Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes

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!

There is an interesting turn here that reminded me of another (not exactly) horror movie. I won't reveal movie's title in order for keeping my review spoiler-free. When i watched this particular turn of events, i hoped this was going to be good. It's not. It's not bad either though. A horror fan might appreciate some things here, there are some creepy scenes, nice 70's aesthetic and cinematography. There are mysteries too. It's an open to interpretation movie, but you will find some hints here and there. This movie's concept/main theme is similar to DARK's, i mean the great German Tv show. At least, i think so.

Unfortunately, there are negatives too. I didn't like the acting here, it was weird. I think that this was intentionally weird, like other movie's aspects. They wanted to create a hallucination for the viewer. I get that, it was a risky move, i respect that but i didn't like it. It felt more amateurish than artistic. If you want to create a bizarre experience for the viewer, a certain amount of talent is needed. Director and writers here are not talentless but not talented enough to achieve something so difficult.

Story-wise, it starts with a couple driving towards an old castle at night. The husband is an imposing one, the wife forbearing. The place which the wife is supposed to inherit, the richer of the two, has been left in a derelict form. It is a place, not simply housing unknown horror, but a locus to test their character i.e., habit, disposition, and morals.

The rest shall be left for the viewer to find out.

The movie has a multilayered narrative. It expects a lot of competence from the viewer's side to make sense.

The cinematography is magical. A love letter, indeed.

The sound editing is fantastic. And performance? To quote from the movie "You were born for this role".

The film students and nerds "of the higher order" will certainly be busy breaking it down piece by piece and then pulling it together again to see what becomes of it. But the average viewer with expectations of good old thrills and jump scares are not going to be able to enjoy it to the end.

It is a movie that not only pays homage to the horror cinema of the late 60s and early 70s but attempts a critique with the purpose of turning movies of the yore inside out. Does it succeed? By large, Yes.

But the more important question is this: as an average viewer do you really want to witness this success?

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.

While this film already perfects the art of the Euro horror homage, it transcends all that in the second half and becomes a profound and intelligent meditation on eternity, relationships, being trapped & forgiveness.

A rewatch is a must since I definitely missed a lot from my first viewing, but can't wait to watch this one again!

Bravo!