Beyond the Black Rainbow
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Writer: Panos Cosmatos
Cast: Eva Allan, Michael Rogers, Scott Hylands, Marilyn Norry
Part of: /slash Filmfestival

Plot:
Elena (Eva Allan) is being kept in Arboria, a 1980s commune. She is the subject of experiments by Barry Nyle (Michael Rogers) who basically runs Arboria, since its founder Mercurio Arboria (Scott Hylands) grew too old. Elena shows supernatural abilities, but there’s generally more to the commune than one might think at first. Despite being under sedation, Elena attempts an escape.

At the beginning of the movie I thought it was utter crap, but really beautiful stuff. Then there were 20 really strong minutes and as I was about to revise my opinion about the whole thing, it turned absolutely ridiculous. What is it with films and endings that just don’t work out?

If they had cut the movie down to Elena’s escape attempt, I think I would have loved it to bits. That sequence was beautiful, tense and surreal, with a strong performance by Eva Allan. Unfortunately it was only half an hour embedded in a two hour movie and the rest of it was artsy-fartsy drivel.

I mean, it was really pretty drivel with some extremely striking visuals – the monster, the child’s face beneath the red helmet, the oil bath – but it was drivel nonetheless and just way too boring.

And I pretty much hated the soundtrack. It was grating and exhausting. That didn’t help either to stomach the movie’s length.

But I do have to give the movie credit for failing at a great attempt. At least it tried to do something big and new and shiny. It just should have tried a little less seriously.

Summarising: should have been less up its own arse.