Every day, people repeat the same actions. In the morning, going to work/shop/school, and in the evening a book/television/computer. All of this has become so mundane that people don’t even notice how their whole life is rushing past them. But what if things didn’t just happen over and over again, what if the same day happened over and over again? Yes, I know that this has already been repeatedly played out, but the topic has not yet had time to get tired, and therefore – relevant. Well, that's "Limb."
The plot tells about a happy young girl named Lisa. She has a loving family, a younger brother in which the girl does not like the soul, as well as a house that gives a sense of security and peace, but something Lisa still embarrasses and this is something that she lives the same day. And Lisa, of course, will try to figure out what is happening, only the answers will shock her.
Initially, I planned to start from afar and talk about the director of the picture, who gave the world a wonderful film “Cube” that the idea of mixing “Groundhog Day” and “Sylent Hill” is quite interesting, albeit not new, and that the actors who starred in the film inspire some hope, but still important not what I expected, but what came out of the film. And it turned out something between a mystical thriller of not the best quality and a drama about family values. So if there are people who are hoping to see a quality horror story that will keep you in suspense until the final credits, then leave hope. It will be a miracle if this movie does not drive the viewer into a coma, so it turned out to be boring and predictable, but let’s order.
And the weakest part of the picture is how it is the script, which minute to thirtieth reveals all the intricacies of the plot to an attentive viewer while the main character will continue to walk and dull most of the screen time. After all, if Lisa realized that something was wrong with the house, then why does she repeat the same actions over and over again, instead of trying something new? Why not do something you don’t expect and don’t do? And yes, Lisa is trying to do something, but only none of her actions so to the end and was not thought out by the creators of the picture, and therefore he ends on nothing. A good example is the magic board scene. The girl tried to get in touch with the spirits (while the scene itself looks ridiculous, but it's small things) and the spirit responded. Well, this is already a good indicator, but here is the bad luck of the writers, and with them the main character forgets about some magic board there and continues to wander around the house without any purpose. An old cassette was found in the attic, where Lisa and her family enter this house, and in the background a sinister-looking figure is visible and this is a direct reference to Sinister. I don't mind. And then what? Did Lisa try to brainstorm what she saw or discuss it with anyone? Nah, she just forgot about that tape. There are more than enough scenes in the film. Um, writers, why would you put some interesting storytelling into a movie if it didn't lead to anything? After all, because of such a feint, the ears before the viewer does not appear a whole canvas, but scraps of fabric that were sewn together with white threads and called a dress. It's so cute.
As for the completely destroyed atmosphere. Again, I want to return to Cuba, where the events took place literally in one room, but the film was saturated with an atmosphere of fear and universal doom. There's nothing like that in here. Lisa walks around the house, then she walks, and you won't believe it, but she walks. No, of course, the director has moments of epiphany and he sometimes puts ghosts and “boo-effects” into the film, but they are too few and they look ugly predictable. And the only thing they are capable of is to cause longing for old horror stories and drive the viewer into a state of lethargic sleep.
Summing up, I want to say that the picture really had the potential to be a horror story, which over time could get the status of a cult and stand on a par with the same “Cube”, but did not grow together. The intrigue dissipates in the thirtieth minute, and with it the atmosphere dissipates. Logic hid in the closet and begged to be left alone. The actors try to play, but the script was written not under living people, but under wooden dummies and as a result, the characters are not able to evoke even a bit of sympathy from the viewer. And the only reason you can watch this movie is to see how easily you can ruin a really interesting idea.
The film met my expectations. As I thought, it was a pretty average horror thriller. The film tells the story of an ordinary family that has already lived the same day. I will not reveal all the cards before you, because all the most interesting things did not fall into the description of the film. The subject of the plot is quite interesting, rarely there are films with such a plot. There are a few scary moments in the film as it is a horror movie. But even more there is a detective part, because throughout the film the main character tries to unravel the mystery of his house. The director throughout the film makes the viewer think about the mystery of the family and the mysterious house.
The actors were not selected quite successfully, many did not cope with their task. Sometimes the actions of the heroes raised many questions. To be honest, Abigail Breslin frankly lacked experience for the lead role. The musical accompaniment pleased me. The music is quite good and further escalates the situation.
The atmosphere is high. There were a couple of scary moments in the movie and that’s great. But the film is not quite successful, several times was frankly visible computer graphics, which was at a low level.
Overall, it turned out to be a pretty good thriller that you can watch and that will make you think about a lot. But with the plot a little confused, it was easy to get confused. The ending was expected, but it does not spoil the film.
6 out of 10
It is very cool for the director and KO to take such topics: spirits in an unknown space outside our world, that is, “invent what you want, compose how much it will fit”, and the viewer has nothing to present: after all, we were not there, and not the fact that we will visit, so it remains only to wave your hands and, having breathed out, look at the fantasies of those who invented the plot.
It turned out, of course, very, very unbanal, even more confusing, but not to say that it is directly very interesting. The atmosphere in the film is kept at the expense of gray tones, and at the expense of fog, and at the expense of the pale faces of the characters, but at the same time, not the smell of fear hovers in the air, but some tiring powder, because of which the eyelids are drawn to close their eyes. But again, the film is like a very large tangle of threads, which the viewer unravels for an hour and a half.
Acting at a good level only the main villain. The rest, including the main character, did not like it.
The manner of shooting is kind of scanty, like the soap picture itself. The budget must be tough. Which camera was enough, the one was filmed. Soundtracks are pretty common for this genre.
It turned out such a bland, boring horror film with an unused plot and without a single drop of blood. A bet is made on the fact that the audience will be interested in just the same plot, and they will not look at the shortcomings that the film is full of. For the script and face of the main villain:
Lisa and her family (mother, father and younger brother) live happily in a large house. But over time, Lisa began to notice that not everything was in order in her life. Every new day repeats the previous one, and there is a hopeless fog on the street. The introduction of households in the course of business does not bring fruit, in the morning they forget everything and the circle begins in a new way. Trying to get to the causes of strange events, Lisa begins to hear voices in the basement calling her.
