The trouble with reality starts when the paranoid are also the people for whom seeing is believing. That's why delusions must be created.
"I'll know it when I see it," says the photographer-heroine (actress Lisa Vidal) of this 2007 indie film. "Deborah Martin" is a middling talent; a photographer who captures images, but who doesn't _see_. Her awareness dawns late. Her blind spot is her own paranoia.
When she gets the brush-off for a job, she overhears -- through the muffle of a closed door -- her male interviewer remark "I wouldn't hire her, but I'd f**k her." When she catches a partially-obstructed glimpse of her bimbo neighbor and her husband on the front sidewalk, she sees certain infidelity.
Deborah dismisses signals warning of flaws in her perception. Though perplexed enough to twice compare the image on her DSLR's monitor to her eyes' view of the bathroom shower, she ignores the incongruent behavior of the flower-or-splat-shaped wall appliqués.
As is expected with the title "Dark Mirror" the film considers reflection in the vein of yin-yang or alter ego. The mother who visits her daughter Deborah at the new house is changed anew; whimsically, she is the supportive parent that Deborah long wanted. Donning a found Frau-Frau apron, afraid-she's-a-bad-mom Deborah morphs into June Cleaver. You may behold a painting and see a boy swimming in sun-dappled water. Look again and you may see a scene less idyllic.
Writer-director Pablo Proenza's and writer Michael Reynold's layering of alternative interpretations of the mirror and reflection motifs piqued and held my interest. Distracting at first, lighting effects and camera angles ultimately had a synergistic impact on the story-telling and mood. In my view, this film is worth a look.
"I'll know it when I see it," says the photographer-heroine (actress Lisa Vidal) of this 2007 indie film. "Deborah Martin" is a middling talent; a photographer who captures images, but who doesn't _see_. Her awareness dawns late. Her blind spot is her own paranoia.
When she gets the brush-off for a job, she overhears -- through the muffle of a closed door -- her male interviewer remark "I wouldn't hire her, but I'd f**k her." When she catches a partially-obstructed glimpse of her bimbo neighbor and her husband on the front sidewalk, she sees certain infidelity.
Deborah dismisses signals warning of flaws in her perception. Though perplexed enough to twice compare the image on her DSLR's monitor to her eyes' view of the bathroom shower, she ignores the incongruent behavior of the flower-or-splat-shaped wall appliqués.
As is expected with the title "Dark Mirror" the film considers reflection in the vein of yin-yang or alter ego. The mother who visits her daughter Deborah at the new house is changed anew; whimsically, she is the supportive parent that Deborah long wanted. Donning a found Frau-Frau apron, afraid-she's-a-bad-mom Deborah morphs into June Cleaver. You may behold a painting and see a boy swimming in sun-dappled water. Look again and you may see a scene less idyllic.
Writer-director Pablo Proenza's and writer Michael Reynold's layering of alternative interpretations of the mirror and reflection motifs piqued and held my interest. Distracting at first, lighting effects and camera angles ultimately had a synergistic impact on the story-telling and mood. In my view, this film is worth a look.