InSight (2011)

hyped garbage

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

InSight is not a film that is easily forgotten nor brushed over. It starts off with some pretty extreme circumstances, we learn through fast cuts and dialogue that a girl named Allison Parks has been brutally attacked and we don't know why. Neither does the main character in the film, Kaitlyn, who plays one of the nurses trying to save Allison's life, as she is suffering from multiple stab wounds. Kaitlyn thinks for a moment that Allison is trying to communicate with her in some way, but before Kaitlyn can find out much, a defibrillator shocks Allison and she dies. The electricity travels through Allison's body and knocks out Kaitlyn, who then begins to see memories from Allison's life or so we are lead to believe for much of the film.The uniqueness of InSight is how in which the story is told. Methodically, as slowly we learn more and less at the same time. I imagine it's hard for an audience to piece together what is real and what is only in Kaitlyn's mind, and I imagine that's the whole point. We struggle as the main character does to try and figure out whether Allison's murder was a random killing or something more. Along the way we are introduced to a skeptical detective, Kaitlyn's sick mother, a sleazy psychiatrist, and Allison's ex-boyfriend, all of these characters add to the mystery. None of them confirm for the audience on which end of the spectrum the story will end. Whether or not this was just a random killing and Kaitlyn is just hallucinating these memories, or there's something more to this murder, and Kaitlyn is the only one who can figure it out.Richard Gabai directs this thriller in a way that allows the audience to piece-by-piece figure things out with the characters. By the end it's really up for interpretation what the truth is. If you see this with a friend, you will be discussing it long after the credits roll.

As I read some of the reviews of the movie InSight, I was rather confused as to why anyone would write reviews which discuss how "the story is going nowhere" and how " the plot is very simple to figure out as the defining moment is the very beginning of the movie" etc. when they admit to only watching 15 or so minutes of the film. I think had they continued to watch, they would have discovered that simplicity is not a word one would associate with this movie, and the unfolding layers of the film definitely take it somewhere. What is most refreshing about the film is that the viewer is brought to a place of ambiguity, and I have always found that which is ambiguous to be the most interesting. After 15 minutes however, one would fail to see this development. Another refreshing aspect of the film is the beautiful, young actress Angeline-Rose Troy. Although her dialog is limited, her gestures and expressions speak to her innate talent, and I kept wanting to see more of her in the film.

"She spoke to me, I think she was trying to tell me who stabbed her." When ER nurse Kaitlyn (Zea) is helping to try and save a young stabbing victim's life she begins to talk to her. Kaitlyn then begins to see the victim's memories and tries find the person who stabbed the young girl. This is a hard movie to review. The idea is actually pretty neat, the acting isn't terrible but the big problem is that it keeps repeating itself over and over. It seems like a 20 minute segment that they keep re-writing. That said I actually kinda liked it and it kept me interested the whole time. The only way to describe this is that it is a movie based off the TV show "Medium". If you liked that show then this is a movie for you. The best part hands down though is the twist ending and like some movies the ending actually makes you like the movie more then you would have. Worth watching for the ending. Overall, a very OK movie with a neat twist at the end. I give it a B.

The story/idea of this psychological thriller is fantastic. That said, the directors made a complete mess out of it. I understand it was a low budget movie, but they had a great story and could have utilized the direction of this movie much better. Acting was alright. however, It was slow and boring. I almost stopped watching it halfway through nevertheless somehow made it to the end. The ending gives you some "InSight". It leaves you with quite a few scenarios that might have happened. The overall movie did give me a bit of a cringe, dark and sad feeling. I was gonna give it a 1/10 then notched up another +4 for the ending.