Canadian director Vincenzo Natalie at one time made a lot of noise with his chamber puzzle thriller “Cube”, which in some ways can be called the progenitor of the torture horror film “Saw”. A modest budget paid off with a great idea and the intensity of the human factor in a confined space. Leaving the sequels to Hollywood, Natalie chose to continue working on budget, but original films with unusual ideas, such as “The Void” or “Chipher”. And the new horror story "Limb" in this list is no exception. We are not deprived of films about houses with poltergeist. This year, you could catch two similar from James Wan and a few more rank lower. But the peculiarity of “Limba” is that the main character of the production is just a ghost stuck in the “bottom of the groundhog” in the world of the Astral. As in an old comedy, the heroine of the film sits for a long time in place becomes boring, and she begins to resist and dig where it is impossible, and the movie eventually acquires a whole heap of details, discoveries and funny inside out deja vu. At the heart of his film, Vincenzo again turned out to be interesting, mystically rich and full of mysteries, gradually unfolding along the way. Another thing is that the further, the more true the movie suffers from a slight illogicality of what is happening, which closer to the final brings the action a little in the wrong steppe, with the mountains of martyrs and Freddy Krueger. Although, if you consider that, one way or another, any film about the restless evil spirits eventually comes to bloody details (although, it is worth clarifying that “Limb” in terms of bloodletting is sterile), you can forgive the director, bent his line, some secondary plot, collected little by little from everywhere. But the behavior of the curious, and at the same time weak-willed heroine Abigail Braslin, who always walks with a surprised face and swallows all the ridiculous presentations flying in a lump in her direction, often causes confusion. Whether this directorial oversight is to blame or the actress didn't pull the role is a cause for some concern.
Now it is difficult to say whether this movie is worthy of revision, when all the cups are turned upside down, but a one-time viewing of "Limb" bravely withstands, and for his ingenuity may well eventually cramp into a large anthology of ghost films.
The main thing is not to tune in to some sensational horror, or a brilliant idea that shook the entire genre, if so, then the film "Limb" once fit. This film, by the way, does not smell of horrors, although ghosts walk around the house, and once one evil uncle tortured his victims - but there will not be much template in the plot.
Thriller "Limb" is closer to the films of the puzzle design, with repeated repetition of some scenes, adding constantly new elements to the plot, and does not harbor any unusual solution, everything is quite saturated, but at the same time and cinematically simple. There is a family of four, the daughter is quicker, finds that somehow the washing in the basement has become more frequent, they give the same food, and parents say the same lines.
Gradually accepts the fact that she is no longer alive, tries to convince her family of this, and at the same time is digging up the facts of their death and why, in fact, they can not leave their home. Next will be the promotion of the plot, transfer it to a potential viewer does not make sense, but it is more because of the saturation of details than the disclosure of some key denouement.
The film is for one time, but this viewing without much regret, in the framework that the idea of the director was conceived - I think it was possible to achieve a normal result. If you are a fan of such genres, the film will go hurrah, but for a passer-by viewer nothing in the film "Limb" will not be bad.
I understand perfectly well that life has become monotonous for a person, and every day the same thing, in what age you realize all this, you are looking for meaning (as they say, “The Truth is out there”) there is always a thread, and the heroine found it perfectly, but if we look at it from a different angle we see that people in some sense can become both angels and demons. The heroine gave this clear concept, I first saw the essence of what can be called confrontation (if it can be so expressed), the essence of the film touches and makes it clear that here you need to think because it is the darkness that wrapped the veil and without logical thinking do not understand all the subtlety and irony of this film. And if you ask, where's the fear and the horror, I'll tell you one thing: it's not stupid, and it's a suede movie where there's scenes of blood and remains. It's not like I prefer to say that this is my kind of play, or play where inherent, emotions, and scenes of excitement I, as many expected, and worried what is behind the scenes, and what will be the end but as the audience and people I will give my assessment of this performance.
The film became a kind of fog, and until you pass it will not see the whole essence strictly say actor Stephen McHatty was good, as befits a villain, and a bad guy actors are good, and the psyche of this film is inherent but not much of the result.
8 out of 10
Director Vincenzo Natalie, who shot a modest investment, but has become universally cultic and the most cited "Cube" in recent years firmly established himself in the genre of fiction, producing if not massively popular, then at least curious films on an interesting topic. His last completed work to date, the thriller “Limb” – reminds all the same young enthusiast in the recent past, took up a complex experiment with human fears and assuming triumph at the output among a wide range of people, but the game with life after death was as difficult as the production of a good mystical thriller.
Natalie skillfully manipulates standards in Limba, turning an ordinary thriller into something curious and modern. The usual story - a game of cat and mouse with a criminal - is famously twisted and to the very pre-final does not lend itself to an unambiguous interpretation of events, which causes interest in this game of the director with a genre structure. At the same time, McHatty is damn good in the role of the “bad guy”, and Breslin is quite cute for a girl who finds herself in a difficult situation.
But unfortunately, the film was allocated an extremely low budget, which primarily affected the special effects (the very identification of the limb with the house in the middle of a fog clot looks very poor and not serious), and the successful structuring of the film in the first stages evaporated closer to the final, turning interesting and thoughtful mysticism into an ordinary thriller, the sight of which has long wanted to avoid.
The author of the cult intellectual thriller “Cube” Canadian Vincenzo Natalie after the success of it, began to set too high goals and mired in pretentiousness, which was not dreamed of by other arthouse directors, not that the creators of the mainstream. Here is the film “Ghost”, although in the Russian box office the tape is under the more successful name “Limb”, no exception.
Limb is a place of restless souls forced to relive the events of their lives that led to death over and over again. As Dante wrote, it is the first circle of Hell, although according to some versions, it is the place between Purgatory and Paradise, from which there is salvation. Here's the heroine - young Lisa (Alice?), stuck in 1985, on the day of her own death and forced to relive this heavy "groundhog day" from day to day for at least 25 years. But she wants to enter the world of the living, to connect with those who live in the world beyond. True, her relatives still did not realize their own deplorable state, not seeing anything unusual in this.
And it would seem quite an interesting plot, mixing "Groundhog Day" with "Others", gradually brings to some not quite adequate and overloaded author's thoughts horror film. Although it seems that Natalie is not going to scare anyone, occasionally resorting to a rather simple set of scarecrows. It’s not even about the overall low budget. It is just the film goes in the plus and allows the director to focus more on the heroine of the grown-up Abigail Breslin. But why does the plot, instead of a story about eternal childhood in the middle of a fog, lead to a frank fairy tale about the fight against evil with the ending, written straight from the original “Cuba”?
I would have shrugged my soul if I said that Limb gave me some fundamentally new sensations. Film variations on the theme of sinister houses, with secrets and curses, whose age varies from several years to even millennia, have happened to see enough, and their total score in world cinema is probably already not hundreds, but thousands.
At the same time, the picture of Vincenzo Natalie stands out against the general background of classic horror films with a very skillfully created atmosphere, which can often be decisive in such films, both positive and negative. In "Limbe" everything is in order here: the house with secrets is provided, and its inhabitants are not at all as simple as it seems at first glance, each of them has a second plan, which is difficult for the viewer to unravel, the intrigue persists to the very end and will not let you get bored. The director and writers worked very professionally, mixing all genre ingredients in the right proportion.
