We meet Adelaide (Madison Curry) as a child with her parents at the pier attractions. While her parents are distracted, she wanders off and finds her way to a hall of mirrors. Whilst inside she sees something terrifying...
Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) is now all grown up. She, her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two kids, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), are enjoying a holiday at her family's cabin. After a day at the beach with their friends, the Tylers, Adelaide appears out of sorts and tells Gabe about the encounter she had in the hall of mirrors. Gabe, naturally does not believe her, but soon they notice a family standing threateningly outside the cabin. A family that looks disturbingly familiar...
An unsettling and thoughtful film that also delivers a fair amount of violence, gore and action. The moments of comedy are well timed, amusing and compliment the more tense points of the film. I enjoyed that the film felt almost nostalgic in its story telling, styling and scoring but was set in present day.
The characters are well rounded and relatable which makes it all the more effective when we meet their doppelgangers who are similar yet animalistic and antithetical in nature. There isn't a bad thing to say about any of the cast's performances, but Nyong'o's emotional performance steals the show both as Adelaide and her counterpart.
The film makes a point of not answering all the questions raised leaving a couple more holes than was perhaps necessary but delivers enough turns in the plot to leave you pondering over it in the wake of viewing. An amusing piece that says a thing or two about human nature and what defines a villain.
[Image: Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures]
Hani
