Though the story is nothing new it had a potential but bad direction, screen play and acting ruined it completely. The movie was slow (not in a good way) and and I couldn't stop looking at the time left to finish. Just as a mystery movie lover I finished watching it just to see the ending.
14 Reviews
I had a breakthrough.
nogodnomasters24 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Richard (Jon Edwin Wright) is a recovering novelist who is having nightmares. His wife (Elena Ghenoiu) is an actress also on auditions. Richard suspects his wife and hires Matt (Nick Bateman) to seduce his wife. Matt needs the money. At this point, knowing Eric Roberts is in the film, I normally turn it off. However, Richard changes his mind. Matt gets angry.
The film trudges on until we get a double twist ending that may or may not be worth the wait.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
The film trudges on until we get a double twist ending that may or may not be worth the wait.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
Seen 100 times.
wandernn1-81-68327427 December 2020
Just another betrayal movie you've seen 100 times before.
You want to watch a much better one? See A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas. Much Better. And I could make a huge list of other similar types of movies there's just nothing original here.
4/10
You want to watch a much better one? See A Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas. Much Better. And I could make a huge list of other similar types of movies there's just nothing original here.
4/10
Don't bother!
debot-4712826 January 2021
The thriller that wasn't. Poorly written & acted. If the story was supposed to have a twist it didn't. Very predictable conclusion. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because I watched it to the end. I did look at my phone a lot & my husband fell asleep but I still let it play till the end. Maybe I hoped something exciting would happen. It didn't!
Bog standard wet Sunday afternoon thriller
omendata21 November 2020
Filmed well and acting overall is competent but the problem is seeing Eric Roberts in the cast list - A once good actor who has turned to the dark-side like so many others and just taking the paycheque and doing the very minimum needed to achieve it rather than the artistic integrity of his previous movies and it shows in almost all of his recent movies.
This is pretty much Jessica Fletcher Murder She Wrote with none of the wit and charm of said series. It is a very basic thriller with a couple of twists you see coming from a mile away and with poor characterization you could not care less about any of the cast.
It also seems like the Director has posted a review on here criticising one of the actresses who star in this for making the movie difficult to make and this just sums it all up.
This is pretty much Jessica Fletcher Murder She Wrote with none of the wit and charm of said series. It is a very basic thriller with a couple of twists you see coming from a mile away and with poor characterization you could not care less about any of the cast.
It also seems like the Director has posted a review on here criticising one of the actresses who star in this for making the movie difficult to make and this just sums it all up.
Sandi Gardener
zaunpfahl-2279910 September 2020
Twists ahead!
hyperfixx14 May 2019
The Perception (2019)
A dark thriller about a writer who is losing his mind while a series of strange events, coinciding with a book he is currently writing, take on a life of its own. This is essentially a mystery movie that will keep you guessing until the very end, complete with more than one twist thrown in to keep it interesting. A watchable film that didn't drop the ball at any time, though I was waiting for that to happen, pessimist that I am. Don't let Eric Roberts name in the cast make you not want to see it either. He plays a good part as do the other actors. It's no spectacular piece of cinematic art, but still decent enough to keep one's attention throughout. 7.5 out of 10 stars.
A dark thriller about a writer who is losing his mind while a series of strange events, coinciding with a book he is currently writing, take on a life of its own. This is essentially a mystery movie that will keep you guessing until the very end, complete with more than one twist thrown in to keep it interesting. A watchable film that didn't drop the ball at any time, though I was waiting for that to happen, pessimist that I am. Don't let Eric Roberts name in the cast make you not want to see it either. He plays a good part as do the other actors. It's no spectacular piece of cinematic art, but still decent enough to keep one's attention throughout. 7.5 out of 10 stars.
I wanted to like it. I really did.
LoupGarouTFTs31 January 2021
I won't say I hated it. However, every time I tried to stream it on my computer, I found myself doing other things. And by "other things," I mean things like playing Pony Island or coding my website. For whatever reason, the film could not hold my attention.
