Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes

Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes tells the story of a disruptive couple in a '60s gothic setting.

Margot (Luisa Taraz) has inherited a castle, which is visited with her curmudgeonly husband Dieter (played superbly by Frederik von Lüttichau).

The first half skillfully delivers a psychogram of this toxic relationship, amid the surreal castle where space and time seem to have their own rules.

But it is in the second half that the film takes an unexpected new direction - and everything that happened before is reinterpreted once again.

Visually stunning with a great soundtrack and very clever screenplay, this is definitely a film that needs to be watched a second time to fully grasp all the different layers hidden in the story.

While I was expecting a somewhat decent homage to gothic horror of the 70s, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes goes much deeper.

Now, don't get me wrong - the film is a loving tribute to Euro horror of the 60s and 70s and especially fans of Bava and Rollin will be sure to have a great time - but I was particularly impressed by the shift (both narratively and in tone) the story takes around the halfway mark.

Without spoiling anything, I can say that the story evolves and morphs into something much more profound and thought provoking than it first appears - resulting in a unique cinema experience that is as visually captivating as it is clever.

This was probably my favorite film of FrightFest this year, but also the hardest to write a review about. Mainly because the plot is so delicate and multi layered that anything I write could spoil the wonderful experience.

All I can write is that "Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes" is a brilliant, atmospheric, thought provoking and beautifully shot (!!) throwback to gothic horror that is so much more than it lets on.

It's a film that I had to think about a lot after having watched it, because there is just so much happening, and every little detail has so much meaning. It's a film you want to re watch again and again.

While some might be frustrated that the film doesn't hand out everything on a silver platter, it's a much more engaging film that forces the viewers to really think about what they just witnessed and to connect the dots themselves.

So happy that FrightFest chose to show this film!

If you've read the review that preceded mine you probably noticed all of the positive ones made a point of not spoiling anything or being too specific on what they like outside of the way the movie looked. It's mostly compared to 60's Euro Horror and called amazing. I mostly assume those reviews are from people involved with the film trying to steer the viewers perception in the direction they want prior to seeing the film. It is, visually, very well done. But everything else? This is an incoherent mess with no real plot, story or pacing that allow you to follow what is happening. There is a major shift about half way through that makes no sense at all and certainly does not help anything you've seen up until this point. The synopsis about time shifting around is very misleading as this is never really shown, nor is a change of setting, nor is anything else even vaguely supernatural. Unless you are looking for non-linear, no story art I would avoid this one.

Whether you love the movie (like I did) or hate it (as some surely will) - one can't help but admire Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes for it's brazen attempt at narrative structure that succeeds in averting expectations again and again.

The film deals with the idea of being trapped in interesting ways.

Whereas the characters are quite literally trapped in space and time, wether in the castle as a whole, or locked into a room, the theme goes much deeper than that.

Similar to people unknowingly being stuck in a painting or in an endlessly repeating movie forced to live through their mistakes, these characters are stuck in patterns and bad relationships, hoping for their partners to change instead of taking responsibility and changing themselves by ending the relationships and thus breaking the cycle.

The director does this by exploring a relationship from different angles and realities, first offering a glimpse into the fictional creation of this relationship before diving into the meaning behind it all and how it relates to their reality. Fascinating stuff!

Casual viewers might find the story nonsensical or confusing, but those who are willing to explore it's endless puzzles will be deeply rewarded.