Beyond Your Consciousness: The Beginning

"Beyond Your Consciousness - The Beginning" is not your typical ghost story, and I appreciate the attempt by Rinoj Varghese.

The film starts with Amanda, a psychiatrist played by Jen Ayer Drake, and her husband George, played by Marcus Lawrence, moving into a beautiful Victorian home with colorful yet slightly eerie stained glass windows, all in an attempt to start a new life. George wants Amanda to move on from her unfortunate miscarriage and thinks the new home would allow her to do that, but unfortunately, she starts to see a ghostly energy and a strange woman who seems to linger outside their home.

Amanda decides to see patients in her home and deals with a really interesting case of a girl who's under the impression she's being terrorized by a ghost at night. When under hypnosis, the girl reveals what I take as foreshadowing and sets the tone for what Amanda is going through. Amanda talks to what she thinks is a spirit living in the house, trying to warn her of a kidnapping, thrusting her into action to save a little girl.

There are some bizarre things and unusual encounters, which I partially like. I enjoy a little weirdness in my films, and one of the characters was perfectly odd. Things are not what they seem, and it's all unraveled in what you think is the conclusion you may have guessed, but guess again. It's not that simple.

I like watching low-budget films because they're rough around the edges and more raw than perfectly polished Hollywood movies that have inflated budgets to play with. I enjoy watching how filmmakers deal with wearing many hats and still find a way to tell a story.

This version corrects grammar issues and improves clarity while retaining the original meaning and details.

"Beyond Your Consciousness" is a psychological thriller in the mold of 1970's Brian DePalma. Story begins with psychiatrist Amanda, portrayed by Jen Ayer Drake, treating a teenage patient suffering from supernatural trauma. From here story shifts to Amanda's new home, but soon after, mysterious presences reach out to her. Lead actress Jen Ayer Drake does a great job navigating the emotional ups and downs of this character as she seems to descend into madness. There are many supernatural/horror elements that emerge, things that go bump in the night, and ghostly voices/apparitions. Our own sense of reality is challenged. I really enjoyed this movie. It's technically well-made, and worth checking out if you want a good supernatural thriller with a surprise ending.

This is a low-budget independent film featuring up-and-coming talent. It's a story about Amanda, whose new house may have a dark past. Sound familiar? Perhaps, but the plot remains fresh because nothing is simple or predictable. That's because Amanda is neither simple nor predictable. Slow-build requires patience, but the rising action held my interest, and the ultimate climax was very satisfying. I appreciated that the horror/terror is less tangible, more in the mind. Too many movies show too much, where this allows the viewer to imagine and draw our own conclusions. Smart, well-acted film is worth checking out!

With dynamic and precise cinematography and an excellent actor's direction, Beyond Your Consciousness is a psychological thriller that messes with your brain. Love the way the tense atmosphere is created. Reminds me of the films of M. Night Shyamalan in the way the suspense is slowly built.

We can relate to the story of a psychiatrist who has strange thoughts and her interaction with her family members.

Jen Ayer Drake, the actor playing Amanda is doing a great job. She is very convincing.

This film makes us think about this essential philosophical question: Is our life real or dreamed? Are our family members real?

The story follows Amanda, a psychiatrist, moving into a new house with her husband. However, the house is not normal; she feels something eerie stirring whenever she hears screams in the middle of the night. It seems there are ghosts lurking, but she is the only one who can hear them. Is she crazy? Is she not? The film dribbles with this question, leading to highly unexpected territory throughout.

At first, it was difficult to embrace some of ideas that I could tell could be better captured with a larger budget, especially regarding the visual effects. The dialogue often felt unrealistic and didn't, at least with the supporting characters, convey realism with its characters. The script could have benefited from more reliance on the actors' understanding of their characters. The main actress, Jen Ayer Drake, who plays Amanda, delivers a performance that feels relatively genuine.

Despite the criticism regarding some choices and lost opportunities, what keeps the film engaging throughout its runtime is the unexpected twists and turns all thanks to the many choices in the cutting of the film. There is enough to be seen, and enough to be unseen, leaving much to the imagination. This independent horror film manages to maintain creativity within its ambitious concept. It offers an intriguing take on a ghost story that isn't necessarily a ghost story.

I was particularly captured by Amanda's first client, who is convinced of her own truth, which ultimately turns out to be nothing more than a mere fantasy. This blurring of reality and fiction propels the story forward.

The low budget contributed to unique storytelling techniques through its sound and camerawork, evoking feelings of mysticism - like Amanada feeling too hot in one room while struggling to breathe in another, hinting at drowning. Amanda senses the tragedy that occurred in the house, motivating her to uncover the truth.

The question of whether Amanada truly sees these things or is simply crazy was incredibly engaging, prompting me to wonder if the entire narrative was a lie. That level of suspension of disbelief truly worked in my opinion.

However, I found the ending to be somewhat cliched. I expected the film to stick to its psychological roots, as I believe that approach is more effective in horror than another twist. It left both the supernatural and psychological elements up in the air. Perhaps another rewatch would help if I missed any of the minor details that foreshadow the ending.

While the film is far from perfect, it presents some very unique ways of telling a ghost story, along with something more. For that reason, I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for something interesting that combines various well-known elements in the horror genre. It held some very unique ways in telling a ghost story but something more.