I have a soft spot for movies about writers. If I have a choice in the matter, I’d rather be presented with someone who’s a complete failure as a writer. Like Miles (Paul Giamatti) in Sideways.
Guess I’m not so lucky with Half Light. It’s about a successful author, Rachel (Demi Moore), who loses her son by the 8th minute of the movie. That’s a pretty good timing for the inciting incident.
Rachel leaves her husband who is an unsuccessful author who naturally gets my sympathies for the 80 seconds of screen time that he has. She also leaves Little Venice (London) and retreats to a cabin in Scotland. She’s alone and haunted by her guilt (she was the one who left the door to the canal open).
By the end of Act I, it’s clear that’s NOT the only thing that will haunt her. On the positive side, Scottish people have such funny accents which balance the spooky bits nicely. Eventually, Rachel meets a psychic (every town has one) and an attractive lighthouse keeper (every lighthouse has one).
Act II starts with a hair raising (re)appearance of the dead boy. God, I hate kids who come back from the dead (yes, I hate Steven King’s Pet Cemetery). Thankfully, we’re soon back to the romantic sub-plot with Angus. Good thinking. Two dead kids at time is my limit.
When Angus is giving Rachel THE tour of the lighthouse, I felt a bit disappointed. This was begging for a little Vertigo moment (Hitchcock). I felt even more disappointed by the “love” montage that followed. Riding horses against the sunset, admiring the view from atop of the lighthouse…
Nevertheless, the second act stands out with one good scare after another. Things go from bad to worse (although I won’t spoil them for you). Unlike The Descent, the ending is conventional.
Half Light is a good movie shot with a modest budget (no idea what Demi’s fee is thought). The end credits had a dozen people listed. The movie will not get a theatrical release in the US, although it’s not entirely clear why. Some say it’s due to the incomprehensible Scottish accents. Some say the producers already recouped their costs and were not interested in investing their hard-earned pounds in a risky US release.
You can get the DVD though or search for the Half Light torrent if you’re a real Demi Moore fan and you can’t wait till January. A funny bit of trivia, Demi Moore ordered 20 crates of beer for the crew and then gave them the next day off to recover. They probably loved her!
wow – wondered what happened to this film. i did some post-production work on it (im a colorist for a vfx house). thx for the review. tho how can you be surprised that the folks from the official site called it positive? you did say “Half Light is a good movie…”
Christofer, you’ve done a good job. The movie looked pretty good – very cinematic.
When I visited the official site, I saw the sets and it really struck me how well the sets were used through out the movie. The lighthouse scenes especially give the movie a pretty unique look (e.g. the third screenshot).
had never heard of this movie when my husband rented it, and was pleasantly surprised. Demi Moore was excellent, but i felt like Hans Matheson really was the top performer in this movie. His wonderful Scottish accent and sweet face made him extremely appealing, making you want to check out other movies he was in. The scenery was beautiful, and I absolutely fell in love with the light house. It was really neat to see wild horses on the light house island.
I loved the mysterious plot, but the movie left me a little sad. There were a lot of plot twists, and I watched the movie two days in a row to see if I could figure out a couple of things! This is a movie that I will probably buy to keep, so I can watch it from time to time.
hi, I’m junior ‘n I like so much all the movies from Hans Matheson
please, send me a mensage ‘n a mathesin’s photography.
I lovo this.
I WAS WONDERING WHAT’S THE NAME OF THE BOOK DEMI MOORE FOUND AT THE COTTAGE AND READ A PARAGRAPHE ABOUT LOVE WHERE SHE FOUND THE PICTURE
I was also wondering what the name of the book Demi Moore found is…
Same question Manar posted.
Great movie!
I was also wondering what the name of the book is?
I really liked the part Demi Moore reads in the movie.
Hope someone can help me with the name.
Thanks!
PLEASEEEEEEEEEe some find out the name of that book ive been tryin to find it ever since i saw the movie its driving me crazy
GRRRR haha
Thanks
I loved this movie, it was excellent. I wish they would have had the real Angus ghost to be shown going down the steps and saying in a haunting voice: How dare you try to be me and live in my home. Now you will know what its like to be me, as the camera is going down the steps to take over Patrick’s body. It would make things clear and if they would have given hints to Rachel in the beginning about the lighthouse it would put everything together. This is just my opinion.
I just watched the movie and it’s awesome. The cinematography is perfect. The movie is full of mystery, melancholic though.
well the movie was great , and as others , i’m searching for that book aswell , actualy i’m only looking for that phrase she read , can someone please help me
Today I begin to understand what love must be, if it exists…. When we are parted, we each feel the lack of the other half of ourselves. We are incomplete like a book in two volumes of which the first has been lost. That is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence.
(Edmond De Goncourt (1822-1896), French writer, journalist, and Jules Alfred Huot De Goncourt (1830-1870), French writer, journalist. journal entry, Nov. 15, 1859. The Goncourt Journals (1956), repr. In Pages from the Goncourt Journal, ed. Robert Baldick (1962).)
After some time of looking I found the phrase and the book!!
I wish there was a director commentary. I loved the movie, and know there’s lots of little things I missed or tid bits. I wish this got more PR, it was certainly good.
I enjoyed the movie- breathtaking scenery,I will definetly be visiting those beautiful locations in the future.I didn’t realise that the dead Angus took over the body of the lovely Hans in order to kill the husband-I though the husband had seen the actual ghost before he was killed.Disappointed with Demi- she was okay,but very miscast