Post Mortem - Fotos do Além

The Hungarian thriller is not bad. In a time of such shortage of non-progressive movies, a good movie is a preciousness, climbs the concept for "great."

It is a thriller with horror and mystery biases, perfectly decent - it is possible to watch it with the children present in the room. Good photography, empathic characters, good decoration of scenarios and clothing characteristics of the time (early twentieth century). The film leaves to desire in the originality and, also, in the ending of the story. As for the latter, I recognize to be something that few filmmakers know how to do.

Who likes Thriller, will not regret watching it.

I really, REALLY wanted to like this movie. It had my kind of description, my kind of look and feel, and ... my kind of story. Several of the actors are competent, (not many, but several), and, on THIS budget (which appears to be about 59¢), the director did a "passable" job. Now, don't get me wrong ... I really love when a director has to make a shoestring budget work (i.e. George Romero).

Not to give anything away, but, when lead character Tomás is rescued from death in war and becomes a photographer of the dead for poor families in the early 1900's Europe ... I got excited! THAT plot line had a lot of possibilities. Tomás goes to a small, war torn village to photograph family members with their dead, in really kind of "macabre" family portraits, and the hijinks ensue.

Look for little Anna, Tomás's village "helper", who also does a credible acting job.

It's WWI. Tomás barely survives the trenches and almost left for dead in a mass grave. He ends up photographing the dead posed with the living in family portraits. A little orphan named Anna recruits him to visit her village. He had seen her in a vision. There are many dead haunting the place.

I like the use of some physical effects. I find them adorable. It has an endearing indie charm. As a horror, it's not scary. It's like an old fashion ghost story. I like the photography premise although it could use some more poetry. The back story needs some work. This is a good simple old style horror.

Hungry's official entry to 2022's Oscars is an okay horror. It has a beautiful gothic atmosphere. Production design is nice. But the story is stupid and ridiculous. Screenplay is messy and confusing as well. It's a well made movie with a nonsense plot.

I watch a lot of horror movies, and it's rare that I see one with anything new to offer. This is an exception. Its cinematography alone is worth the viewing. The story builds slowly to an amazing crescendo. Without adding spoilers, it's difficult to describe. But know that the film's tempo draws the viewer deep into this stark post-World War I village nearly devoid of life. The living characters occupy a liminal space between their marginal lives and the land of the dead. The ghosts, and there are many of them, are complex and unpredictable. This is perhaps the best ghost story I have seen this decade. I recommend it highly.