In addition, this film can be credited to themselves and actors. They were not given super-tasks, but a certain level of skill was demanded from them, and they gave it away.
In particular, pleasantly surprised her mature beyond her years and for paintings of this genre game Abigail Breslin. More than 10 years ago, she happened to see very young in the film "Signs", and there she did not say that she left any trace in the soul after watching, as, in fact, the whole creation of Shyamalan. But over the years Abigail clearly passed a good school, gained experience and in Limba demonstrated a fairly high level of acting and a potential noticeable to the naked eye, waiting to be revealed in further works on the screen. Breslin wonderfully conveyed the entire palette of emotions of her controversial heroine in relationships with others - from the abys of despair to indomitable willpower. Not every actress shows this level at 17. With this attitude to the case, I think Abigail is waiting for more than one success in the film field, which I sincerely wish her.
Stunningly convincing and charismatic character in "Limba" played and Stephen McHatty, a more suitable role for him and difficult to come up with. The actor looks so good in this role that he can easily play with a dozen more such heroes, and the viewer will not get tired of watching him. McHatty, together with Breslin became a real find for Natalie, his trump cards, providing a quality, intriguing and sinister spectacle, keeping the viewer in tone until the very end.
For well-planned scenery, plot, atmosphere and performance of actors give "Limba"
Before this film, the word Limb was associated with K. Nolan’s Inception. My knowledge of English says that literally the film should be translated as "Ghost". But the Russian distributors "Limb" liked more. It is rare that the original name is less liked.
The plot of the film tells about one day of an ordinary family, which is engaged in everyday affairs. The first problem is that they do not live this day for the first time, it is repeated. The second problem is that only the girl Lisa understands this. She worries a little, but of course no one listens to her when she tries to reason with her family. So every day she gets up, eats pancakes, washes, eats lunch, listens to the same conversations. But one day, Lisa feels the presence of someone else, and of course, she sins for ghosts. But not everything is that simple.
I wouldn’t call this movie a horror movie. Mysticism, somewhere a drama, but not a low-grade horror movie, which pleased the film - it does not teem with screeners and other frightening nonsense. I am not saying that they are not there, but they are not as many as in the Astral. In the film there is fog, frightening phone calls, and of course, hopelessness.
At the beginning of the film, it is not clear what is going on. Everything rises gradually, at first the viewer understands that he is with the main characters “on the other side”, and the tangle begins to unravel.
I would like to mention the main character. Lisa is a girl who goes ahead and against the advice of adults. From washing in cold/hot water to threats from a mysterious worker not to open locked doors. She is desperately fighting not only for her family, but for strangers who find themselves in the same nightmare as she and her loved ones. Abigay Breslin, in my opinion, a talented actress, at 17 she shines not for the first time on our screens. I think she has a great future for the actress.
The film leaves a pleasant feeling. Among the horrors, openly throwing the rod for continuation, it stands out.
Did the filmmakers want to encourage viewers to wake up, is there any hint that many of the living are dead? I don't know. But if someone watching a movie will encourage you to struggle with your personal Limb, then this is a big plus. Open the door, what if there is a thick fog?
"I would have noticed my Groundhog Day in the second week"
To be honest, this is an amazing film. It's a great work by Vincenzo Natalie. This film has everything from neo-Gothic to the plot itself. And while this movie may seem like Groundhog Day, it’s actually much darker, much darker, and with more unexpected twists and turns.
To begin with, it is not immediately clear what the word "limb" means in general. From this viewing of the film becomes more intriguing, and the meaning of this word is clarified only at the end.
I want to note the wonderful camera work and musical accompaniment, really gets to goosebumps.
And finally, the story. Throughout the film, you worry about the main character and her family. You don’t know what will happen in a minute, or even a second. You don't know if anyone will help Lisa, if another girl will be saved, if the end will be good. From “Limba” you can expect everything, this is his thing.
Of the actors, I only know Abigail Breslin from Welcome to Zombieland and I think she did a great job as a girl trapped in a nightmare with her family.
Personally, after watching it, I felt the beauty of life again, the joy of not being locked somewhere, the fact that I can see the sky or go outside. This is what the movie “Limb” is all about.
An ordinary American family lives in a cozy house on the outskirts of an ordinary suburb. Life goes its leisurely measured rhythm and only for Lisa every new day is like the previous day. The events of one particular day are in a vicious circle, from which it is impossible to escape. And a terrible secret lies in the house, and only Lisa is destined to solve it.
Canadian director and screenwriter Vincenzo Natalie, who once placed the audience in the “Cube” and told the phantasmagoric story of “Chimera”, in 2013 decided to celebrate Groundhog Day on a large scale, immersed the audience in his latest film work in Limb – the place of restless souls, not hell at all, not heaven and, alas, not purgatory. Such a limb for the main character of the film, the underage girl Lisa, becomes her home, shelter and shelter, shrouded almost constantly, from morning to night, a thick and dense blanket of whitish mist, from which all evil spirits, monsters and sinister dead seem and climb. However, the audience should not wait for their appearance and the accompanying bloody bath. Partly inspired by Bergman’s “Persona”, “Limb”, which is permanently kept in the style of neo-Gothic, is more a drama laced with mysticism and esotericism than a horror film.
“Limb” is a dark and sinister story of restless and restless souls, the story of the growing up of an individual, the personal formation and transformation of a girl into a woman in conditions close to extreme, and more in terms of psychophysiological than exclusively physical. Vincenzo Natalie skillfully throws a mosaic of metaphors and symbols around the film, strung on the thread of thoughtful and exquisitely embodied plot intrigue parable intonation and without breaking the leisurely, hypnotic narrative with unnecessary and unnecessary digressions that weigh down the timing. The film from beginning to end is an atmospheric work, sustained in the best traditions of modern neo-Gothic and, although it seems that the film plays on the artistic field of the notorious “Spell” and “Astral”, it is much closer to the radical author’s Colombian horror “Wake up and die” in 2011 than to the horror samples from James Wan. Limb is the Kingdom of Hell of universal repetition and these refrains in the picture look not so much as a punishment, but as a kind of test for the main characters and, in particular, Lisa.
However, “Limb” can be interpreted as a special otherworldly vision, the very memorable “third eye”, which in fact has Lisa. Literally from the first shots of the all-seeing eye with a skull inside, stylishly shot by cameraman John Joffin, Vincenzo Natalie sets the tone for many interpretations of the essence of the film, in which everything that happens is ambiguous and ephemeral, but not perversely sophisticated. Vincenzo Natalie returned to the artistic minimalism and asceticism of his previous works, playing in “Limba” with cliches and archetypes of the genre, returning horror to the origins of storytelling at the campfire and eternal urban legends, diluting the ghost story with family drama and philosophical drama.
