Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 24 Apr @ times vary
Sebastián Silva / Chile / 2013 / 97 mins
Insomnia is defined as a medical condition that disables one’s ability to sleep. Affecting the victim physically, emotionally and mentally, the symptoms can cause harm in catastrophic doses, look at David Fincher’s psychological drama Fight Club. Sebastián Silva’s Chilean thriller however fails to provide such an engaging revolution.
Based on the urban myth of a schizophrenic girl holidaying in Brazil, Magic Magic follows young American Alicia (Juno Temple) as she embarks on her first trip outside of the US. Set in the mountainous Republic of Chile, Alicia travels to a picturesque island with her cousin Sara (Emily Browning) and three strangers Augustin (Augustin Silva), Barbara (Catalina Sandino Moreno) and Brink (Michael Cera). Struggling with language barriers and her own coyness, our protagonist delves into an insomnia fuelled paranoia where she struggles to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Earth, fire, water and air are the four components providing the ingredients for natural magic that practitioners believe opens the door to necromancy; water is the element most prominent in this depressive thriller. Essentially the follow up production to his equally supernaturally themed Crystal Fairy & The Magic Cactus, it’s unfortunate that this film fails to portray the Hunter S. Thompson worthy road trip previously perceived in the first film of Silva’s magical dyad. The impressive scenery and exotic birds are a joy to look at, yet no amount of greenery can mask the somewhat confusing story. Alicia swallows an array of pills, agrees to be hypnotised and drinks herbal tea in attempts to cure her insomnia, but to no avail. The film then disconcertingly flips 180 degrees with the introduction of supernatural elements. Are we to believe that her demise of sanity is the result of magic? With an undeniably slow escalation, the film meets an abrupt end that leaves the viewer in a state of bewilderment. Sorcerous rituals may take place but the cinematic magic is evidently absent.