James Van (a Malaysian who chose Australia as his place of residence) made a breakthrough and became famous, having first shot the short film “Saw” and then developed this theme in a full-length movie. And recently, the director became interested in other experiments, having released several works at once, in which unbelted spirits and ghosts appear. This is the "Astral". Reviews about the film Van received the most diverse - from frankly abusive to admiring.
When the spirits unbelted
The essence of the thriller boils down to the fact that the spouses of the Lamberts and their three children who moved to a new home are disturbed by strange and strange incidents. It seems that things themselves choose where to lie, now and then the inhabitants are scared by different sounds, and their source is unknown. After the son of Rene and Josh Dalton falls into a coma as a result of falling from the attic stairs, parents turn to the help of psychics. It turned out that the boy was not at all in a coma, his spirit simply left his body (as Alice, a specialist in paranormal explained) and went to the astral plane. Josh's comments on such a statement were the most skeptical. But in the end, he had to believe and, in order to return the child, set off on his own in the dangerous "flight of the soul." The cunning director broke the thread of the story at the most interesting place, making the finale open.
In search of truth
Two years later, the long-awaited "Astral-2" was released, reviews of the film again varied greatly. Someone got bored with the flirting tricks of "intimidation" of the auditorium. Someone was annoyed that the continuation begins almost from the same instant on which the prequel stopped. It turns out that if you did not watch the first part, you won’t understand anything in the second. And someone was glad that the authors of "Astral-2" shed light on the many "dark spots" with which "Astral" sinned. There were also reviews that, supposedly, the action has slipped into "scandalousness" and an outright farce. Yes, the friend of the deceased Alice and mother Josh Lorain joined in the search for the truth in the sequel. And Rene completely lost her head, wondering why in her mother-in-law’s house (where the family once again moved) there is no peace from the annoying poltergeist. Meanwhile, in the body of the head of the family itself, it seems, something nasty and evil has settled. It only pretends to be a loving husband and father, assuring others that there is no reason to panic.
Some viewers, after watching Wang’s creations, frankly admitted that until now they had not thought about the meaning of the word “astral”. Their reviews were the most laudatory. Separate warm words were deserved by the artists who had a wonderful performance in both parts of the film. First of all, this is the acting role of Josh Patrick Wilson (one of James Wang's favorite actors, if you look at their general filmography). Appearing in the Phantom of the Opera, Wilson was remembered for his role as one of the superheroes in The Guardians, for the complex ambiguous image he created in Lollipop, for his work in the wonderful film Like Little Children. His wife Rene was played by Australian actress Rose Byrne. Her intrigue Alex in “Obsession”, Scarlet in the zombie thriller “28 weeks later” proved that she is a talented performer. The role of Lorraine Lambert went to the famous actress Barbara Hershey. From the early masterpieces in which she starred, you can recall the film by Woody Allen “Hannah and her sisters”, from the later ones - “The Black Swan” by Aronofsky (Barbara played the main character's mother there).
This is her, Astrology dilogy. Reviews are reviews, but it’s better to look at and compose your own opinion about the film creation of James Wang.