Reviews

I started out moderately intrigued, as Russel Crowe managed to convince me that his humorous gruff exorcist might be a worthy character to follow forwards. Everything soon fell apart into a shambling overblown mish-mash of every exorcism trope possible, and I quickly became bored of the family we didn't know or care about standing around while the usual cross-waving prayer shouting nonsense carried on. The young lad did a gutsy performance but the whole thing never presented any palpable sense of menace, believability or realism, in fact I felt like I was watching an unnecessarily long episode of Creepshow. By the end I was more interested in my toasted cheese sandwich than the screen, where characters were flying about in some completely nonsensical CGI comedy. In short, dreadful. It's convinced me more than ever that the whole possession theme is completely milked dry and has nothing new to offer. This was no "The Exorcist", not by a long shot, and even the vaguely Catholic moralising felt pointless, shallow, perfunctory. I wasted 7 bucks on this but I don't mind if it puts me off future gambles with anything similar.

I'm somewhat annoyed that too many people are dismissing this intriguing work out of hand, either because they hoped for some gratuitous and nasty torture chamber of horrors like Hostel or Saw or because there was a bit of thinking involved in relating to the philosophical symbolism. So it wasn't perfect, had some plot flaws and was obviously made to a budget, but personally I like this type of small cast experimental sci-fi... it had heaps of heart, and I thought the cinematography was done very well given the challenges of a restricted space, the acting was gutsy and the music gave it quite a bit of emotional depth. Well it kept my interest and engagement much more than a lot of the slick expensive nonsense Hollywood churns out lately, and it had a bit of strangeness too which for me just made it more endearing.

Like some other people it seems I also watched this show on a whim, knowing nothing about it and expecting a fairly standard political thriller.

Well it was standard in some ways, but it had a fresh and unique style I thought, very gritty and convincing fights and a great chemistry in the duo of the main characters who both showed a lot of energy. I liked the quirky oddball assassins too.

I noted that Luciane's plucky female lead "Rose" adjusted rather too easily to the dilemma she was thrown into, but I found myself hugely entertained by the gutsy way she was always jumping right in to help in the fights. Gabriel Basso was wholly likeable and despite the occasional inconsistency in the cast there were moments of truly skilful acting all around, and snappy dialogue.

Again, there was something about this show that was really easy to enjoy - I suppose it's not great art but it sure was a fun watch, and I'm already looking forward to season two.

I really liked this for its mood and creepy sense of sanity unravelling. Yes it has a slow pace and build up but the unnameable horror lurking beneath the surface hinted at some Lovecraftian nightmare that is too weird and strange to perceive directly. I can understand it not being a popcorn hit but this is precisely the kind of film that I enjoy for its extremely disconcerting vibe. The end sequence I will not be forgetting in a hurry. I always find that things not seen directly are scarier than the obvious, and the film does well at hinting at the horror lurking beneath the surface of reality. Definitely would appeal to fans of Lovecraft.

A pet peeve of mine is a remake that adds nothing, but simply pads out a good concept until it's nonsensical. That's what we have here I think; a lazy or inexperienced script writer counting on the strength of the original idea to get them over the line. But failing. The characters are poorly realised, their behaviour makes little to no sense and there's no consistency in any of them except maybe the token "weird" kid. No-one is particularly likeable, so you can't care what happens to any of them really. The ominous build up of the approaching mist was squandered terribly, and thereafter every change to the story serves only to facilitate stretching the whole boring saga out over a season. You would be much better seeing the 2007 film version, which is a brilliant effort all round. Or reading the book of course. I gave a few stars because a couple of the actors gave a valiant effort despite the woeful script.

The premise didn't sound like my thing so I delayed watching it, but as soon as I began there was something unique about the style that I really liked... great sound design and camerawork appealed to my love for eerie and beautiful cinematic moments. The plot was a little bit chaotic at times but some of the young actors were fantastically natural despite the fairly ludicrous happenings going on around them, and the adults were all solidly good. I'd definitely enjoy another season.

I found this film really fun... though I tend to like this type of scenario; isolation, then growing weirdness. A nice change was to see the female take a protector role over her very pretty co-star Noah Le Gros. It's telling that the director listed as influences five films that I like, so I was always going to enjoy this. Great acting effort by all, creepy Lovecraftian vibe throughout, nothing here that I'd pick on unless I was going to be really fussy. Competently executed I'd say.

Don't listen to those dullard consumers that have been brought up on a steady diet of bangs and flashes. This isn't a mainstream film, rather it resembles a play, which gives a nod to Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot". With it's limited cast, static set design and dreamlike colours and soundtrack, I found myself mesmerised by every detail of this surreal little odyssey. It's necessary to absorb the atmosphere and dread of the existential nightmare that unfolds in order to enjoy the way it gets inside your head and alters your mood. Personally this is exactly the kind of movie which doesn't make me feel that I've wasted an evening. You can keep your guns and explosions, this is the closest I've felt to visiting a theatre since it's been impossible to do so. If you enjoyed The Twilight Zone as a kid this will feel nostalgic, though I sense it makes a bigger comment on the psychology of being human, or perhaps isolated... perfect for the times. Well done actors and designers. No it won't be for everyone, but I loved it.

I don't often write reviews, leaving this to more learned critics, but I just had to mention what a successful mix this is of drama and sci-fi thriller. The actors all do excellently, and the show benefits greatly from letting your imagination paint a worse picture due to what you don't see. There are ominous echoes of our own history here and there, as the occupying forces are rarely shown, but their power is obvious, especially given the traitorous collaboration of the government. This show really keeps me looking forward to more of the unraveling mystery; what is the true intention of these mysterious invaders? There are some gritty characters that work well and one feels for the family. The effects are few but shockingly effective. All throughout the series manages to maintain a tense paranoid atmosphere which never allows you to relax. I think it's a really good example of sci-fi TV and hope it continues until completion unlike so many promising shows today.

I can't understand anyone writing a bad review of this film... it was beautifully executed, the acting was spot on, especially the little boys who were subtle and complex. I was taken on a ride of increasing unease, and I had no idea which way this was going to jump. Anyone who claims otherwise I think might be giving themselves too much credit for their skill at preempting plots but lack of ability to simply enjoy.

Personally by the end I was squirming in a sort of horrified, impressed way. This little gem came out of nowhere for me. The ability to construct a non-cluttered, non Hollywood character based film like this is incredible to behold, and I take my hat off to the director, crew and cast.

Fantastic low budget but artfully made psychological horror, don't listen to the expert naysayers, they probably are the sort to yell quiz answers out loud rather than write them down.

Black Mirror is the most hard-hitting hypothetical on the psychological horror of unhampered technological advance I've ever seen... it reminds us that the potential side effects or opportunities for abuse are as limitless as human nature, and easily as devastating as biological tampering. Our current reckless obsession with pushing forward and rolling out new gadgets and systems without ANY thought for the potential consequences, combined with our smug self-assurance that technology is always beneficial to humanity is truly what makes this terrifying stuff. Guns in the hands of children. A brilliantly conceived and written show. I could not fault the acting, editing, camera-work, set pieces, soundtrack, scripting or effects. I honestly haven't been blown away by such a genius social commentary since... well forever. Do yourself a favour and watch them all. You may find yourself looking at your mobile phone with a strange sense of revulsion afterwards. Not to mention the internet.