1h 51m
Director: James Wan

Madison's in an abusive relationship. Someone invades her home and murders her partner. She loses the baby she's carrying but on returning home from the hospital she still feels like she's being stalked.

There's a mystery here which on subsequent viewings is fairly obvious but if you don't want it spoiled don't read any further.

Madison keeps having dark visions of very violent, murderous encounters taking place. News reports confirm the details of real murders match the visions.

Madison and her sister go to the police with information about one of the murders and they investigate a likely location and uncover a grisly crime scene.

A visit to her Mother and some hypnotherapy reveals a few interesting facts about young Madison. Her imaginary friend as a child was called Gabriel for example which is how the killer likes to identify himself and she was known as Emily before she was adopted. Gabriel refers to himself as the devil too which adds a bit of creepiness.

Madison is the murderer and the killer is on her back. You'll notice that the killer looks odd in the murder scenes, it's because every action he's taking is backwards because her body is facing backwards. You later find out he is a conjoined twin who has access to Madison's brain.

When you realise this then all the pieces fall into place, he's wearing a long coat to cover the front of her body, the blows to her partner were upside down - the detective initially speculates that the killer must have attacked from the ceiling. There was no forced entry in the home invasion.

Keep an eye on the Madison character throughout the film, you'll notice that the back of her hair is always fluffed up, presumably to hint at the location of the murderer.

I've seen a few reviews of this flick and it seems that the mystery was presented in such a way so as to remain obfuscated to the audience on the initial viewing - until the critical reveal of course. By the time I saw it I already knew the premise which dampened the fun somewhat. Sometimes that Neuralyzer device from Men In Black would be quite handy!

When Madison gets beaten by a group whilst locked up in a jail cell, Gabriel goes ham and you get an insight into just how effective a killer he is. It's quite a cool scene which you could liken a bit to something you might see in John Wick as he tears his way out of the cell and through the police station, leaving carnage in his wake.

Whoever the stunt person was who played the murderer backwards, bravo! I don't know how exactly it was done but the character is both awkward and at the same time appears to be deadly. The backwards movement adds an abnormal, supernatural quality to the character.

I like how the film switches between the expressionless, gory face of the murderer to show Madison's face expressing her emotions as the horror plays out, helpless to act but witness to everything (she is seeing through Gabriel's eyes).

It's an interesting and refreshing take in the horror genre which if you're looking for something a bit different, I think you'll enjoy!



Trailer: