On the surface this film comes across as another semi-grade horror flick without merit. The characters are under-developed and the large number of loose ends that are never explained enforces the view that the director/screen writer couldn't be bothered to fill in the gaps.
What is interesting is that this seems to be intentional. There is a very well hidden parallel story that runs alongside the one which is presented to viewers. We see the story from the perspective of the protagonist Sarah O'Neill, who isolates herself and her son in a remote house near the woods. Her delusions gradually increase as the film progresses, and the viewer is dragged in to her fantasy world when there is no external context to help separate fact from illusion. The director plays upon uncertainty to construct the supernatural thread. However he also provides subtle hints that what you sometimes see are hallucinations (eg: the arm-wrestling scene).
Capgras delusion is the real focus of this film. Capgras is the condition in which a person holds the delusional belief that a close family member has been replaced by an imposter. The condition can be caused by trauma to the head (note the many references to Sarah's unexplained scar) and can also accompany other psychological conditions such as schizophrenia and psychosis. The final part of the film is clearly a psychotic event experienced by Sarah.
The use of mirrors within the film is another nod to Capgras. The film eludes to the fact that mirrors unmask the true nature of the person. Capgras sufferers can sometimes doubt their own identity after seeing themselves within a large mirror, although smaller mirrors may not produce the same effect. One type of therapy involves using many mirrors of different sizes to help the sufferer overcome the delusion.
What is interesting is that this seems to be intentional. There is a very well hidden parallel story that runs alongside the one which is presented to viewers. We see the story from the perspective of the protagonist Sarah O'Neill, who isolates herself and her son in a remote house near the woods. Her delusions gradually increase as the film progresses, and the viewer is dragged in to her fantasy world when there is no external context to help separate fact from illusion. The director plays upon uncertainty to construct the supernatural thread. However he also provides subtle hints that what you sometimes see are hallucinations (eg: the arm-wrestling scene).
Capgras delusion is the real focus of this film. Capgras is the condition in which a person holds the delusional belief that a close family member has been replaced by an imposter. The condition can be caused by trauma to the head (note the many references to Sarah's unexplained scar) and can also accompany other psychological conditions such as schizophrenia and psychosis. The final part of the film is clearly a psychotic event experienced by Sarah.
The use of mirrors within the film is another nod to Capgras. The film eludes to the fact that mirrors unmask the true nature of the person. Capgras sufferers can sometimes doubt their own identity after seeing themselves within a large mirror, although smaller mirrors may not produce the same effect. One type of therapy involves using many mirrors of different sizes to help the sufferer overcome the delusion.