Great review, Jonathan.

I had a totally different experience with this film, thought it was beautifully shot and a great splice and dice on buji paranoia. In fact I think it's probably the best horror film of 2009 in terms of coming up with an ending that fulfills the potential in the set up.

Thanks, Erin!

Well, I can agree with you that it may be best horror twist of '09 in that I really didn't see the ending coming. However, I think I didn't see it coming because the setup is long, boring, and unrelated to the reveal.

My last GC review used the word MacGuffin, so I didn't want to bring it up again, BUT, there are two hugely wasted MacGuffins in this film that really let me down: [semi-spoiler] Esther's ribbons and her paintings. There was a lot of weight put on these, especially her mysterious neck and wrist flair. Even though her backstory turns out to be a surprise, these setups turn out to be status quo. In other words, she's just another nut job.

As for buji (if we're talking about the same word, I usually spell it bougy) paranoia, I guess I'm just over sad yuppies. If there was a stronger focus on physical redemption for Kate, who lives in a world of intangibility, then maybe I could have been swayed. But what we get is too little too late.

And the visuals, well, we won't see eye to eye on that.

Thanks for the input Erin. Sorry to write a supplemental review in the comments!