Spoilers herein.
Forget the acting. It is adequate. (Scientologist actors have a distinctive fixation on the face, which annoys.) Forget the story too. It is adequate, following current standards for thriller twists and red herrings.
What's interesting is the notion of space. It figures in the story, but more importantly, it is the fulcrum for the cinematic vision. Not many films make a commitment to space, because it is hard, and audiences like their characters to be people. But it can be really rewarding.
Perhaps the best of these is Welles' `Othello,' (which merged the space with the viewer). Perhaps the best known is `the Shining,' (which made the space a character). The key notion here is to center the camera in the space, so that every plot element has a physical anchor. They tried that here, so get a lot of extra points from me.
From that premise, a film can come alive. Every position of the camera carries meaning. Shots of certain parts of the building itself can carry meaning and advance the story. Characters become more richly annotated by their environments. The art of the image is greatly enriched. They don't exploit this as well as they could, and the level of art is not high, but the mere commitment goes a long way.
The photography is dark. That's good. Wish they had photographed the foam like PT Anderson did in the pool in "Boogie."
Forget the acting. It is adequate. (Scientologist actors have a distinctive fixation on the face, which annoys.) Forget the story too. It is adequate, following current standards for thriller twists and red herrings.
What's interesting is the notion of space. It figures in the story, but more importantly, it is the fulcrum for the cinematic vision. Not many films make a commitment to space, because it is hard, and audiences like their characters to be people. But it can be really rewarding.
Perhaps the best of these is Welles' `Othello,' (which merged the space with the viewer). Perhaps the best known is `the Shining,' (which made the space a character). The key notion here is to center the camera in the space, so that every plot element has a physical anchor. They tried that here, so get a lot of extra points from me.
From that premise, a film can come alive. Every position of the camera carries meaning. Shots of certain parts of the building itself can carry meaning and advance the story. Characters become more richly annotated by their environments. The art of the image is greatly enriched. They don't exploit this as well as they could, and the level of art is not high, but the mere commitment goes a long way.
The photography is dark. That's good. Wish they had photographed the foam like PT Anderson did in the pool in "Boogie."