"Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile;
So ere you find where light in darkness lies,
Your light grows dark by losing of your eyes."
Light from Light is not a new movie. Though it is dealing with the paranormal one would not describe this film as spooky or a suspenseful. What Light from Light does is far more remarkable. It is a beautifully sad and haunting little movie that never makes a false step or allows itself to be false. Writer/Director Paul Harrill never gives in to the impulse to be gaudy or to scare us as so many of those moving furniture movies try to do. What he does is to tell a story of mourning and sadness tinging it with a little bit of hope. Marin Ireland, one of the most underrated and underused female actors out there, is, as always, wonderful as an ordinary understated woman who happens to have had hints of paranormal experience and is "in between" paranormal investigation groups, working at a car rental company. She's contacted by a priest after doing a local radio interview, who asks her to visit a widower who may be having paranormal experiences. Jim Gaffigan plays the widower. One would not immediately think of casting a comedian like Gaffigan in a role where there is no comedy, tremendous sadness and an undertow of rage, but he is perfect. There is something about his size and awkwardness that makes him so right for the role and it turns out that he can act. He is not just good. I'll say it again. He's perfect. Light from Light might not be for everyone. It's a very quiet movie. Maybe a bit of a sad movie. If you like explosions, super heroes, car crashes, moving furniture, slasher movies perhaps this is not the movie for you. But Light from Light is definitely haunting. In the truest meaning of the word. It deserves to be watched. And what better thing can you say about a film?
Review of Light from Light
