Audience Member
I need 90 minutes of my life back. Movie is a total waste of time.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
ronald h
This film sets up a plot and then fails to follow through on it. It just dissolves into a bunch of gory horror effects with no explanation. I mean none. Zero. I suppose some people think it's artsy in the style over substance vein. Not me. I don't mind ambiguity in films, but this one just didn't work for me.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Didnt understand it after watching it. But then read analysis of the movie which made a lot of sense. Its a good movie if you can follow along.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/15/23
Full Review
Audience Member
OBSERVANCE doesn't offer any easy answers for those who many be looking for a light genre film to watch with their significant other, cuddled in bed.
Does that make it a film not worth watching? Of course not. But understand that any low scores aggreated on this site from audience ratings, (which is at an insultingly low 33% at the time of this entry, and an appropriately valued 82% from ACTUAL FILM CRITICS), so please keep this in mind.
The less you know going in, the better. The synopsis listed on the RT site is all you need, (at most). The main "fresh" reviews say everything I would otherwise give away: The unblinkingly devotion from Director Joseph Sims-Dennett to bright his Polanski, Hichtcock, and perhaps most relevant, "Kubrickian" screenplay to such effective life -- a life dense with homages to the aforementioned masterminds of cinema -- is beyond jaw-dropping. It's flat-out brilliant considering the 10K budget used to make OBSERVANCE.
While I could, and should, sing the praises of the cast in the film, I don't feel it's necessary because when you watch it -- and you will watch it if you are still reading this -- will win you over immediately. There are a few missteps along the journey, but the central role of Parker is incredibly captivating, such that spending 90 minutes with almost exclusively him is a strength the film possess.
From an artistic point of view, it's objectively gorgeous despite how sickening some of the imagery quickly becomes. Okay, MOST of the imagery quick becomes nightmare-fuel -- both for our dear Parker, who's sanity is the most immediately obvious reason we cheer for his endurance to make it out alive and well, as well as nightmare fuel for us, the view. You see, OBSERVANCE, not unlike The Shining, (by the way I loved the nod to the famous Kubrick Horror masterpiece by naming the street "Overlook," despite being far from subtle), wants us to empathyze with our central character who is isolated/disconnected for an extended amount of time due to financial incentives too good to turn down when times are tough -- and times for Parker are worse than we can begin to imagine, but this is only revealed in later moments of the film.
We know this story. We've grown up with the various iterations of the lead character being a seemingly innocuous guy to root for, that has recently sufferered a trauma that is only mentinoed in a single early dialogue line, and then through an increasingly unnerving sequence of surrealism that would have David Lynch standing on his chair applauding, we are subjected to dream sequences that don't play fair or nice -- for either Parker, or the audience. It's left to us to piece together what we're shown, and solve the puzzle -- which is conveniently solved for us just as a sign of good faitth in the third act's final seconds.
OBSERVERVANCE aims at the audience's vulnerabilities for so long, and we FEEL that disconfort, as if there's a door left open in the house we call our minds. But when the cards are shown on the table, we remember this isn't about us, and we've been carefully baited into thinking what we are watching is a general narrative that follows the rules of conventional story-telling. Don't feel bad if you, too, take the low-hanging bait and fall for this. It's just more reason to applaud the production's entire execution.
What a bright, er...probably dark and ominous...future Sims-Dennett has in front of him. If you need a film to liken to this one in terms of gauging what kind of terror and unease in you're in for, I consider the recently released DEMON (no, not the M. Night film god no please not that one!) to be the most appropriate. Happy watching :)
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Típica película pretenciosa y aburrida... el tipo vigila una vieja, y ni entendí para qué. No la terminé de ver, al final la mata.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I got really pissed off after finishing the film, and that's rare. Is that a good thing, or is that what the director was trying to do? It's like a movie ending in the middle of the film. Plot and meaning are lost amidst the beautiful flash backs and stylish imagery.
You would have to watch multiple viewings to grasp what this film was about, what a waste of time, with the anticlimactic ending.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
Full Review
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