Oculus

The greater the revelations, the better the plot's quality. Basing off just on this, Mike Flanagan was able to hold the audiences on guard with his horror drama Oculus! There’s a secret and mystery surrounding this family. What has happened to a point where the brother ended up in a mental institution? What’s the promise between the siblings? What has the antique mirror got to do with all of this? These questions will keep your thoughts busy as the writer-director gradually builds his case from ground up.

Once the experiment act begins, that's when the film picks up! Main character Kaylie's (Karen Gillan) adamant to prove her family members weren't murderers and the haunted Lasser Glass was the actual culprit behind all of it! The precautions, perimeter of influence, concepts, theories and the very idea of forcing the evil behind the mirror to come out and play with a 'gun' pointed at its head were good.

There were two major highlights in this feature. One, it's fascinating to witness Kaylie and her brother Tim (Brenton Thwaites) debate back and forth about how events actually happened in the past, leaving us to guess who's telling the truth. You are no longer sure who’s paranoid and who's not. It's genuinely creepy to see how the mirror manipulates the minds of men and women in separate patterns, causing them to remember details differently. In this whole process, the discovery of truth grew intense by the minute! Two, the coexistence of the younger and older versions of these characters in the same space as the plot travelled between past and present was absolutely brilliant! This parallel storytelling technique was just great! And the way it ended the same way it did 11 years back sealed the movie properly plus creatively.

After halfway point however, since we could already guess the entire outcome of the family with ease, the film no longer captivated. It took longer than needed to reveal the story, with many parts being simply dragged by walking inside the house from room to room. Certain sequences such as the mother's possessed attacks were cheesy. Extremely heavy expositions by the protagonist going through each and every case the mirror had its dirty hands in were too much to listen to. Also, Karen Gillan's performance could have been lots better.

For a horror flick, the scares were effective and real for the most parts. Suspicious lady lurking in the corner, covered statues in motion, biting into light bulb mistaking it for an apple illusion and blunder by killing fiancé were memorable. Reversal of dialogues from and to the brother and sister was nicely done. Mike Flanagan proved he has the prowess to direct a film, with slick match cuts, hug through mirror CGI and the way he has filmed Kaylie's head being pinned by the Danforth anchor being notable accomplishments.