Separately, I want to focus on acting, because the film is essentially pulling its convincing game Abigail Breslin, gradually revealing herself as a strong dramatic actress. Of course, Lisa in “Limba” is an archetypal character, but with her acting skills, Abigail Breslin animates the character entrusted to her in front of the audience and he empathizes with her. The second plan in the tape remains that, although Stephen McHatty and David Hewlett with their roles coped very successfully, but nothing outstanding, unfortunately, not demonstrating.
So, “Limb” is a somewhat non-standard, balancing on the verge between neo-Gothic horror and mystical drama film by Canadian magician Vincenzo Natalie. Fans of bloody escapade film will disappoint, but connoisseurs of atmospheric and tense tapes picture clearly will like. The philosophical component of the film does not make it a purely entertaining spectacle, suggesting a lot of interesting and fascinating interpretations.
8 out of 10
It’s a normal day for an American family. Liza (Abigail Breslin) wakes up from her brother's walkie-talkie, eats breakfast, does laundry, eats lunch, plays the clarinet and falls asleep at 1:14. But what happens next, the next morning? Again, again and again, this terrible day is repeated. Lisa tries to prove to her family that the day repeats again and again, but they do not hear her.
And one “beautiful day” something changes, the father starts smoking, screaming, household chores change... and somewhere in the attic you hear that someone goes there and calls you by your name. And you already realize that this day will no longer be like the one before it.
In the film, I only knew Abigail Breslin, everyone else was unfamiliar to me. On this they probably decided to save and bet on little-known actors. The graphics, scenery, makeup were good, without any complaints. Everything was detailed and built.
For a long time I was waiting for a new project from Vincenzo Natalie, after his iconic “Cuba” and interesting “Chimera”, he established himself as a talented director. "Limb" was a confirmation of that. Even after watching the trailer, you could understand - there will be something original and intriguing.
In my opinion, “Limb” is a fresh breath in the genre of mysticism, since unfortunately lately mysticism is limited to the creaking of doors, the sudden appearance of silhouettes, and other well-known stamps. Of course, it was not without this, in the first fifteen minutes it is especially noticeable, in the rest of the time the film skillfully pulls into the narrative itself, mixing different genres, issuing unpredictable plot moves creates a holistic and gloomy atmosphere that scares and causes interest to understand what is actually happening, not many horror films now boast an exciting and thoughtful story. Despite the intricacy of the plot, all the points were placed, and in the end there are no unnecessary questions, and there is no feeling of incompleteness or understatement, in this case it is only a plus.
“Limb” can be viewed simply as an interesting and entertaining movie, but if you want, you can see a small message in it that we, living people, sometimes are also in limbo, because often for many months or even years we have the same thing, the evil that is embedded in us does not allow anything to change, and it needs to win, and you need to wake up, or suddenly you are already dead.
As a result, we get a very interesting and original horror, something resembling a dark fairy tale, in which the emphasis is placed on the story itself, on creating an atmosphere, which he certainly succeeded in, and fans of unexpected scarecrows, sharp loud sounds will be upset, since here such effects are counted on the fingers.
8.5 out of 10
I also want to note the good performance of all the actors, separately Peter Outerbridge and Stephen McHatty, as well as the melodic soundtrack.
Definitely worth watching, but not more than once.
Recently, we are less and less likely to see high-quality horror films on cinema screens. If you count the number of really good horror films released since the beginning of the XXI century, it becomes clear that they can be counted on the fingers. Why is this happening? First of all, because cinema is a business, and its purpose is to make a profit, that is, good box office. Any producer understands that “to break the jackpot”, investing a lot of money in the shooting of horror films, it is very unlikely. This is due to the fact that horror films are made only for adult audiences, i.e. for viewers over 18 years old. Because of this, the number of sessions of such films in theaters is limited and, as a rule, they are shown late in the evening. In this regard, film companies often suffer enormous losses, which, in fact, discourage them from investing money in such projects, and if they invest, then a few pennies. (Suffice it to recall how much money was spent on Paranormal, the commercial success of which is probably the envy of most filmmakers.) However, this is only an isolated case. On the allocated meager budget, of course, in most cases it is not possible to invite any good actors, nor hire a qualified film crew led by a director, nor write an adequate script. As a result, all sorts of nonsense like “Twilight” and “Curse 3D” appear on the screens, which we as ordinary viewers safely swallow.
On the fourth day, with the hope of finally seeing a good horror movie, I decided to watch the film “Limb” directed by Vincenzo Natalie, not so long ago gave us the mystical thriller “Chimera”. The plot of the film revolves around the main character - a young girl Lisa, living with her parents and younger brother in a house that is shrouded in some strange fog. Lisa soon realizes that she has been reliving the same day for a long time. However, only the main character understands this. Her family repeats their actions over and over again (brother plays Packman, father is constantly trying to fix his car, mother washes and prepares macaroni with cheese ... and so it happens every new day), not noticing any oddities associated with this glitch in time space.
At the beginning, the plot of the film was very similar to the movie Groundhog Day, in which the main character, played by Bill Murray, was in a similar situation. However, very soon the plot gains momentum and enters a completely different channel. And here begins the most interesting: in the house there are ghosts, with whom the main character desperately tries to establish contact; and a strange man, threatening Lisa and her family. The events that take place later in the film are a bit reminiscent of the movie “Others” with Nicole Kidman, the plot of which I will not describe to avoid details that can become fatal spoilers for those who have not seen this film.
The similarity with some previously shot films once again proves that the writers do not have original ideas, or they simply do not want to try for those “pennies” that the producers offer them. The result was a kind of synthesis of “Groundhog Day” and “Others”, which looks quite easy, despite the genre, and leaves a rather strange “aftertaste” after watching.
In general, the film is recommended for viewing by horror fans. Don’t expect too much from this movie. It is definitely worth seeing, but not more than once.
Good thing I didn't know the meaning of the word limb. But even without this minute to the tenth, the essence of what is happening on the screen became clear. And if it happened because I know a lot of paintings of this genre, then fine. But no. The director simply godlessly began to spread out direct answers instead of presenting the viewer with elegant riddles that push him to understand what was happening. Thus, any intrigue was mercilessly killed, we just have to watch the not the most interesting attempts of the heroine Abigail Breslin to end the recurring day.
In fairness, it is worth noting the actress, perfectly selected for the role. With the responsibility of portraying fear, she coped perfectly. But the appearance in the frame of the villain reminded the characters from another film Vincenzo Natalie “Coder”, where all their appearance stone-faced actors who played the guards, tried to show how bad they learn in the first year of theater school. Fortunately, the first impression was deceptive, the maniac was quite colorful. Not to mention the movie itself.
