After an eye transplant surgery, Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) goes from being blind, to being mislead by her new vision.
"The Eye" is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film "Gin gwai."
The cutting is disorienting; A young woman hangs her self and the film cus to the appearance of a dark phantom figure.
In this suspense filled thriller Wells is a talented violinist, who is blinded at 5 by a firecracker accident. Wells' sister Helen (Parker Posey) was with her at the time of the accident and feels guilty for what happened and sets up for Alba to have surgery to regain her sight.
Wells is introduced with an unoriginal voice over narrative as she is walking through downtown Los Angeles, preparing for her cornea transplant.
After her surgery she slowly starts to regain her eye sight. Blurry, point-of-view shots let the audience experience this with her. Immediately things start to turn for the worse as even with blurred vision she begins to see things that aren't real.
She sees people floating around and disappearing before her and she is forced to question what is wrong with her new eyes.
Quality editing and the film's musical score enhance the fear that Wells is feeling. Most of the frightening moments in this thriller come from what's unexpected.
Wells is referred to an eye specialist after her surgery to help her become accustomed to her new eyesight. Dr. Paul Faulkner (Alessandro Nivola) serves as a sharp dose of reality. Wells tries to tell him what she is seeing and that she thinks something is wrong, but he attributes it all to her just learning to see again.
Faulkner serves as a sort of love interest as the lines are blurred in this doctor patient relationship.
Wells begins to realize that she is seeing dead people and the phantom figure is escorting them into the afterlife. She is haunted by these figures as well as by visions in her dreams that revolve around fire.
Wells attempts to get others to believe her about these visions throughout the film. The film follows Wells on her journey of discerning between what she is seeing and reality.
Alba's performance is strongest when she is under duress, which is most of the film. She falls flat at times when there is not much action.
The story line is reminiscent of "The Sixth Sense" and "The Ring", and with immediate action and frightening scenes this film will keep the audience on their toes. An even pace keeps this film interesting.
Directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud do a good job incorporating the storyline with the cinematography. Throughout the film it seems as though the audience is learning everything as Wells is and reality feels skewed.
"The Eye" is 97 minutes of suspense and it provides a quick scare. What the film lacks in acting it makes up for in that it is a well-paced thriller.
Contact Valerie Calderon at Valerie.Calderon@UConn.edu.
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