It is a fantastic premise on which to build the scares and the opening scenes and early moments show that all too well. It is a shame then that the framing story is nonsensical and the connection to the family being terrorised poorly developed - the film would have been far better leaving its villain a mysterious threat. It doesn't help that the ground rules and internal logic laid out by the film is often circumvented to fit the needs of the story and the effective and creepy opening setup devolves into standard fare by the final act. It's no surprise to discover this was based on a short - perhaps thats how it should have remained.
A very unique twist on a classic horror movie. Unusual plot line but serves a good basis for a story. Worth a watch for horror fans.
This movie, like many horror films like it, rely heavily on concept rather than writing. It's true, the concept of a spirit that you can only see when you turn off the lights is perfect. We often saw questionable shapes in the night as children, and our mind would then create more disturbing imagery after that. It's only fair that a movie would attempt to do the same thing, but when you rely more heavily on concept, you lose track something important: depth and reason.
Simple scares are easy, but they aren't quite enough anymore. We need a reason to latch onto something in order to understand what we're watching...and to discuss it after viewing as well. To put it lightly - the spirit in this film didn't seem to have a real reason to be as violent as it was. I could probably list off more reasons for it not to be violent. I personally wanted to know why it was so angry at these specific individuals, and I couldn't really find anything. I did understand that it was vengeful for another reason - but without spoiling anything - there is a valid point as to why it shouldn't have ever felt threatened by this family. So I'm a little lost.
All in all, it felt like a movie that drew its strength from the premise and little else. The acting in the film wasn't so bad, in fact the boy's acting was quite impressive for what it's worth...which isn't a whole lot. It's not a terrible movie by any means, in fact I quite enjoyed the premise. I just wish it had a little more backbone and depth when it came to the writing of the characters. That being said, if you are a fan of horror movies - you should check out the movie. You might love it. You might not, but...who am I to judge?
Could be better, nice movie to watch if you're bored. It's not really scary, but still manages to keep you on the edge somehow.
It wasn't the best movie ever but it did keep me in suspense all throughout the movie so I'll give it props for that.
As a lot of other people have mentioned there's a lot missing. Why Diana is doing what she is doing is not really explained at all, which is a big problem.
The acting was pretty good though.
I did enjoy the original short film but the way it turned out as a full lengh movie did not quite reach my expectations.
By no means a bad movie though.
scary. real horror. good story. but end is little bit stupid for me sorry not sorry 7 stars.
This is a smart, funny and very entertaining movie with a killer soundtrack. The soundtrack has a little bit of everything and is choreographed perfectly into the action. Ansel Elgort is great and so are Kevin Spacey and Jon Hamm.
EDIT: Saw it again and it is still just as great.
I heard about this film some months ago but I didn't expect it to be released in here. When I heard that it would be I knew right away that I had to have the chance to watch it at the big screen because it looked visually appealing and the different story caught my attention too.
The Congress is presented to us as a futuristic story about Robin Wright, the actress that plays herself. The cinema industry is not easy we all know that aging is not a good thing in Hollywood. The parts start to get smaller and start to be less and less. Beauty almost always wins in a world that sells beauty and youth for all eternity. The new Hollywood era in The Congress is exactly the non existence of actors. All actors are scanned into a computer, then the computer does all of the rest. They just have to sign a contract saying that they are "property" of a movie company. But this film is not just that. From that point, we jump into 20 years ahead where people are be able to chose to live in the real world or in an animated world that offers them the freedom of being whatever they want to be with a total different perception of what the world once was before.
The whole concept of this film is very innovative. The combination of live-action and animation is absolutely very well made. Visually is great, very colorful and imaginative. Creepy sometimes but beautiful at the same time. Definitely an unique film.
A lot of moral questions are presented to us like, what is freedom afterall? Why humans are so superficial and selfish? What about human consciousness? It's very deep and we need to find all of the hidden messages beneath what we are watching.
It is definitely a film that will make you think about a lot of powerful issues that exist in this world. It looks amazing and all of the themes addressed are very important but I think sometimes might be a bit confusing and overcomplicated. That's why I can't give it the 5 stars and I also don't know if I can recommend it to any one. I just can speak for myself and for me it was definitely worth watching! I think that it's a film that need to be experienced because is much harder to explain.
Adam Sandler was really great in this. Its a different movie and not for everyone.
Brilliant and engaging. Much better than many movies that spend millions of dollars on especial effects.
Toooootally blow my mind.
It's really hard don't get lost (I did),
but it just makes you want to know what's going on harder. It was really exciting.
Great thriller involving quantum mechanics, and all sort of theories, each one well shown.
Watch and see by yourself. ;)
I definitely thought this movie was going to be cheesy at first, but it turned out to be very funny. I thought a lot of the jokes in the movie flowed very smoothly and made it seem natural rather than being made to seem like the actors are trying to be funny. I would not mind seeing this again in theatres.
Great debut from Macon Blair! The film is fun, quirky and sometimes even a bit dark and bloody,but never exaggerated. Worth your time.
Cool as hell. Whitaker is quite the coolheaded badass as he drifts through contract killings, adhering to his code. The film is full of quirky, interesting characters, a great score, some really funny moments, and style to spare.
Great movie. A little bit of a slow burn but the payoff is definitely worth it. Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner are both fantastic. Taylor Sheridan has another winning script with this one. That makes him 3/3 with Hell or High Water and Sicario being the other 2. I can't wait to see what he does next.
I must sound dumb by saying this, but why this movie haven't at least an indication of an Oscar? It's such an amazing movie with such great characters!
Keanu Reeves played John very well, Gabriel impressed me with his insanity, Rachel Weisz was perfect as always and Lucifer was SO scary and funny. I loved him.
This is one of my favorite movies. Definitely.
Okay, it's very complicated for me to rate or review this movie. This movie has very many flaws. It's not a 'i-want-to-be-loved-by-anyone'- Movie. But I like it and its over-the-top ideas a lot.
If i had to make a Pro-Con-List, the Con Part would be large. The good ideas safes it. A what the hell...here is my Pro-Con-List:
++ Keanu Reeves often fits the tough Guy Attitude (Even if he is not that Jason Statham-Type)
++ Rachel Weisz, Constantines Friends, Tilda Swinton and even LaBeouf are good
++ The Ending + Showdown - This is one of my Favorite Movie Endings. Badas as f**k
-- Too often you think the Director and his Writers were saying: 'Yeah, that's ok. But(!) what if we make it 10 Times bigger ?". They want top at far too often.
-- Script, Story, Plotholes. Way to often they do the same thing to make a "cool looking scene".
Okay the Con list is not that big, but i don't want to spoil anything.
8/10
The best part of this movie is when it is self aware and says that this is just like groundhog day.
Groundhog Day the slasher is just as advertised. Horror light with attractive cast, well lit set and a brisk run time is more treat than trick. Fun, but too much will rot your teeth. 7/10
That Daily Mail "journalist" is utterly despicable and somehow wilfully ignorant of his role. Solid documentary.
I expected something totally different when I went in to this movie and it topped everything. This was hilarious. Comedy horror done right! Love the cast, they brought the fun, the kid is great. Netflix seems to rock this genre, great movie!
This was way better than expected! Had a slow beginning but when it started, it really took off. Loved, loved, loved it!!!
not the best horror/comedy movie in the world, but definitely a great one!
cool directing, nice cast and crazy script lmao
Quirky. Had some good laughs. Definitely worth the watch.
I gave this movie 8/10 just because I watched it without watching the trailer first and reading the story.. Basically I surprised myself with this movie so when I started watching I didn't have these negative thoughts about it, like it being stupid or boring therefore I think that made me enjoy the movie as it was without basing my opinion on other things.. I gotta say the movie was very enjoyable and funny, the cast acting was great especially the kid Cole, I was amazed of his acting skills.. Regarding the directing it was also very good especially the last scene with Cole.. In the end, I recommend this movie if you're looking for fun only not some deep sh*t
Finally had a chance to see this... it's been two years since it's premiere at TIFF and some evil mastermind deceided to move the release date further up ;(. Thankfully it did not disappoint.
It's pretty much a crowd pleaser so I would recommend to watch it in the cinema. Barrett's script puts it well above the regular horror fare we get this days and Wingard does a good job directing. It's of course not without flaws; the shaky cam in the beginning is a bit much and the usual horror logic applies. That said: it doesn't really matter. Your dark soul will have plenty of fun with it.
The first half was good. It made sense. Slow, but the cinematography worked fell its favour. It had a feeling of mystery. The second half (marked by the first erection) was when it turned into an incoherent wannabe shock fest. Still, it looked great and I liked the music. Overall, some of the dialogue was interesting, but sometimes it pushed too far into the unrelatable or cryptic. I wanted way more actual plot in this movie. There were way too many unanswered questions in this movie, and they could have been interesting to resolve. If the description of the movie hadn't told us the setting, how would we even know? I've read negative reviews about it being artsy and pretentious. I think it is. However, it's probably one of the better artsy and pretentious movies. I actually finished it. I laughed a few times at the ridiculousness of it, when it wanted to be serious. The problem with movies trying to explore the darker places of human nature is that they can end up being a cliché weird sex movie. That is nothing new.
Better than I expected, and really cool seeing actors from other horror films in this. I love the "movie within a movie" subgenre of horror. This is almost as good as Anguish (1987) and Demons (1985). A real nice twist on the horror genre.
Really solid film but the very ending disappointed massively for me. Kind of contradicts everything that came before it.
Surprisingly dark at its core but a very fun ride. Aubrey Plaza has been picking some pretty interesting projects lately.