And I believed that the author of “Cuba” and “The Void” could do something more than the resulting average thriller about ghosts, even wrapped in the cover of “Groundhog Day”.
For idea 8, for execution 4. Total
I will be brief: I went on a film search with one sole purpose - to find out the budget of this film with the hope that it is no more than the three dollars that went to buy a flash drive for downloading the director of the footage.
If you need arguments or impressions, here they are. Although I consider it absurd to discuss this non-film in film terminology.
The script of this non-film reminded me of a children's game in which you write a phrase, roll a sheet onto a line so that you can't see it, and pass it to the next one until you get bored or run out of paper, and then read the result. These people wrote special effects known to them in popular thrillers. A contract, honestly without looking at what the previous player has already written. So this film not only lacks a connected story, there is simply no history in this film. This is a freshman's range of film school. Poppuri-cutting of famous and not very thrillers of questionable dynamics.
Someone has seen the girl in the lead role somewhere, I don’t remember, I don’t want to remember her like that, the same applies to the director – I don’t want to remember that this is the same person who made the Cube. For me, these are different people, and to remember the director Cuba that I refuse.
And this unknown girl was taught one trick: imagine that in the middle of the room a spider, maybe he is poisonous, and you go to him. She goes to him the whole movie. He sees it on different subjects and goes. And actually, that's the whole movie. And, finding that the film is already in the middle, and “nothing is happening on this street”, and the expression of the girl’s face has not changed, I realized that there is little hope for a better life. That's what happened.
The director would do well to watch Scola Terrace, Alice or Chabrol's Last Escape, but at least Stay Mark Forster, The Others of Alejandro Amenabar or Harold Ramis Groundhog Day. Before editing or even before reading the script, if it was, and certainly before the release of the film in rental.
For the first time in the history of cinema, I didn’t have a rating to 0, I want -10.
In general -10 of +10
P.S. By the way, about Bergman, allegedly inspired by this emphatically unknown to me director. His first failed film, Crisis, is a masterpiece. I know that now. I used to wonder how he got back on his feet after that movie, but now I think the public who booed him just didn't have enough popcorn - they don't know what they want. So for a reassessment of this unfortunate experience, one of my favorite directors is ready to raise the score to -8.
-8 from +10
One of the discoveries of 2013 for me was the film Limb. It is shrouded in a kind of mysticism, starting with the name itself and ending with a house in the fog, the main place of action. A brief summary suggests that this will be a scary version of the famous film Groundhog Day. That’s true, but combined with the meaning of limbo, we see a whole new theme for thrillers.
I saw half of the actors for the first time, but there were familiar faces, including Peter Outerbridge and Abigail Breslin. The main character, in principle, was not required to show any special skills of acting - only fear and surprise, with which she coped perfectly. But most of all, the maniac was impressed – the actor perfectly entered the image, and the director literally “savored” his every appearance! The rest of the film was equally well received.
Separately, it is worth highlighting the sound effects. In the film, there are quite a few sharp moments and almost all are built on them, and not on the already boring terrible “roises”. The theater looked hurried. I’m glad to see it there and not at home, because it’s not something that ordinary speakers can convey.
It is safe to say that the film will not like most fans of “meat” and standard plots, because here you still need to delve into the essence of the situation, whose personal hell we observe. And when we realize it, we understand how thoughtful the film turned out. Congratulations to the director, who gave the Cube and a few more “horror movies”, with another successful mystical picture!
10 out of 10
To be honest, the film was disappointing. I don’t know what was missing: talent, imagination, money, time... you can list and guess endlessly.
In the cinema gathered quite spontaneously: the main character, the director, familiar from far good films, an interesting plot, maybe to someone and seemed banal, but in fact it is not so banal, if you understand... And the beginning was kind of happy: the shooting itself, the scenery, the atmosphere of the house, immersed in fog, an endless series of long exactly the same days ... and even somehow not immediately stressed the fact that the film seems to begin somewhere in the middle: from the first minutes we see the heroine who woke up and has long understood that all days are the same. When she "woke up" what happened, how she realized... is not clear. Just here is the heroine, and there is the fact that everyone is “sleeping”, but she no longer sleeps and knows in advance every movement, every line of parents, brother. And this could still be forgiven if the film retained its unusualness, attractiveness ... I am not such a subtle connoisseur, but still there are many films about ghosts, about people living in the same house with ghosts, but not so many films where it is in this vein we see everything through the eyes of the same ghost. BUT. As a result, he turned into some kind of incomprehensible running for (or from?) a maniac whose ghost also lives in this house. Absolutely no attention to the events of the past years (sorry, but found the album, shown three seconds, for attention, well, it is impossible to count), just casually talking about the fact that a certain number of girls... everything. Just as much time for the murderer’s past... For some reason, they showed the moment of awakening (or death, you will not understand what) of one of the captives of the same killer, and again it is not quite clear whether this moment was shown so little, or whether it was not necessary there at all. The feeling that the film was so overloaded with ideas that, well, did not fit into the allotted time limit that they were simply cut in pieces, cast, and the result was thrown out, so to speak, to the masses. It could have been a really good and worthwhile movie... but it didn’t. I do not comment on the expression of the main character’s face: yes, it really gets tired of looking at by the middle of the film, but nevertheless it is still understandable: we do not yet know what would have happened to our face if we were in her place.
In the end, we left the theater with a complete sense of idiocy. They didn’t understand what was good about this film, what was the set of pieces of the plot, what kind of brain explosion in the worst sense of the word. The score is ... rather negative. There is not the slightest desire to repeat watching this film again, it is a pity for the money and time spent, so it does not pull even on a neutral review.
6 out of 10
By and large, Vincenzo Natalie’s famous works can be called only two works: “Cube” and “Chimera”. These films are quite good, even to some extent original and interesting. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the movie "Limb".
Plot: The plot revolves around the young heroine Lisa. The house in which she lives is shrouded in fog, the family does not leave the house and lives a monotonous life. But soon, in the house begins to occur a series of strange and even frightening, for the heroine, events that will lead her to solve the terrible mystery.
Script: The script, I'm not afraid of that word, is just terrible. Despite the intriguing beginning of the film, towards the middle, the film resets, and by the end it simply falls apart and becomes completely uninteresting. The film combines the basic concepts and ideas/chips of such films as Limb, Pretty Bones, Groundhog Day, many ghost horror films, and even a bit of Nolon’s Inception. With the help of all these ideas, the writers tried to create a full-fledged script with clear ideas, unfortunately, this did not happen. Everything is kept on one fragile line, which is simply overloaded with extra weight, in the form of those very basic "chips", and these "chips" are so many that when you watch you have the impression of complete brute force and unnecessary and unnecessary actions of the characters.
