Through The Looking Glass
Directed by Craig Griffith
Reviewer: Horrorphilia Jason

This movie starts off with two strikes against it right off the bat. Im not a huge fan of psychological horror and it also features an artist that paints abstract art. I HATE abstract art. Having said that I went into the movie open minded and tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. The movie is about an unnamed artist that receives a mysterious mirror at his doorstep. As the days go by he looks at the mirror and slowly descends into madness as horrorfic visions flash through his mind. The artist hasnt produced any good art for his agent to sell so he’s holing himself up in his huge house with his writer friend thats also working on his own separate writing project. As the days pass the artist’s art gets better but at what cost?

This movie is not my cup tea, plain and simple. The drab monochrome look actually made the movie seem more dreadful and boring that what it probably was. The whole vision thing I’ve seen countless times and nothing new was brought to that aspect. The only thing I really liked was his relationship with the model he was painting, and there wasn’t enough of that. There was also a missed opportunity with connecting with his friend, or at least more explanation of what their past was. The movie almost made you feel like they werent friends at all but someone the artist met a grocery store one time and said “yeah sure come live awkwardly in my huge house while you work on your book”. When the paint finally hit the fan during the last act it was too little too late and I just wanted the movie to end. There was a little mystery to what was going on but it was never fully explained and to be honest I didnt really care.

Im not trying to trash the movie cuz theres an audience out there for sure that would like this kind of movie. That audience just doesnt include Jason Lloyd from Horrorphilia. You’re probably think i’m leaning towards a 2 or 3 rating but I’m actually going to give it a solid 5 for the acting and cinematography which I thought was pretty good overall.