I Still See You

While not exactly being a fan of Bella Thorne (can't stand 'Shake It Up' for example), it was the concept that had me sold on watching 'I Still See You'. A concept that was among the cleverest and most imaginative, and one of the most ambitious, ones for any film seen recently and really had me intrigued. Even the advertising grabbed the attention and did hear good things about it, so the potential was certainly there and it was not exactly small.

'I Still See You' however could have done quite a lot more with this concept. It is not a bad film and it is not a complete waste of the potential it had, but there was a big deal of room for improvment and the potential is far from fullfilled. It also struck me after watching that the concept would have lended itself better to a mini-series and that it was too ambitious for a feature film. It really does annoy me somewhat when a film like 'I Still See You' has such an intriguing and ambitious concept, that could have been done very imaginatively, but executes it in a too ordinary, mundane and muddled way. Far from being one of the worst cases sure and there are flashes of greatness, but a concept as good as this deserved a much better film.

There are good things here in 'I Still See You'. It actually looks quite professional visually, the photography is slick, the moodiness of the lighting fits the atmosphere beautifully and the effects are surprisingly polished and like time and care went into constructing them (even if they weren't what one would call special). The moody atmosphere is reflected very effectively in the score, which doesn't overbear what's going on and doesn't sound cheap or inappropriate, the placement never questionable.

Direction is competent and the acting is well above average and while not award-worthy it's acceptable. Bella Thorne surprisingly carries 'I Still See You' more than capably, was expecting her to be too lightweight and out of place but she was neither. Dermot Mulroney is up to her level and their chemistry works. 'I Still See You' also started off very promisingly indeed, with the imagination, suspense and intrigue present.

So it is sad that the second half is nowhere near as good. 'I Still See You' comes rather mundane and one loses interest. The dialogue can be very cheesy, of the difficult to take seriously kind which jars when the film itself is quite serious. There are a lot of predictable moments and there are parts that are of pure stupidity.

Am now going to elaborate on my opinion of the concept lending itself better to a mini-series. There are too many ideas, all great but never given the chance to be fully explored, and the film tries to be too much all at once which creates a tonal muddle which really confuses the story. 'I Still See You' becomes convoluted and cluttered, and the mundane feeling comes from the pace slackening (think the makers realised how much they were trying to pack in and tried to slow down to accomodate) and the suspense and imagination becoming lost under the over-ambition. The characters never fully develop either and are basically flimsy cliches no matter how decently acted they are. Then there is the somewhat hasty ending which leaves too many unanswered questions and loose ends and leaves the viewer crying what in frustration, a twist is also attempted but it felt rushed and didn't ring true. All of this giving off the sense that the film is too short.

Overall, great idea with very average execution. 5/10 Bethany Cox

After the explosion of a research laboratory in Chicago known as The Event that kills a great number of people, the living people cohabit with ghosts known as remnant especially near the ground zero. Ten years after The Event, the teenager Veronica Calder (Bella Thorne) has classes about the remnant laws with her teacher August Bittner (Dermot Mulroney). She also coexists peacefully with the remnants until the day she is threatened by the mysterious remnant Brian (Thomas Elms). She seeks help with her schoolmate Kirk Lane (Richard Harmon), who is an expert in remnant, and they need to the Chicago's No-Go Zone, a place forbidden to humans, to learn secrets about The Event and the killer.

"I Still See You" is a surprisingly good supernatural thriller with an original ghost story. The screenplay does not have the usual clichés of the genre and the acting is good. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I really liked underlying premise of this movie, specifically that the millions of people killed by a cataclysmic event became ghosts, or remnants. In addition to this novel concept, the acting was good, and the characters' motivations and actions were logical and intelligent. In fact, I can't think of a single instance where extremely poor decision-making was used to advance the plot, setting this apart from most horror/thriller movies.

On the minus side, there were a number of plot holes and cheesy bits. Although they weren't bad enough to ruin the movie, there were enough of them that I can only give it a 7/10.

Overall, it was an enjoyable movie, and I would recommend it.

I totally understand if you already voted not useful. I can't always explain what I think or what goes on ... thought process and all that. I just type what comes to mind. Now I'm not suggesting the scriptwriter here had the same inclinations. Especially because this is based on a novel that I have not read yet (so no comparisons I can make to that).

Interesting premise, interesting story to say the least. Gets way cliche towards the end, so a bit of letdown. At least I felt that way. I would have gone higher rating, if it didn't try to just ... do the easy way out. But still for the very powerful beginning and a lot of visual and otherwise treats this serves you, I think one can watch this and be entertained (if you are into horror science fiction stuff).

Within moments I was oddly gripped, I loved the concept and the whole thing looked sleek, original and fascinating.

Starring the stunning Bella Thorne and underappreciated Dermot Mulroney this is one that is very hard to pigeon hole as it doesn't really fall under one category.

It tells the story of a science experiment gone wrong and a world where ghosts walk among the living frequently, though they are unable to interact nor aware that they're deceased.

The ideas within the movie are remarkably clever but I quickly began to think that they'd be better suited to a television series rather than a movie. By the end, I had that belief confirmed. Don't get me wrong I Still See You is a very enjoyable movie but I think it was perhaps released in the wrong format.

Genuinely clever, interesting and captivating I can't argue that it isn't without its flaws as truth be told it has many BUT the quality of the film outweighs them.

I'd recommend the film to anyone and everyone, sure it has that teen-sci fi vibe about it but thankfully manages to be considerably better than that.

I'd love to see this become a television series, I'd rush to watch that every week. But if this is all we get, then it's enough.

The Good:

Looks great

Bella Thorne and Dermot Mulroney

Some great ideas

The Bad:

Some of the ideas don't feel fully formed

Leaves a lot of unanswered questions

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

There is still life in the ghost sub genre

We need more original movies like this and less reboots