Fortune Defies Death

I'm surprised that this is a debut movie. The deliberately captivated storyline, the truly unforgettable characters, the spirally twisted suspense, the consistently enticing pace, and the well-crafted narration are all exceptionally fantastic!

A remarkable mystery allows both the characters and the viewers to come to such a completely logical conclusion about the murder/murders that you will wonder of how you could have possibly missed the clues the first time - for example, the party photo. A great story with great cast. A good camera work combined with other part of endeavors... But there are minor "rough" cuts specially towards the end. 9/10 for my generosity.

The family lawyer plays a smooth and moderate host to great effect, and the rest of the group is also believable - they have so much fun when interact with each other in the room - I really enjoy some of the wise and humorous dialogues. I think the locations are all natural and beautiful. The story has a strong backbone with different timeframes told through flashbacks, all of which can get you very emotional. Regardless of number of death, I prefer it defined as a mystery drama over a thriller. If you're a type of essential horror flicks lovers, then perhaps this is not for you.

Although this murder mystery is cleverly written, shot and performed, all the scenes and dialogues are wisely calculated, I wouldn't recommend it to those who straightly look for a thriller with busy actions and lousy murders - this is just not that kind.

No film is made for everyone, even the greatest film like Titanic, it has 24,557 voters gave it "1". Really? Seriously? So the good film doesn't have to please everyone, but you've got to stick to a few things: A good premise, for example, it would draw people's attention in the first place. This film's premise is about the will reading lagging for 10 years with the condition of the daughter gone missing. Pretty good, huh? But there are a lot of films with a good premise, so I wouldn't be so fancy for it, rather give it 7 and continue my journey... Usually writing a good suspense movie is hard, you need a lot of planning because it builds the case upon the information given in the early time. In this film, such as Nadia's memory loss, the party photos used to solve the murder, checking necklace authenticity to verify the horrific truth... there are stuff implanted precisely but really depend on your own perception, if you're a good mind-hunter and paying attention for details, then you would find it more appreciated, otherwise it's a waste because everything planted is just subtle. But I like it being subtle. So I think it deserves 9. People might agree with me that the ending can either lift you up or smash you down. I understand that the climax and the ending should be separated because some film may have a super climax but fails flat at the end. But I think this film has done reasonably well because the surprises and puzzles are finally tied together as a whole for a solid resolution, so it's worth 9 in my opinion. For the rest of it, such as casting/performance, camera/lighting/sets, editing/sound/music, they are all fair enough even though there are some roughness along the way, nevertheless considering this kind of budget, I would be happy to make it average in 8. Hope you enjoy the film like I did.