Director: This time Vincenzo failed as much as he did not expect, we can safely say that he did not cope with the work. There is no atmosphere in the film that corresponds to the film, the film is not scary or even fun, the film makes you miss. The film has no dynamics, which causes certain inconveniences, then the film is too slow, then very fast, then stops altogether, because of such jumps and an unfinished overloaded script, you really start to get bored. And all the time, throughout the film, you think you're watching the same Cube, only in profile, no, I understand, the director likes to shoot stories in a closed space, but in my opinion, it was possible to abandon this concept.
Decoration:The artists, too, did a bad job. Everything looks very cardboard, completely fake and at some points it seems that you are about to see lighting fixtures, cameras and scenery specialists. No, people can understand, they tried to create a special atmosphere, but they clearly failed.
Actors: In general, the actors play well. But there are moments in the film (and there are, unfortunately, quite a few) when the actors just stop playing and turn into logs. Even Abigail Breslin, who at one time was nominated for an Oscar, failed so much that not only did not want to empathize with her character, but even wanted to just get up and leave the hall.
Result: Frankly, the film failed. It is hard to imagine that anyone liked this movie at all. But if you're a fan of Cuba, you can take a chance and watch.
Recently, distributors are all abundantly pleased with the release of new horror films, thrillers, mysticism. Probably, it became fashionable because every year there are more and more people who like to tickle their nerves. As a rule, this genre involves a one-time viewing, since all plot riddles are interesting before they are disclosed, and then any interest that occurs on the screen is lost, and only out of respect you watch the remaining minutes of the film.
So a week after studying, I did not hesitate, from the films offered to me at that time, went to a new mystical thriller "Limb", directed by a novice in this matter - Vincenzo Natalie , known for such works as "Cube" and "Chimera"; which by their style and endurance bring something new to the concept of horror. “The Cube” has always been one of my favorite stories about man’s suffering, his naked nerves, his instinct for self-preservation. “Haunter” was a dark horse for me, because I knew almost nothing about the plot and the cast, went simply by accident and, I think, let my world not turn over, but made him watch a good ninety-seven minutes with pleasure and bullying interest.
The story begins corny: the family living in “their” house, leads a quiet measured life, at the eldest daughter Lisa on the eve of the sixteenth birthday, the younger brother again woke her with his walkie-talkie, left earlier in the room; mother sends to the basement to occupy her daughter with her favorite thing – laundry, after which a couple of things are constantly disappearing, then there is a joint dinner, watching the series, a dream, and ... the next day everything happens with accuracy, but, except for some details that can be seen only with detailed consideration. No one except the young girl notices this, everyone continues to cycle in the same period of time, living the same day countless times. In such a hopeless situation, you essentially have everything and absolutely nothing. From the moment the heroine (Abigail Breslin) begins to act, the character appears and the core goes to the end at all costs, the plot gains momentum.
The very name of the limbo implies neither hell nor purgatory, and, moreover, not paradise, but some limited space where the soul cannot move on, a kind of social mobility, only afterlife, to find peace, and to experience infinity in ignorance. In the same place there may be several realities at once, which are fastened by two or more parallel lines at the same time, but it is possible to detect them only if you look through the prism of your own consciousness and see the present. To restore the normal flow of time, first of all, as in programming, you need to check, find errors, remove looping and safely complete the confluence of circumstances, which, in the future, Lisa does when she is suddenly contacted by a girl her age.
At the end, all secrets begin to be revealed, all omissions. When the hands freeze at exactly one o'clock in the morning for fourteen minutes, you will learn the secret of the secret owner of the house, and for the last time: death is only the beginning. .
Director Vincenzo Natalie is considered a little underrated. However, many forget to add that it is partly the fault of Natalie. Already after his first film, the creator of the wonderful "Cuba" decided that a good plot can tell itself. One interesting tie, however, is not enough and, having played a little in Cronenberg, Natalie shot the Chimera - with some support from Guillermo Del Toro. What promised to be a beautiful variation on monsters and their creators turned out to be a study of the sexual pathologies of two bio-engineers. So for his next project, Vincenzo Natalie chose a simpler theme - a haunted house, the plot is so battered that the director had to cope with it.
Oddly enough, the first half of the hour it seems so. The story of the girl Lisa (the talented but downright bored Abigail Breslin), who has been experiencing the same foggy Sunday with her family for the hundredth time, seems rich in potential. Moreover, the darkness reigning in the house of Lisa is felt almost by skin. Alas, the "uncomfortable comfort" is explained in the most predictable way, and Natalie begins to take plot twists straight out of thin air - almost like a vision of the heroine. In the end, the infernal "Groundhog Day" gives way to a simple thriller about catching up with a bad uncle (not quite alive and played by the wonderful Stephen McHatty, to be fair). In addition, “Limb” has another drawback: it is not effective. Natalie was able to build a unique atmosphere of bad sleep within just one location, but he also destroyed all this, replacing it with pure functionality, laying out all the cards on the table in the first half of the tape.
So it turns out that it is a shame for everyone: Vincenzo Natalie, who risks remaining a “director of one film”, for a good actress Abigail Breslin, who is suitable for the role, but the script does not give anything to do with it. And most of all, sadly, my own time.
Bottom line: instead of full-blooded mysticism, "Limb" is like a full-length version of an old series of "Twilight Zone", which somehow ended up on the big screen.
Went to this movie unexpectedly. The plan was different, but the higher powers thought I should watch this tape. What can I say? Very good, almost perfect.
Yeah, that's probably gonna be great. The beginning is characterized by a certain burden, but the pretty face of the big-eyed Abigail Breslin brightened up the picture. She pretended to be a member of an informal subculture. That surprised me. And the fact that she appeared in a supernatural film was not surprising. She, like Chloe Moretz, likes to visit here. And she's doing great. He can also play in the drama.
The heroine named Lisa turned out perfectly. She's moving forward, no matter what. The girl fights for her family until the end. And then others. And the well-deserved peace is a wonderful consequence.
A Canadian-made film. From a certain point on, I realised that they were out there in Ontario and the suburbs making extraordinary movies. It’s not Hollywood at all, but it can have huge potential and be great. Whatever genre the film is.
It's not clear at first. There will be some questions at the end. But the general point is clear. The idea that there is a similarity with the film, which is listed on the page as similar, was confirmed. But only halfway. It's a little different here. Limb is a mix of ghosts and maniacs. And combined boa subgenre is very harmonious.
Sexy moments were made by surprise. However, this is already a common trick. But on the big screen, at least, it works flawlessly. And there is an alarming timidity in this tape.
The connection of times is great. Especially the surprise of a girl from the eighties with the wonders of today. "Push the play" was very cool.
