This was a disappointing film that had a superb idea but was poorly executed in editing and music.

The opening scene is where the promise is. An exterior shot of a house at night, no one is about and nothing is moving. The music builds slowly, that screechy, creepy sound of violins, it builds and builds to the point of almost being unbearable, and then hits its crescendo. Nothing. Then the surprise comes.

This follows a similar theme to the rest of the film, the music build irritatingly loud, hits a crescendo, except for a lot of the time there's no payoff, it doesn't deliver a scare or an explanation.

It does try well though, it's well filmed and the cinematography is good, and there are some excellent tricks used, for example the developing photo and the flashbacks. Yet these are all little pieces and there's a distinct lack of cohesion, they aren't pulled together effectively.

Although you don't guess the entire meaning of the film, you do know the ending from quite a way off, and this is disappointing. You do get the sense that with all these flashbacks, subtle tricks and misdirections, that at some point you would have enjoyed a very good ride had the ending been better disguised, but it's not. From extremely early on we are clearly shown the answers, and although there is a surprise still left in the ending, it feels hollow and flat, passing by with merely an acknowledgement.

My main problem with this film though was the overpowering soundtrack. As it does in the first scene, it continually gives false surprises and doesn't seem to reflect the tension and payoffs in the story. Not only that but at many points it is irritatingly loud and overpowers the story itself.

At times the editing seemed pretty harsh and tended to cut the storyline apart, making it quite hard to follow.

However there was a lot of promise, the lighting and cinemtography was strong, and the story idea itself was interesting. The two leads are good, with Andrzej Chyra giving a performance that is quite believeable as a man falling apart and Magdalena Cielecka smoulders at times and shows great compassion at others.

As I said though, it does look like it could have been a much more effective dark thriller with an exceptional twist, it's a shame it out styled itself.

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