Remake of Korean Thriller Into the Mirror (2003).
Ben Carson is a former detective who, after shooting a policeman, suffers bounds of self-doubt and alcoholism. He was placed on indefinite leave of absence and moved in with his supportive sister Angie (Amy Smart) leaving his wife Amy (Paula Patton) and kids to live in relative peace by themselves.
In an attempt to regain normal life, Ben takes on a job as a night security in a condemned department store Mayflower. It strikes him as odd that all the mirrors in this burned down place are so polished. Ben is told that the former guard was obsessed with polishing the mirrors. He also committed suicide.
Ben starts to see violent images in the mirrors, his sister dies, and altogether the mundane mirror changes its premise in life into fairway for demons who torture nuns, attack young girls and devour kids. Ben finally concludes that all mirrors have a life of their own, and that he has to find out who originally made it possible for the demons to come out to stop them before they get – as usually- his precious family.
Sutherland’s Ben is overwrought, over reacting, frustrated and has communication trouble. Nevertheless, he is used to getting what he wants and he gets it. A mentally disturbed alpha male is a frightening image. Why would the mirrors choose Ben is unclear. Perhaps because they use” damaged” persons, although that too is unclear. The entire development of Ben’s character, the main messenger of the film’s ideas, is convulsed, jumpy and mirroring Jack Bauer from 24 hours.
At the end, Ben is perfectly willing to sacrifice an innocent woman in order to save his own blood. Call me unkind, but placing a person again in the place where she was tortured and asking her to risk her life, is not justified by wanting your family safe. I simply cannot perceive torture as justified. Be it water boarding for land security, or murdering strangers for your kids. Same concept.
I do understand why society promotes the image of ever sacrificing mother: if women were not willing to sacrifice themselves, men might be asked to help out and where would that leave the rowers, shakers and the bimbos? But in the age of reality, the image is wrong, the perception is wrong, and a frantic woman sticking her female child, who had just been attacked, into the closet so that she can die trying to rescue her dangerous male kid, riles me. I do understand that it is a cheap way to move the plot, but if we cannot get over the “a male is everything” value, we are stuck in 18 century regardless how many gizmos we produce.
Director Alexandre Aja and screenplay writer Gregory Levasseur previously produced much better The Hills Have Eyes. The idea that mirrors are eyes or portals to the darker, unknown world is old, as old as All Saint Day and the mirrored candles that will show you your future. It is never a good idea to mix your horrors, and adding 24 hours did not help.
Little is new in this film, and what is, is also illogical considering the plot. Maybe the camera could have justified it with visuals, but the fast moving, erratically cut action did not work out. As per the rest of it, for a film set in Manhattan, but shot in Romania, it does well.
Directed by: Alexandre Aja , Screenplay: Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
With: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart, Cameron Boyce, Mary Beth Peil