There were other funny moments. Like this fucking car. To be exact, all of them. Robbie's kid had some fun. And the episode with the keys turned out very tricky.
Well, the main villain, on the contrary, scared a little. The actor's been finely selected. Stephen McHatty is very specific.
It's a good, holistic picture. For me, it is something unexpected today. And certainly nice. And the end is just great. Take that, you bastard. And a good song plays in the final credits. "The Killing Jar," if I'm not mistaken. From Siouxsie and the Banchees?
9 out of 10
Honestly, from the film that started before Friday the 13th expected, of course, something “booh!!!” The week before, we had seen The Conjuring, and found this film extremely intimidating and terrifyingly magnificent! Perhaps that’s why the picture was so bad. Anyone who likes it is welcome!
The main character, frankly, does not shine with the skill of acting, it is she who irritates the most. These squeezing, sobbing, squeezing hands...uh. And a seemingly decent girl was in Miss Happiness a couple of years ago. Because of her, it was very difficult to get involved in the plot and finally begin to gnaw at the essence of the film.
I didn't really like it either. Probably it was like this: a group of friends was sitting one evening, and suddenly they came up with the idea - to shoot a mystical thriller. The most successful “horrible” ideas were inscribed in the script – we are already dead, a maniac, girls, an evil ghost walking from body to body, moving through the space and time of the soul and something and something and much more. It's just a porridge. And somehow I can not believe that it was possible to link in one film all that stuffed. And the main villain looks like the hero of the old-good westerns of the type “good, bad, evil”. So I expected McHatty to get a couple of guns.
A few more words about the schedule! Maybe, of course, this is a feature, but immediately it felt like watching TV3. Especially striking foggy balcony, as from computer games of the 2000s.
As a result, there is no atmosphere of mysticism and tension - the film does not hold attention. Moreover, after 30 minutes of viewing ceases to interest at all.
It was a pleasure to see David Hewlett on the big screen. I don't know many people. They could meet him, for example, in the series “Stargate: Atlantis”. It seemed to me that he had fully and completely mastered his small but convincing role. In general, both dads were quite wow and behaved well, or rather bad, sorry for the pun.
2 out of 10
I'm not a miser, but I'm sorry for a movie ticket.
The permanent author of one of the most phantasmagorical and virile paintings ("Cube", "Empty", "Chimera") Vincenzo Natalie presented to the public a new film "Limb" - not an epochal horror, which joined the galaxy of cyclic suspense.
The plot centers on Abigail Breslin (Lisa) and her family, forced to experience the same day in the same sketches: a separate house surrounded by fog, cut off from reality in every sense. Life in such a mix turned out to be a very difficult thing, which prompted Lisa to wake up from the dream and realize the futility of her stay in this world, because she, like her whole family, is dead. The moment of catharsis becomes decisive for the whole picture and turns everything upside down: there is a “villain” who expositionally created this situation, and it is like a record on a gramophone endlessly played and drives everyone around into a dead end.
Frankly speaking, the film resembles the category “a la Haunted House”, but Vincenzo Natalie would not be himself if he did not bring a new concept into the “traveled path” – he turned the storyline inside out, showed the turn of the situation. If you imagine hypothetically the opposite, you get the most banal story about a happy family and a sudden ghost, but it was not here. The maestro finds the point of no return and makes it the axis around which the palindrome film revolves and everything becomes much more interesting.
As for the actors -- Steven McHatty fell in love with me again -- he was a terrible thing to watch, he wanted to believe. As always, he did a great job in his role.
I do not call to watch the film of spectacle film lovers or pacifists, but film lovers, suffering, wanting to analyze and feel - welcome!
Rarely we maestro opuses "feed", so free -
Vincenzo Natalie is the director of Cuba, Chimera and other wonderful films, a man who knows how to shoot virtuoso pictures for three pennies and is, perhaps, a genius in his low-budget world. And the audience gets his new picture - Limb .
I want to warn you in advance that everything below is partially a spoiler, but in no case does not break the main “high” of the movie, so in cases of a feeling of complete ignorance before watching, it is not worth reading at all, you just need to look.
The main plot of Limba is built around the girl Lisa who experiences the same days countless times, and as a result realizes that she has long died and is trapped in a certain space that is the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. But her understanding of the fact that she died is not the main denouement of the plot. The main feature of the film is a certain “road home”, which the main character, like Alice in Wonderland, is trying to find. And attempts to find her lead her into a very confusing maze, a classic detective story with a barely predictable ending.
Minimum budget, maximum unknown actors, a non-standard story, all this is the signature handwriting of Vincenzo Natalie, who is once again ready to please all of us with his vague, mystical and slightly creepy, but at the same time very cute picture.
First of all, this is not a horror movie. I didn't see in him anything to be afraid of. I don’t know what was the idea of the authors, but even boo-moments in the film one or two and went out, and even suspense and tension at all. No one is afraid that someone lives in a house with moans from the ventilation and steps at night.
Secondly, I was disgusted by the main character. The way she is scared and cried throughout the action causes irritation and the desire to shout “stop, you little bitch!”, and the expression “perplexed fright” throughout the film comes off her face only in the final scene. Who doesn’t know, this girl starred in a great movie “Little Miss Happiness”, where everything is much, much better. In this work, she is too angular, unnatural and looks, frankly, a complete fool, although the plot seems to be very intelligent and the first to guess what is what.
Third, the film is unbearably long and boring. This applies to both individual scenes and dialogues, and the plot itself as a whole. There are no mysteries by the middle of the film and everyone who has at least a little brain is already able to predict the finale.
It rarely happens to me that the film does not cause any emotions at all. It's so dull, colorless and sluggish that if it were a remote, I'd switch.
It's a disappointment. Probably the best word that comes to mind as I sit down and write this review. No, I just want to say that there will not be a drop of poison aimed at a disparate wound & #39; the scariest film of 2012'. Well, the film's promotional campaign did well, got enough attention, got you to go out and buy tickets to spend 97 minutes watching. It does not end the main advantages of the film, of which there are as many as four pieces, but everything is in order.
The plot is simple, beaten, but that’s why it’s attractive, because it refers the viewer to ' good old ' haunted house. As is usually the case, in the whole house there is one smart person who understands that there is something wrong & #39; and begins to act alone, because it is useless to count on the help of loved ones. The most intelligent among those who have lost memory is Lisa performed by Abigail Bracelyn, and those whom she is trying so selflessly to help break out of the vicious circle her mother, father and younger brother. She is tired of proving to them that everything is very bad, and every day, like “Groundhog Day” & #39; because her family repeatedly repeats the same impersonal actions that can shake any, even the most powerful psyche. In the course of the action, guesses begin to surface, here and there the hope slips that ' Now something will definitely be!', but nothing happens. Nothing at all.
