The American-Indian-British horror film "On the Other Side of the Door" was shot by renowned director Johannes Roberts. The script is written in full accordance with the laws of the genre and uses such traditional topics as supernatural phenomena and communication with the world of the dead. The year the movie “On the Other Side of the Door” was released - 2016. Reviews from critics are mostly mixed or negative.
Production
The film set was the Indian city of Mumbai. The budget was about $ 5 million. The bulk of the funding was provided by American film companies. The main character was played by Hollywood actress Sarah Wayne Callis, known for her participation in the television series The Walking Dead. British director Johannes Roberts acted as screenwriter.
Plot
The film begins with the background of events. Michael and Maria, an American couple, come to India for antique business. They learn that they are expecting their first child. Michael and Maria make an unexpected decision to settle permanently in India.
A couple is born a son, whom parents call Oliver. Then another child appears in the family - a daughter named Lucy. As a result of a car accident, Oliver dies. A inconsolable mother cannot recover from grief and commits suicide. The Indian servant Piki, who works in the home of an American family, tells Mary about the existence of an abandoned temple in which living people can communicate with the world of the dead. In the hope of talking to the deceased son for the last time, the main character goes to the indicated place. Mary manages to make contact with Oliver, but she makes a mistake during the ritual and lets the boy’s ghost into the living world. This causes a series of tragic events. As with all classic horror films, the main moral of this story is that the dead should not be disturbed.
National character
The picture may surprise the audience who are not familiar with the characteristics of Indian culture. The film shows representatives of an ascetic religious sect, who smear their faces with the ashes of cremated deceased and practice ritual cannibalism. These hermits worshiping the goddess of death are a common sight for the Indians.
Many critics note the lack of political correctness of the film "On the Other Side of the Door." Reviews of this picture often contain reproaches in the negative image of India. The dirty slums of Mumbai and the huge number of beggars beggars are repeatedly shown in the film "Beyond the Door." Responses of indignant spectators indicate that the creators of the picture were not distinguished by delicacy in relation to the culture and religion of India and did not worry about the national pride of the inhabitants of this country.
Criticism
Hidden deep inside modern people, the ancient fear of supernatural powers is central to the story told in the film “Beyond the Door”. Reviews of mystery movie lovers about how much the director managed to touch this string in the souls of the audience do not seem enthusiastic. Many connoisseurs of the genre call the script predictable and commonplace. In their opinion, the plot does not contain any unexpected twists. He simply repeats the long-known clichés of ghost stories.
The director’s attempt to bring variety into the genre did not arouse either, placing the main characters of the picture “On the Other Side of the Door” in the exotic setting of a distant country. Reviews of the critics' film contain skepticism about the entanglement of Indian folklore and religious practices in the script. They cause a certain curiosity, but do not make the narrative more exciting and unusual. Indian characters serve as exotic scenery, against the background of which the banal plot of the film "Beyond the Door" develops. Reviews in 2016 published in publications dedicated to the latest in cinema unanimously give a low assessment of the artistic merits of the picture.
Box office
It should be noted the commercial success of the tape "On the other side of the door." Reviews from professional critics sometimes diverge from the viewers buying cinema tickets. At the box office, the picture raised over $ 14 million. Perhaps viewers appreciate any attempt to bring something new to horror films.