have seen in years! Deeply unsettling, beguiling, always discomforting, smart and sometimes even hypnotic. Camera, sound and score are amazing. Check this one out if you can, it has the potential to become big.
Interesting premise on dreams. Movie was alright in general they could’ve done better but I did really like the ending.
3rd act is bad and undermines the 1st and 2nd
There is a lot to like about this film but the ending unravels it all. A simple ending cut of 10 seconds would do nicely.
The film is very methodical about what it shows, and when. Which some people will see as slow. That will turn off some people. The ending, some may not like it because it is not tied up into a perfect bow with a satisfying resolution, which I feel is untrue within the full context of the movie.
The dialogue is space and purposefully placed in the movie. The look, feel, sound of the movie all take part
to build this movie into something great.
I almost wouldn't say it is a horror movie, but it does scratch that same itch regardless of what category you put it into.
I am annoyed that this somehow slipped past me till now. It is very good.
expectations subverted! instead of 'it was all just a dream' it was all just a coma
In my top 10 this goes. Loved it the first time I watched it on Shudder but I found the bluray. So instead of 720p (Shudder only goes up to 720p) I finally watched it in full HD. And it's even better. The atmosphere. The lighting. The music. The cinematography. The pacing. The superb acting. This movie is neigh on perfect.
i almost did not see this movie and oh boy, am i glad that i did. i did not expect sucht a beautiful movie. the soundtrack lets you drift away while you experience something unique and unsettling which scared me more that so much other horror movies. while watching i knew this movie will def give me nightmares. i had immediatly go online and buy the bluray and the soundtrack and i am looking forward to watch it again and again. def something special. well done!
Sadly what stays with you after this movie is the infuriatingly shitty ending. How can you make something that has such an original and intriguing visual style, with a novel idea on a topic that has been done a lot, and then just completely shit on it with the most overused cliché trope in fiction history used in the most lazy and unimaginative way possible ! A text message saying "You're in a coma, please wake up!" ? COME ON ! What the fuck is wrong with you ?
Anyway, if you scrape these last 30 seconds, it is pretty good though.
A young girl that doesn't seem to want to come home when her mother is there, she's sleeping outdoors, that seems to have been going on for a while, so when she find an ad for a sleep study, that would both allow her to sleep in a comfortable place and be paid, she jumps on it. It's never said why she's not coming home (maybe a representation of the coma then ?) but she's going to class, so it wouldn't be that hard for her mother to find her if she wanted to.
There are other people in the sleep study, we'll pass on the fact that everything is mostly centred on her only because the guy in charge of the study wants to fuck her and starts stalking her.
What the study does, is visualize people's dreams. So here's the first good point of the movie: the dream sequences. When viewed in their ridiculously low tech control room on tiny screens barely bigger than phones (really, when you first see the control room it's really wtf is that ? Couldn't they have at least real screens ?), not much, but we also get immersed in them. They're black and white, foggy, creepy and of course weird. Visually really interesting. Two small things though; they're only linear, it's always a tunnel progression forward, like a 80s first person dungeon RPG, and they sometimes have sound, which was weird as the machine to visualize them doesn't.
Then comes the original idea and theme of the study: there is a phase of sleep where everybody's dream end the same way; with a terrifying human shadow with glowing eyes lurks next to you, and then a even worse next one where people open their eyes, while still asleep, and see the actual room they are in, with the same shadow lurking next to their bed. The point of the study seems to be to show that is a general phenomenon for everybody. A small issue here, if that was the case, you wouldn't need to be able to actually see what people dream of to at least see that there is this weird pattern. Would have been much better, realistic and scarier, if the phase was not visible from the outside. Maybe less impressive on the screen, but psychologically more impactful. You can't have people people opening their eyes and shaking in terror in their bed while their vitals go crazy and pretend that's the way everybody sleeps and nobody noticed before. This is really sacrificing the meaningful for the cheap visual effect, the equivalent of a jump scare.
This idea though ! So much potential basically unexplored by the movie. What is this thing ? Is it a single entity or several ? Is it conscious ? Has it always been there ? Does it come from the past or from outside ? What does it want ? Is it creeping into the waking world ? It's always a little sad when some fiction finds a great unexplored idea and doesn't exploit it, but now it's been used and others can't expand on it.
It then gets weirder, Sarah sleepwalks for what seems like hours and miles, leading to (in the dream) a ally full of the creepy shadows and a kind of castle and (in reality) a field where her lost phone is, and it's ringing. Is this part reality ? Or a dream ? And if a dream whose ? You would tend to think "not a dream" because when dreams are shown, they do not look reality like.Yet it is very strange. Nobody is around, except from the nurse and security guard that are also surprised that no one is answering the phone, bringing a bit of reality. However if you didn't catch on it, the alternating shots between the other researcher, in a city full of lights and cars, and Sarah and Jeremy, walking with no one and nothing that moves all around, vividly shows that something is wrong.
After that comes the horror part, where the shadows seem to come in the waking world, hunting them, continuing the blurring between real world and dreams.
And the movie could have stopped there. On the last shot when she's facing the shadow. And it would have been great. With lots of interesting questions.
But she finds herself back at Jeremy's place, seemingly having killed him while they were having sex. She sees herself in the mirror, and she has fangs, like she had in Jeremy's dream.
And the movie could have stopped there. When she realizes she's in a dream, and we wonder when did the dream start. And it would have been great. With lots of interesting questions.
But no, they had to use this stupid trope and waste everything in the last minute. It still raises some questions though: When did the coma start ? Before the movie starts ? At the very end when she faces the shadow ? Somewhere in between ? But they are a lot less interesting.
Very interesting. Definitely misclassified as horror...although there are some horrific imagery. The premise is a pretty cool idea, though I feel like the director added a whole bunch of lingering shots and deliberately slow pacing to give more of an art-house vibe. Others have said that they didn't like the ending, and I can see why. This is an instance where 'show-don't-tell' really could have been more effective than the route taken (they literally spell out the ending for you). Ultimately, it does wrap up an otherwise confusing and aimless story.
Electric Youth - Modern Fears (Pilotpriest Come True Version) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woSc2_xE7KI
Wasn’t sure what to expect but I really enjoyed this. Glad I watched it hours before I fell asleep otherwise I might have had some problems.
Not even reading spoilers prepared me for how bad the ending was…
Great first hour, with scenes of creeping dread and nightmarish visions. Sadly, the payoff underwhelms, but it still leaves an unsettling mark on the mind…one that could threaten to haunt your dreams.
Well, it put me to sleep....
Some impressive moments and decent acting get buried in a sea of wasted potential. And that ending? Wow. There's not sticking the landing, and then there's not sticking the landing.
Like friendship, this was pretty good until it veered into romance.
A homeless 18-year-old signs up for a sleep study where all the subjects begin dreaming of the same creature.
It's a good idea, well directed (the nightmare sequences are especially well handled) with a decent cast and the intrigue is preserved throughout the first two thirds of the film, but the script runs and bleeds beneath the puddle of cheap perfume romance they spill all over the story towards the end.
Not really horror... more like psychological thriller , not sure if actual spoiler or not!
What did I just watch!?...things made sense right up to Jeremy confession after that...not sure of the reasons why things were happening...
If I don't expect this film to be a horror movie, it wasn't that bad. Weak for horror, but like a normal film it wasn't bad and the ending of the film we quite liked had the right atmosphere and the resolution of the story wasn't bad at all. It's a pity that the interesting thing came from the film only in the last 30 minutes before the end.
Shout by hirkitiVIP EP 2BlockedParent2024-01-03T01:34:44Z
Saying it’s pretty bad is quite a compliment.