The Beyond

The Beyond is without a doubt one of the most boring films I've sat through in ages. I expected a sci fi thriller/horror, and instead got ninety minutes of dull scientific gobbledegook. So little happens, which is a shame as the ideas and concepts are huge. The acting is decent rather then good, it doesn't feel like a B movie in terms of acting, just in terms of everything else. The reason why I haven't scored this a two or three is because of the production values, this is a beautiful looking film, with some fantastic special effects, it looks like money was put into the production.

Overall it's not bad, it's watchable, mainly for the effects. 5/10

I'm only ½ way through, but I need to stop and take a break. Several scenes are happily on tripod, but the handheld scenes are nearly un-watchable. Why is shakey-cam still a thing ? And why zoom-into-focus on nearly every scene ? Clearly intentional, because simple editing could have done away with that. Anyway, the premise (so far) is interesting and looking forward to see where it goes.

I found the film to be very interesting despite having flaws and a pretty slow pace. If you are someone who needs constant action and drama, then this film is probably not for you. I'm not the type of person who typically cares as much for the more artistic visual side of a film (as it's usually more about the plot for me)...but I will say that it seems the visuals were done by some pretty talented people. I'm assuming it's pretty low budget so a great job was done in that department. The acting was also pretty decent too...not amazing but definitely decent with the dialogue they had to work with. Overall the film isn't going to blow anyone's mind, but if you don't have A.D.D. and can handle a slower pace you might just be intrigued by the mystery presented in this film.

Lots of potential wasted here. There are neat cgi and cyber-human tech but the writing is ploddingly dull and inept. I was constantly being snapped out of suspension-of-disbelief by words used incorrectly, either miswritten or not picked up by the director editor.

Mysteries are perplexing, not complexing. Things that live forever are immortal, not mortal. You rose through the rank, you didn't 'rised'.

And everyone is so faux detached and pseudoscientific. Little or no emotional connection to or from anybody.

Dull as a congressional hearing.

Question: What sort of movie do you get when you have a visual effects supervisor write, direct and edit his own movie?

Answer: Why, THE BEYOND.

Hasraf Dulull, the writer, director and editor of THE BEYOND has a well established career as a visual effects supervisor and in many other roles generally revolving around visual effects. And, truth be told, the visual effects in THE BEYOND are superior in almost every respect. As one professional reviewer noted, Dulull is quite expert in executing visual effects "in ways that make the movies feel bigger than their budgets". Dulull has very much succeeded in making THE BEYOND "LOOK" like a science-fiction summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, THE BEYOND fails in every other aspect of professional moviemaking.

Not to put too fine a point on it, Dulull can't write, can't direct, and pretty much can't do anything else effectively when it comes to moviemaking OTHER than create superior visual effects. The storyline is appalling, any grasp of basic physics is missing entirely (sort of a failing in a science-fiction movie...), the majority of the acting is stiff and wooden at best, and so on. Glacially slow, THE BEYOND is literally painful to watch. Adding insult to injury, the movie concludes on an incessantly preachy note that is all but unstomachable.

I know that brutally negative reviews are not well received on IMDb and that this review will be condemned as "unhelpful". But this movie is what it is and one would have to lie to say anything else.

So A+ for visual effects and straight F's across the board for literally everything else for THE BEYOND.