The film is about a sister trying to exonerate her family and convince the world her brothers actions were not through fault of his own but under the influence of the mirror. This is done by, on the day of the release of her brother from the mental hospital she 'hijacks' the mirror which is in the process of being delivered to a new owner and performs an experiment. Filming her and her brother's interactions with the mirror she hopes to prove people act strange around the mirror before destroying it.
I don't want to go into how the relationship between the brother and sister wasn't believable and the little plot holes and 'why did the character just do that' etc. because all movies have those problems and still achieve a level of watchability (I just created a word I know). The overall direction and pacing of the film didn't engage us. I was liking the progress of the story, how the past and future were parallel with each other, possibly the only thing that was engaging. Ultimately the future was a lot more boring than the past. The 'freakiness' of the mirror was a lot more evident in the past storyline than in the future so when it would jump to the future story the pace would drop right back down as the mirror's powers were just starting to emerge, which heavily damaged the atmosphere.
They were attempts to make these parts seamless as the stories would drift in together but the arguing between the siblings and slowness to have the brother 'realise' what was going on just broke that connection. What normally happens in horror films is there is a believer and sceptic and we are given 'doubtful' information so the believer is ridiculed for thinking there was a ghost. However in this instance we are given irrefutable proof something weird is going on and the sceptic is all like 'Ermegerd you are mad' too far into the film. PLUS the sceptic was the one who went to a mental hospital!
The doctor who let this kid out
really fucked up here
As a Doctor Who fan I was glad to see Karen Gillian in a lead role in America. I was disappointed by her performance though, I do feel like it was the direction she was given. There is a part in the film when she finds 'proof' that the mirror is manipulating and she shouts, a bit like a man YES (goes to another laptop) YES (and to another camera) YES (and finally the camera on the wall) YES. It was very annoying and not the reaction I was expecting (and not in a Sixth Sense kind've way).
That's what you get for
talking like a man
A little problem I have with the film is that I find it annoying. I said I wasn't going to go into plot holes but this one really annoyed me. Albeit I never finished this film so I may be getting myself into trouble, but the brother was sent to the mental house for shooting and killing his father. I think 'The little shit deserved it' at the start but as you watch the flashbacks and Karen's character Kaylie tells us, her father went insane as well as their mother. The mother became paranoid and abusive toward the children and father, so the father locked her up in the bedroom, tortured her and finally shot her in the head. Shortly after I believe he went after the kids, although I never saw this part, so I think why did this kid go to the loony bin. He certainly should have been given a medal. His father had the gun in the first place, already killed his mother, even if he never turned on his children I think the Judge would have sided with the kid here.
All in all the film isn't good, awful pacing, poor direction, wasted potential which is probably the most painful because the film did have potential. Don't watch it as it has just recently been released on DVD/Blu-Ray save yourself $15 (because I'm in America now :) )
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