A good half of the film shows how Lisa goes through a looped life, sometimes screaming like crazy, and begging not to take away her loved ones. The main villain, whom she confronts and wriggles unnaturally in convulsions at every approach, is perhaps the only one who deserves attention in this film. From him really smelled otherworldly cold from the screen, and an ominous smile ' polite maniac' forced to unwittingly smile in response, because such gestures can not remain unanswered. Well, for special connoisseurs, of course, posters with British rock bands of the last century. 'the Cure', David Bowie and 'Siouxsie and the Banshees'. They were like a balm on the soul every time they appeared in the frame. The second half began to more or less claim to action and originality with their secret rooms, additional ghosts and a wonderful fog outside the house. But she didn't, either. Too bad, too bad.
Looking at the main character was unbearable, because the complete lack of logic in her actions and a completely cardboard and cutting facial expressions cut my eyes. I don't know, maybe that's what it is ' horror' the whole picture. If that's the case, it's a good idea, bravo. I can't have anything against this actress, but she obviously failed. Even the younger brother looked more convincing. And the episodes with the young villain, of which there were two or three by force, were more remembered than the final scene. That probably shouldn't be the case. Negative characters should not become more attractive than selfless and stubborn girls, ready to do anything for their family, but embodying their plans in life so ridiculous that you want to get up and leave the room. But this desire arose at the very beginning of the viewing, but I still entertained myself with hopes that everything would develop for the better, they say, then even a tale is a fairy tale ahead. There is no such thing as a story.
This is not mysticism or even a thriller, fanaticism in its pure form, and quite simple and disappointing. To all fans ' easy' horror is dedicated. Those who want to be scared, feel the atmosphere and even empathize with the heroes ... no, you will not find this there, alas. This is just a movie pretending to be a family horror genre, and representing individual pieces of the mosaic, which will not come together, if only because the brave Lisa, who occupied about 75% of screen time and had to pull the entire film, turned out to be such a terrible character that it remains only to spread your hands and wish the creators success with the rental.
Behind all these shortcomings and unanswered questions there are no merits, and they are, like any other work. Peter Outerbridge and Michelle Nolden played an excellent father and mother, though seen through the eyes of a teenager who could not live to his sixteenth birthday, but at the same time looking for a way out of this damned house. The beautiful Stephen McHatty deserves a separate huge & #39; thank you & #39; from me for perfectly continuing the line of smiling villains. Neither sound nor soundtracks brightened ' misunderstanding' about where in this film should be fear. And Stephen with his facial expressions, gestures, threats, his oppressive aura was able to remind the viewer that he came to watch a horror movie. And unexpected sounds and even issued a faulty column, for which she too thank you, diluted the atmosphere of despondency at least some creepy.
If you really want to spend your time on nothing, then please go and watch, but still, it might be better to postpone ' Limb' on ' Then'?.
4 from 10
For referring to the '80s, Lisa's father and mother and, of course, the main villain. Plus for each.
The creator of the legendary “Cuba” Canadian Vincenzo Natalie presents his new picture; this time referring to the classic story about the “haunted house” – which, at first glance, seems a rather strange choice for a director who is known not least for the habit of choosing truly original scripts for his works. "Haunter" in this regard is quite controversial: we can not say that there is something fundamentally new for the genre; but at the same time, the creators were able to find enough space in this usual mix for the original atmosphere and interesting scenario solutions.
The film begins with Lisa (Abigail Breslin) on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. Lisa didn't get enough sleep because her younger brother forgot the radio on her desk that woke her up. Lisa goes downstairs, and her mother tells her to do the laundry in the basement, which causes her displeasure. Meanwhile, her father tells her not to go outside, because there is a heavy fog, and it is dangerous. Lisa in her Siouxsie and the Banshees jersey looks like a typical moody teenager; and it all seems so mundane and familiar, right up until the next episode, when we see her brother's walkie-talkie wakes her up the next day, and it all happens again. And here it becomes clear the double meaning of many of the lines uttered by Lisa earlier. Natalie here very clearly denotes a subtle tension; not a sticky suspense, but rather a healthy curiosity, the degree of which will increase to a certain point, while new details will appear in the story. Lisa tries to explain to her parents that something is wrong, but they don’t understand. If she wasn’t living in the Eighties, but at least ten years later, she could have just said, ‘Mom, Dad, our lives are like that Bill Murray movie, don’t you see?’ The creators, meanwhile, very competently play this concept of “Groundhog Day”, reproducing the same day over and over again; but at the same time throwing more clues as the plot progresses, thanks to the desire of our heroine to get to the truth. In fact, Vincenzo Natalie takes on a very interesting topic – when viewing, thoughts are visited: how much can be hidden in the same period of time, if you look closely. If Murray’s character spent his “eternity” mainly on self-improvement, then Lisa spends it on exploring this hermetic segment in which her essence is located, limited not only in time but also in space. Of course, these charades of Natalie are interesting, but not less, if not more interesting here is the very personality of our heroine; since it is not entirely clear what contributed to her change, and how she was able to “look at the situation from the outside”, unlike the others. And while her family remained static, Lisa set in motion an irreversible process of changing herself inside, allowing her to change the reality outside.
Very little time will pass before the moment when Lisa learns some unpleasant truth, however, not at all shocking. And the creators of the picture do not rely on this “conditional” twist, because the essence of things can be understood by the original English-language title of the film – so this uncertainty is only the introductory part before the main quest of the main character. So the answer to one of the questions becomes obvious — but there are still many, and Lisa keeps looking for them. In the case of such a scenario, the personality of the actress playing the main role is very important, since she is in the frame almost throughout the film, and often alone. And in this respect, Abigail Breslin works wonders; from the very beginning, taking the initiative into his own hands and not letting go of the audience’s attention, even when all the riddles have already been solved, and the fate of the spectators remains quite predictable development of further events. Breslin’s strong performance unquestionably overshadows all the others here; because against the background of the staticity of other characters, her image is even more distinguished by the dynamics of development.
Vincenzo Natalie offers an intriguing concept, which, however, is somewhat disappointing with its linear and predictable denouement - so don't expect some "Shyamalanism" in the finale. But at the same time it should be noted that the director was able to shoot a really sane “family friendly horror”, which with its intelligence and aesthetics cleanly does such lifeless heaps of genre clichés as “Mother” or “Cursed Box” (neither mind nor fantasy – this is just about them). There is no blood here, just as there are some significant frightening episodes - but there is a tenacious atmosphere and a clear story with the magnificent performance of Abigail Breslin. And most importantly, there is a desire to tell a banal story in non-banal language, and even providing it with impressive overtones and interesting life analogies.