That in itself is a little surprising. I am a writer and like movies about writers. However, the old "the writer is losing his mind in his story" schtick has been done far too many times for anyone to have anything remotely interesting to say about it. Stephen King did something of this nature in Secret Window and yes, it was done much better than in this film. Again, it wasn't horribly done. It was just too familiar a path for anything to bear a lot of watching.
I normally like to do the "sandwich method" of critiquing, opening with something good, engaging in some mild criticism, then closing with something good. My best attempt at this method, for this movie, is here:
The score was actually very good. It heightened tension when it needed to do so and, while I don't remember any particular music from the movie, it added to the atmosphere of the film. Two things that kept me from enjoying the film were the number of stereotypes that made it into both the story and the meta-story, as well as the lack of likable characters. Alcoholic writer? Check. Suicide with toaster? Check. Actress using auditions as an excuse to get out of the house? Check. After all too many of these lazy tropes, my brain "checked" out. My enjoyment of the movie was not enhanced by the characters, at all. The main character (who was too nasty to be the "protagonist," let alone the "hero") was paranoid and mean. His wife was self-absorbed. The man that the main character wanted to hire to seduce her was unsympathetic at best, slimy at worst. The only decent human being was the agent--but please, tell me how "The Perception" got on the publishing house's list so quickly? He may have been a nice man, but was he a miracle worker? Finally, the cinematography wasn't horrible. The opening sequence, presented in reverse, was a nice little hint that nothing the viewer would see was trustworthy. If the rest of the film had been as innovative, I would have scored it at least two points higher.
If I had a laptop to work or play games on and streamed the film on my desktop or a television, the film might have held my attention a bit better. As it stands, unfortunately, creating starter reindeer ponies and designing a webpage for my new puppy won the day.
That in itself is a little surprising. I am a writer and like movies about writers. However, the old "the writer is losing his mind in his story" schtick has been done far too many times for anyone to have anything remotely interesting to say about it. Stephen King did something of this nature in Secret Window and yes, it was done much better than in this film. Again, it wasn't horribly done. It was just too familiar a path for anything to bear a lot of watching.
I normally like to do the "sandwich method" of critiquing, opening with something good, engaging in some mild criticism, then closing with something good. My best attempt at this method, for this movie, is here:
The score was actually very good. It heightened tension when it needed to do so and, while I don't remember any particular music from the movie, it added to the atmosphere of the film. Two things that kept me from enjoying the film were the number of stereotypes that made it into both the story and the meta-story, as well as the lack of likable characters. Alcoholic writer? Check. Suicide with toaster? Check. Actress using auditions as an excuse to get out of the house? Check. After all too many of these lazy tropes, my brain "checked" out. My enjoyment of the movie was not enhanced by the characters, at all. The main character (who was too nasty to be the "protagonist," let alone the "hero") was paranoid and mean. His wife was self-absorbed. The man that the main character wanted to hire to seduce her was unsympathetic at best, slimy at worst. The only decent human being was the agent--but please, tell me how "The Perception" got on the publishing house's list so quickly? He may have been a nice man, but was he a miracle worker? Finally, the cinematography wasn't horrible. The opening sequence, presented in reverse, was a nice little hint that nothing the viewer would see was trustworthy. If the rest of the film had been as innovative, I would have scored it at least two points higher.
If I had a laptop to work or play games on and streamed the film on my desktop or a television, the film might have held my attention a bit better. As it stands, unfortunately, creating starter reindeer ponies and designing a webpage for my new puppy won the day.
Thought i guessed it
iainmcleod_80017 March 2021
Great movie
Pipacs4022 March 2021
Do You See What I See?
Foutainoflife1 June 2019
An author and recovering alcoholic, lives in a home with a dark past along with his actress wife. As he begins to write a new thriller, he starts to experience things that make him think he is losing his mind and his wife. He tries to figure out what is really going on but things go awry and he continues to spiral between his novel, sanity and reality.
