Retina

Was drawn into seeing 'Retina' with a cool poster/cover, a very intriguing and creative premise (one of the most innovative for any film seen recently) and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

'Retina' is a film it doesn't do enough with its potential (although there are far bigger wastes of potential in film) and could have been much better, can't say that it is a great film because it isn't. It is not a terrible film though, as far as recent low-budget film viewings go it's lacklustre but with good things. It certainly could have been far worse, considering the large number of films seen recently being mediocre at best and irredeemably terrible at worst.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and 'Retina' is surprisingly well shot and easy on the eye, was expecting a cheap looking film and to me that wasn't the case here.

Found that the acting was not bad, while not award-worthy it was not amateurish and it seemed like the actors were trying to engage.

Also that there were a few nice moments that intrigued and there was some suspense and unsettlement, the first portion is promising.

The suspense and unsettlement doesn't come consistently however, with the second half having very little if any of either. What stops them from being frequent and stronger is an at times deadly dull pace with too many overlong scenes of little going on, not all necessary either and there for padding mainly, and also a structure that is not as cohesive or clear as it could have been.

'Retina's' idea was great but the content is nowhere near enough for a feature film. It feels more like a short film over-stretched. The over-stretched sense is present too in a deliberately sparse but rushed-first-draft-stage script. With a pace and structure that fails to compel it is very difficult to ignore.

Characters have very little to them, while the editing is careless at times, the direction shows little personality or atmosphere, the sound is random and obvious and the music is more monotonous than ominous.

Overall, lacklustre. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The plot is quite nice, but there are too many quiet minutes in this movie for me to enjoy it. People do stuff without speaking to each other, like pulling a gun on someone or getting shot and saying nothing. Which is a shame cuz this is actually an action/conspiracy movie that could be much more. but I found it boring.

For this reason I don't recommend this movie to average joe's (like me). if you don't like to watch movies where 10 minutes pass and nothing is said, and you are used to Hollywood movies, this one isn't for you.

5/10 since the story is ok

I enjoyed this film. Intriguing and puzzling with several plot twists. Reminiscent of Jacob's Ladder in some respects. It's a mystery/thriller/suspense film, not horror.

Nice idea behind the story. But it continues very boring without any excitement. Really bad . Waste of time . I hated it .

Let me start by saying i worked on this film.

For the haters. Get over yourselves.

We made this movie when we were 23 years old as a senior thesis. It was a 3 man crew making everything happen

Carlos Ferrer, my friend, spent ten years on this film. He wrote, directed, shot, wrote the score and did all the cgi on his own. Which is unheard of.

So put that into context when you watch it.

While it might have quiet, slow times (I'll agree) but we did what many wish they could do.

Whether you hate it or like it. Realize that it was a crew of three and a director that literally did everything that usually takes a actual film crew to make.