"Reflections" is a mediocre criminal profiler vs deranged serial killer murder mystery that combines elements of television's "Dexter" with the Jean Reno/Vincent Cassels flick "Crimson Rivers", while playing out like a prolonged episode of "Law & Order".
In the film, we find ourselves following Tom (Timothy Hutton), an American Criminal Profiler working for Interpol, who has been brought to Spain in order to track down a serial killer that is responsible for stalking and ritually murdering a series of women. They arrest a man named Marco based on the presence of his DNA at four of the crime scenes. Thinking they have an open and shut case, the investigators are dumbstruck when they find out that Marco has an indisputable alibi, and could not possibly be the killer. Turns out that, in a bizarre twist of fate, Marco- who was, himself, born to adopted surrogate parents using a banked sperm & embryo- has a twin brother that was born from another mother (the woman who donated the egg he was born from) & a banked sperm...and the two men actually have the exact same DNA, despite the fact that Marco was born 10 years after his genetically identical "brother".
They cloak the serial killer character in a veil of mystery, as Tom and his fellow psychologist/rekindled love affair decide to understand the killer by profiling his twin brother-from-another-surrogate-mother-born-10-years-later, Marco.
At first I found myself a bit turned off by the low budget crime scene, whose blood looked like a combination of raspberry and strawberry jam (they do explain why it's like that, to their credit), but that went to the back of my mind as I found myself becoming immersed in the intriguing plot. The screenplay places a heavy emphasis on the development of the investigation, particularly focusing on the relationship between Tom and Marco, while purposefully neglecting to develop the serial killer/killing side of the story; only briefly referencing it here and there so we don't forget someone is actually still out there killing people (in ever "quicker cycles"...apparently). The reason for this becomes evident in the film's conclusion.
Despite the overwhelming focus on the investigation portion of the storyline, the way the writers have Tom "connecting" things is often times ridiculous, especially in the latter part of the film that leads up to the finale. Entire sections of the film felt rushed, and it seemed that they tried to push too much into the conclusion without having previously developed it much at all.
Overall the plot ends up being a mash-up of elements from "Dexter" and "Crimson Rivers" (if you've seen them, you'll know what I mean), with the storyline playing out like a long overly-immaculate episode of "Law & Order". I like Timothy Hutton, but I hope this was a favour as opposed to "what his career has come to". It's watchable if you are into the serial killer vs criminal profiler genre, but don't expect to be amazed. 4.5 out of 10.