This was a decent story. This is not a big budget film and the acting has both good and bad moments but there seemed to be real effort to make the most of what they were working with. It initially made me think of the 2001 film "Tempted" starring Burt Reynolds. However, it plot twists off in other directions and does a decent job of finding uniqueness.
It did have a few problems. It was very "in the moment". There wasn't much put forth as backstories for the characters. What was there ended up being shallow and not a whole lot more than knowing that the main character is a recovering alcoholic and everyone else is simply people he knows. There just wasn't much depth there and in my opinion, it doesn't give viewers much reason to invest into the characters.
Regardless, I thought the story was good and while it is a low budget film, it has been well done.
This was a decent story. This is not a big budget film and the acting has both good and bad moments but there seemed to be real effort to make the most of what they were working with. It initially made me think of the 2001 film "Tempted" starring Burt Reynolds. However, it plot twists off in other directions and does a decent job of finding uniqueness.
It did have a few problems. It was very "in the moment". There wasn't much put forth as backstories for the characters. What was there ended up being shallow and not a whole lot more than knowing that the main character is a recovering alcoholic and everyone else is simply people he knows. There just wasn't much depth there and in my opinion, it doesn't give viewers much reason to invest into the characters.
Regardless, I thought the story was good and while it is a low budget film, it has been well done.
Reality Is Not As It Seems!
lavatch1 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The theme of "The Perception" derives from a William Blake quote from a series of prophecies entitled "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell": "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite."
As a mystery, the film has a complex structure with a novelist working on book modeled on his life story as the events are unfolding. The critical relationship is that of the husband (Richard) and his wife (Haley). The marriage has been rocky, but appears to be invigorated by a newfound trust between the couple.
Richard hatches a plan to "test" his wife, then backs out on the deal, offending Matt, who was to be paid to seduce Haley. One thing leads to another, and Matt is killed and buried in the couple's backyard.
But appearances can be deceiving! One of the most interesting characters is Richard's literary agent Nick, as played by Eric Roberts. The agent is approached by both the husband and the wife, who share details about their unstable relationship. A shortcoming of the film is that, apart from the kind agent, the other characters were uniformly unlikable, including the protagonist, the novelist Richard.
Still, the film is successful in getting the viewer to think about which scenes are real and which ones are the products of the novelist's imagination. There is a clever plot twist that makes the final minutes of "The Perception" a mind-turning experience.
As a mystery, the film has a complex structure with a novelist working on book modeled on his life story as the events are unfolding. The critical relationship is that of the husband (Richard) and his wife (Haley). The marriage has been rocky, but appears to be invigorated by a newfound trust between the couple.
Richard hatches a plan to "test" his wife, then backs out on the deal, offending Matt, who was to be paid to seduce Haley. One thing leads to another, and Matt is killed and buried in the couple's backyard.
But appearances can be deceiving! One of the most interesting characters is Richard's literary agent Nick, as played by Eric Roberts. The agent is approached by both the husband and the wife, who share details about their unstable relationship. A shortcoming of the film is that, apart from the kind agent, the other characters were uniformly unlikable, including the protagonist, the novelist Richard.
Still, the film is successful in getting the viewer to think about which scenes are real and which ones are the products of the novelist's imagination. There is a clever plot twist that makes the final minutes of "The Perception" a mind-turning experience.
twisted
ops-5253511 May 2019
For starter i can only say that the only thing missing in this plot is COLUMBO, yes the rain coat clad policeman acted by peter falk half a century ago.... is that a good or bad badge for this film, well it might have brought ahead a 10 from me, so this is a good movie after all.
the plot is simple, a man gets killed by the wife of the killed mans friend, no its not a riddle, but already here your perceptive abilities hit a wall or two. the story get back and forth in a fast pace,so steering with your tounge is not easy.its good acting, it has a good and emersive score, and you feel a great deal of the panick the characters goes through.
