The Beyond

The Beyond deserves a higher rating. I wasn't totally satisfied myself, thought it could have been much better, certainly with the potential it got. The story is well written, and by that I mean the plot, it's an interesting topic, futuristic but entertaining nonetheless. The problem I have with it is the fact it's filmed like a documentary, to me that was just a big mistake. The acting isn't bad though, neither are the CGI's. It's just too bad they made it look like a documentary, it slows down the story a couple of times, could definitely have used a faster pace. The idea was there and for that Hasraf 'HaZ' Dulull did a good job, he has interesting ideas, it's just the execution that could and should have been better.

Gillian LaRoux is a leading manager in the international Space Agency based in London. One day, an anomaly in space appeared over the sky and they name it The Void. Assuming it to be a wormhole, the agency is preparing a secret mission to explore the phenomenon. They use an experimental cyborg project where human brains are implanted into a cybernetic body called Human 2.0.

This is Arrival without Denis Villeneuve or 2001 without Kubrick. I don't know anything about writer/director Hasraf Dulull. He seems to have a few interesting ideas and some special effect skills although he has no skills in story telling. This is a movie layout by expositions more than a plot and any character development. First, Dulull introduces Gillian but she goes into the background. Every character does the same thing. Nobody has a personal story. Nobody sticks. It's just as well since these are day players. None of them has great charisma. The narrative is mechanical only to lay out the plot such as there is one. While I like the ideas and final reveal, this needs a story and fleshed out characters.

Before coming to the IMDb to write my own user comments for "The Beyond", I had a feeling there would be a sharp divide in the opinions people before me wrote. I was correct - some people liked the movie, but there were other that despised it. Though I am one of the people that liked the movie, at the same time I will admit that it isn't perfect, containing some flaws that kind of hold it back from full impact. I liked that the movie was a more thoughtful than usual science fiction movie. It feels much more realistic than what you usually get in this kind of movie. There are some intriguing ideas sprinkled throughout too that give this some kind of original feel. And the special effects are very good. However, I will freely admit that the movie is extremely slow and mostly uneventful for the first hour or so. Things do pick up in the last half hour, though even then the movie seems to be taking its sweet time quite often. This movie is definitely not for audiences craving action and a fast pace. I still liked the movie despite its snail-like pace and lack of excitement, but at the same time the narrative could have used a bit more juice and action. The bottom line is that the movie does have features to be appreciated, but it's mainly for very patient viewers who are not craving popcorn entertainment but instead a more cerebral tone.

Question: What sort of movie do you get when you have a visual effects supervisor write, direct and edit his own movie?

Answer: Why, THE BEYOND.

Hasraf Dulull, the writer, director and editor of THE BEYOND has a well established career as a visual effects supervisor and in many other roles generally revolving around visual effects. And, truth be told, the visual effects in THE BEYOND are superior in almost every respect. As one professional reviewer noted, Dulull is quite expert in executing visual effects "in ways that make the movies feel bigger than their budgets". Dulull has very much succeeded in making THE BEYOND "LOOK" like a science-fiction summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, THE BEYOND fails in every other aspect of professional moviemaking.

Not to put too fine a point on it, Dulull can't write, can't direct, and pretty much can't do anything else effectively when it comes to moviemaking OTHER than create superior visual effects. The storyline is appalling, any grasp of basic physics is missing entirely (sort of a failing in a science-fiction movie...), the majority of the acting is stiff and wooden at best, and so on. Glacially slow, THE BEYOND is literally painful to watch. Adding insult to injury, the movie concludes on an incessantly preachy note that is all but unstomachable.

I know that brutally negative reviews are not well received on IMDb and that this review will be condemned as "unhelpful". But this movie is what it is and one would have to lie to say anything else.

So A+ for visual effects and straight F's across the board for literally everything else for THE BEYOND.

I'm only ½ way through, but I need to stop and take a break. Several scenes are happily on tripod, but the handheld scenes are nearly un-watchable. Why is shakey-cam still a thing ? And why zoom-into-focus on nearly every scene ? Clearly intentional, because simple editing could have done away with that. Anyway, the premise (so far) is interesting and looking forward to see where it goes.