Who payed the critics

Amateur movie with Big budget

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

If you are the type of person like i am (into weird things, plots that twists trying to find their meaning and why, making my own plot twists, debating if the scene is true to its physiological portrait, etc) you will enjoy this movie. Its not a perfect Oscar movie. I would watch it just because of the cast, but i found its pretty psychologically intense, didn't get bored (if you are looking for special effects it is clearly not for you) and it was going to towards something you expect from such type of movie. Characters are not ashamed to act at the limits of their boundaries, and you as a spectator are just being all sucked into all of this, if you allow it to exist. Just watch it if you like unusual movies, let it exist.

This film will not entertain you. It may even upset you. If you want to have a good time, go watch Mr. Bean on vacation or Age of Ultron.This film is all about trying to understand a reality that may be totally alien to a normal person. Based on an experience Director Sebastian Silva had on a trip to Brazil, it portrays how seemingly mundane situations can turn out to be nightmarish for someone with traces of Paranoid-Schizophrenia: Alicia, a timid California girl, joins her cousin Sarah on a road trip to southern Chile. Along come Agustin (Sarah's boyfriend), Barbara (Agustin's older sister), and Brink, an annoying, hyper active and not very empathetic American friend of Agustin. Sarah is quickly out of the crew due to having to perform an exam to save her college year. Later on it is revealed that it was just an excuse to get an abortion. Her absence leaves Alicia alone with the trio of Spanish speaking strangers, which seem to increasingly alienate and harass her. Tension builds up slowly, as Brink and Agustin try to have fun just to make Alicia feel more and more uncomfortable and scared, escalating to a dramatic ending. Lots of scenes are beautifully filmed, and portray stunning panoramas of southern Chile's Lakes and mountains. (I'd dare to say the film's location is some isle on the middle of Lago Ranco) This film is filled with subtleties that will give you hints on how to understand Alice's seemingly insane behaviour. If you have had an experience with someone who suffers such a disease, you will understand it right on. It is not simple to achieve what Silva has masterfully done with this film. Not an easy to recommend film, but certainly a must watch.

First of all I don't think anyone could miss the point of this movie, as much as Claudio Carvalho did, who currently got his review on the "front page" by calling it weird and boring, while rating it a 2. This movie has such a psychologically depth, you rarely find in movies nowadays. The movie will make you keep questioning who or what is behind all these terrible things that happens and how it started, all the way to the end of it, and even beyond. Did someone drug Alice? Was she haunted by evil spirits? Or was she just plain paranoid and mentally unstable? Or perhaps none of the above - or even all of the above? One of the many points of this movie, is that no matter how civilized and educated we are as humans in todays society, in worst case scenario, we will still believe in something that goes beyond our comprehension - and that there is more between heaven and earth, then we know of. I won't rate it no where near a 10, because I've seen way better, but it's definitely not a boring movie (depends what kind of genre you're into). So sure, if you just want a movie where you can sit back and laugh about it and predict how it's gonna end an half hour before it actually ends, this is definitely not the movie for you. Howeever if you like psychological thrillers - including some spiritual aspects - this is your movie. This movie is not for the narrow-minded!

I'm glad I went into this film without knowing anything about it. It seems Magic Magic has been badly marketed as a horror/thriller and therefore it's easy to see why audiences are disappointed. However, what I found it to be was an atmospheric and gripping observation of the central character's fall into mental illness.Juno Temple's performance as she loses herself in a sea of exhaustion, isolation and fear is absolutely first class. Having known people suffering from severe personality disorders, I could recognise a lot of the characteristics that slowly revealed themselves. Again, brought to screen perfectly by Temple but also a testament to Sebastian Silva's talent as writer/director.It does begin to unravel slightly at the end as it seeks to reach a dramatic climax (that wasn't needed, in my opinion). However, despite a jarring change in tone, the final 10 minutes offered a necessary critique on the attitudes towards people suffering with mental illness. Notably, the importance of modern medical research and of family and friend's support, compassion and knowledge of the disease.A slow-burning exploration into the horror of madness that slightly loses it's way towards the end. 7/10