Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Yes, unless you’re not a fan of horror.
Score: 3.75/5
Secret ending? No.
Running time: 96 minutes (~1.5 hours)
“The Other Side of the Door” is a horror movie about Maria, a young mother who unwittingly brings back her son Oliver from the dead. She soon discovers that such actions have very unfortunate consequences. It stars Sarah Wayne Callies (Maria), Jeremy Sisto (Michael), Sofia Rosinsky (Lucy), Logan Creran (Oliver), Jax Malcolm (voice of Oliver), and Suchitra Pillai-Malik (Piki). It is rated PG-13.
“The Other Side of the Door” tells you pretty much everything you need to know in its title. It’s much more evocative and descriptive than other horror movie titles these days, which try too hard to be mysterious and end up sounding incredibly bland. It might only have one big name to its credit, Sarah Wayne Callies, but its use of less famous cast members actually helps to create that sense of unfamiliarity in the film,
Highlights
Cultural displacement increases sense of isolation
The film features a family of Americans who’ve settled down in India to bring up their family. Even though they’ve been there for a few years, it’s clear that they’re not used to the country, especially since they only ever converse in English (even to their housekeeper). This cultural displacement only serves to amplify the horror there. Their incomprehension at the situation and separation from their familiar surroundings also means that they are truly alone, with very few allies who can assist them.
Children as stakes and threats
Oliver is cleverly presented at the beginning as the stakes which Maria is fighting for, only to slowly twist into the threat of the film. It uses children skilfully by using them as the most innocent of victims and also as the most terrifying of ghosts. By manipulating a mother’s love, the film worms its way into our hearts and plants the antagonist right where we’re the most vulnerable.
Use of the unseen
The film taps into our primal fears of an unseen world where only the purest among us can see, by repeatedly having Maria’s dog bark at seemingly empty spaces and through Lucy’s perception of the situation. This forces us to doubt Maria and wonder if she is an unreliable narrator. All this uncertainty heightens our suspense, since we never quite know if, or when, anything’s there.
Terrifying conclusion
It’s a mild twist, but the ending has unnerving implications for the family which serve as a counterpoint to Maria’s pure love for her son. Its corruption of love is what makes the entire story a tragic but understandable state of affairs. And even after leaving the theatre, you’ll be wondering about how the other characters also got into a similar situation.
Letdowns
Everyone speaks English
The film takes place in India. Yet the bulk of the dialogue takes place in English, even with the Indian characters. It’s a hegemonic approach to take to a setting which, really, should have featured more of its native language.
“The Other Side of the Door” scares by using the instinctive desires in all humans and turning them into primal fears of the night.
“The Other Side of the Door” opens in cinemas 25 February, 2016 (Thursday).
This review was first published on Yahoo.
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