Across the Hall

One of those films, where the least said about the plot the better, so in an attempt to refrain from giving any spoilers I boil it down to one sentence. Julian (Mike Vogel) attempts to stop his best friend Terry (Danny Pino) from any making any rash choices after he follows his fiancée June (Brittany Murphy) rent a room at the River View hotel.

Given the low IMDb ratings I didn't really expect much from this below-the-radar thriller. The movie itself is heavily influenced by two great directors. One of them is Alfred Hitchcock. The attempt at replicating the style of 50s and 60s thrillers is visibly apparent not only in the cinematographic style ripe with noir overhead shots, neons, stylisations and a need to push the suspense and tension ahead of action and cheap thrills. The whole movie itself if an old-fashioned hotel with a outdated bell-boy playing a key part in the build-up and story. Overflowing with a retro feel it becomes a stylish homage aimed at those who miss the good old days.

On the other hand you can see the strong impact that Christopher Nolan has in updating the thriller genre and fully using the superior technical capabilities of modern film art to increase the mystery, growing tension and keep tabs on the plot. The whole story is expertly told in a non-linear fashion, where scenes from the past and present intermingle forcing you to logically put the pieces together (in a well-done mix-up of Innaritu storytelling and "Memento" type editing). Directed with swagger debutant Alex Merkin shows a lot of confidence and immense promise with the use of tools at his disposal.

That said the movie does seem a tad overlong and given this was based on Merkin's short film it seems he essentially should have met somewhere in between at around 60-70 minutes. The movie tends to drag on incredibly as the script is pulled out in order to somehow reach a proper running time. The suspension drastically drops, although manages to get back on track with the final resolute bang of an ending. Basically a poster movie for the need to be able to be a bit shorter than the standard 90-120 minutes of the Hollywood 'full length feature'.

Honestly the script itself is in the most part wildly predictable, as the movie is mostly pushed ahead thanks to its style, while not putting enough pressure on the story itself. The mismatch of the mediocre story and the overstretched plot almost derails the meticulous set-designed and claustrophobic noir feel to the movie.

Acting creds are generally fine with Brad Greenquist as the Porter giving the best performance of the lot. All in all worth a watch and I could see Merkin making a name for himself given a script with actually can fill-up the required runtime.

An interesting story, though a little predictable.

The suspense was upheld throughout the movie, and there was real tension in many scenes, accomplished through a nerve-wracking score and drawn-out scenes that got my teeth grinding.

I immensely enjoyed the cinematography and effects .. it created a dark and brooding atmosphere that had me mourning the conclusion before it came about.

The acting was fairly good, no real complaints. I especially enjoyed the hotel concierge character, who added an old-school feel to the film.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the movie, although I found the story to be almost too simple for its length; it felt like a short story stretched to fit a feature length film.

In this film, a young woman keeps an affair in a decadent hotel when her betrayed partner comes up unexpectedly, willing to catch and kill both. However, he doesn't know the lover is his own best friend, whom he's speaking through the cell phone. OK... nothing new here. We've seen similar plots in many films, be they major or minor plots. What this film does to make it look fresh is disarticulate the narrative, in the best Tarantino style. However, this feature isn't enough to do so, nor such a basic plot is enough to justify a film lasting more than an hour. The pace is slow as honey in the summer and worse, all story is highly predictable. In the other hand, it has a good soundtrack, an interesting cinematography, very misty and mysterious, and excellent sets. I really felt the decadence of that hotel and the neglect of most of the staff. The ending isn't necessarily surprising but it's served with elegance. Most of the cast are third-rate names ​​who don't make more than would be required. The highlight goes to Brittany Murphy, the most talented and capable actress here. Being a very low budget film, the final product is higher than my expectations, even though it's far from being a great movie.

This movie may not have gotten very high marks, but if you love film noir you will probably like it. It's actually a good movie, I think you just have to really appreciate the cinematography and the dark ambiance of film noir, as well as the sort of slow pacing as well. But the film is well done, it creates intensity through its slow build up, as well as the scoring, acting, and the way it was edited and produced. It also stars brittany murphy in one of her last roles who is plays the role very well. I like how the film is really about the subtle nuances of how the characters deliver lines and interact and little mannerisms and such. It also has a sort of old timey look because of being filmed in an old hotel so that contributes to the ambiance quite well. While it may be a small independent low budget film and not a big production I think that all of the artistic integrity is there and that it was a very enjoyable watch. I think that a lot of people don't appreciate that old style and are looking for something more fast paced. But if you are looking for something a bit more laid back and appreciate the finer art of film making I think you should give it a try.

I have read many complaints on how this is "boring" and the scenes are dragged out. I can see how many people are not used to intelligent movies (no offense intended) due to the constant action and cheap scares released in theaters these days. THIS is a movie that deserves a theater release. A very intelligent thriller, with a superb cast that tells a very dark story. The 3 main actors, especially Brittany Murphy, really did an excellent job. The story is told in a flashback/memento way and is executed perfectly. I felt all the flashbacks were correctly positioned and the conclusion might not blow you away- but it's pretty damn good. There are numerous twists and turns but the final twist is jaw-dropping. I want more thrillers like this! 10/10