if you want an easy ride it aint, but its good for sure thinks the grumpy old man
the plot is simple, a man gets killed by the wife of the killed mans friend, no its not a riddle, but already here your perceptive abilities hit a wall or two. the story get back and forth in a fast pace,so steering with your tounge is not easy.its good acting, it has a good and emersive score, and you feel a great deal of the panick the characters goes through.
if you want an easy ride it aint, but its good for sure thinks the grumpy old man
Mind blowing film. 😁
XueHuaBingYu19 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Before I watched this film, I checked out some review here on IMDB. One guy said this film has twists and I saw that he gave really high rates. But I didn't had high hope. Some of the user reviews are craps. If they say it's a great film, it's not 100% correct. Sometimes, it even turned out to be a bad film for me. So sorry to say that. So, I didn't give a thought to that review.
Moreover, the film is just only 1 hour and 20 minutes long, so, it would just some sloppily done film. Recently, I watched only 1 hour 20 minutes long "Zoo-Head" film, so, I thought this film would turn out just like that film. But I must admit that I was wrong.
Although this film is mystery and thriller type, I feel like it's kind of drama. Initially, it doesn't have anything and furthermore, it's kind of boring. But I kept watching to see how it's going to end. From beginning to nearly end, I still think so-called twists that guy said in the review wasn't that much twists even though I saw that it turned out the wife and her lover killed her husband instead of the wife killed that guy who was her lover her husband didn't know about. They did it together to look like his husband believed the ghost story of the house they are living in and later, his husband accidentally died because of it. But I was surprised when her husband told everything he did to prevent himself from dying. At that time, I was so amazed. And only at that time, I just knew the reason why that guy wrote twist word in his review. It indeed has twist. I didn't realise that it would turn out like that. It's totally unpredictable. The whole thing is indeed unpredictable.
Because the plot has some twists in it, the film becomes a great one. I must admit that the director, the editor and the sound mixing and sound editing are very good. They have done amazing job. They made the film to get the audiences thrilled and excited. So, I'd say this film is one of the best ones I've watched in this year.
Even though this film is great, somehow, it looked like an amateur to me. I mean from the running time to the performances of actors and actresses, it really looked like amateur. If they could improve more and make the film less boring, it'd be better than this.
All in all, although there are some things that need to improve, this film still makes a good one. Thus, if you want to watch some twists, the one you can't predict and the ending will completely go out of your prediction, I recommend you to watch this film. But you'll need to have patience.
Moreover, the film is just only 1 hour and 20 minutes long, so, it would just some sloppily done film. Recently, I watched only 1 hour 20 minutes long "Zoo-Head" film, so, I thought this film would turn out just like that film. But I must admit that I was wrong.
Although this film is mystery and thriller type, I feel like it's kind of drama. Initially, it doesn't have anything and furthermore, it's kind of boring. But I kept watching to see how it's going to end. From beginning to nearly end, I still think so-called twists that guy said in the review wasn't that much twists even though I saw that it turned out the wife and her lover killed her husband instead of the wife killed that guy who was her lover her husband didn't know about. They did it together to look like his husband believed the ghost story of the house they are living in and later, his husband accidentally died because of it. But I was surprised when her husband told everything he did to prevent himself from dying. At that time, I was so amazed. And only at that time, I just knew the reason why that guy wrote twist word in his review. It indeed has twist. I didn't realise that it would turn out like that. It's totally unpredictable. The whole thing is indeed unpredictable.
Because the plot has some twists in it, the film becomes a great one. I must admit that the director, the editor and the sound mixing and sound editing are very good. They have done amazing job. They made the film to get the audiences thrilled and excited. So, I'd say this film is one of the best ones I've watched in this year.
Even though this film is great, somehow, it looked like an amateur to me. I mean from the running time to the performances of actors and actresses, it really looked like amateur. If they could improve more and make the film less boring, it'd be better than this.
All in all, although there are some things that need to improve, this film still makes a good one. Thus, if you want to watch some twists, the one you can't predict and the ending will completely go out of your prediction, I recommend you to watch this film. But you'll need to have patience.
See also
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