Maddening Disappointment: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW

Review by Deidre Crimmins

Written & Directed by: Panos Cosmatos

IMDB Page

My disappointment in a film correlates to the amount of anticipation I have before seeing that film. In other words, when I am especially excited to see a new film, any disappointment is amplified. I think that many people have the same experience, but I wanted to define this first because it explains how I am so disappointed in Beyond the Black Rainbow.

When I first read the description of Beyond the Black Rainbow in the schedule for the Boston Independent Film Festival it sounded like a film that was tailor made for me. A homage to Cronenberg, Kubrick, and Carpenter with a crazy synthesizer soundtrack? I could not wait for the screening! When it rolled around a friend and I took our seats and I waited for my socks to get cinematically rocked off from the sheer awesomeness. I kept waiting. And waiting. But the awesomeness did not come.

Beyond the Black Rainbow is about a girl who is sedated and kept against her wishes in some sort of a treatment facility by a doctor who is trying to treat her for some sort of disorder. Mind you, this is not the type of film that you see for the plot, because any semblance of a plot or story is deprioritized for the sake of the atmosphere and the look of the film. Unfortunately that is not enough to hold this particular film together.

Beyond the Black Rainbow looks very intriguing at first. Colors are saturated and its futuristic sets are quite pretty to look at. But the problem is all the director Panos Cosmatos wants you to do with this film is gaze at the sets. He has extremely long takes that stare at a nearly empty room, or down a hallway, which gives you no choice but to stare at the décor because nothing is actually happening.

Herein lies the main issue with the film- the excruciating pacing. Don’t get me wrong, I love a slow paced indie film as much as the next film critic. I even pride myself at having a much higher tolerance for slowly paced films than your typical moviegoer. But when watching scene after scene of the doctor staring at his patient, asking a question every few minutes, I was awash with boredom. (I wasn’t the only one either- the three college students sitting next to me all fell asleep within the first twenty minutes.)

Performances in Beyond the Black Rainbow are also extremely hit or miss. Michael Rogers is the one shining light in this cast. Granted, he was given the most to work with as the doctor, and he clearly relishes in giving an understated performance. Every eyebrow raised, and every therapy session question just drips with his snarling attitude. Opposite him there is Eva Allen as the captive girl. She just sits there and whimpers in fear, dodging eye contact for the first hour or so of the film (though it will feel like 4 hours). It gets very tiring watching this young girl just sit there sniveling for so long. No character development, no finesse or interest is added to her character at all. I spent some time trying to figure out if this was poor directing, poor writing, or simply poor acting, but in the end I didn’t really care. I just resented the fact that I had to suffer through this portion of the film.

Near the end of the film things actually do happen. There is a short chase and it turns out that certain characters are not who we thought they were, but by the time this has happened I had lost any interest in the film. And that the small action sequence in the film ends so abruptly, which added to my frustration.

Reflecting back on the screening I tried to blame myself for having a bad time watching the film. Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood. Maybe all of the independent films that I had seen that weekend leading up to this screening had somehow impacted my appreciation for the film. After all, this film is getting great reviews, and is getting released by Magnet, who often sends out my favorite films. But I don’t think this is the case. I like a slow paced indie homage film. I like weird visuals and synthesizers. This film missed the mark for me, and I have no one to blame by Cosmatos.

The whole experience of seeing the film left me feeling robbed. I wanted to see the film that incorporates the directing greats that were mentioned in the film festival blurb! I want to be washed over by futuristic sets and synthesizers! What I do not want is to watch Beyond the Black Rainbow again.

(Deirdre Crimmins lives in Boston with her husband and two black cats. She wrote her Master's thesis on George Romero and works too much.)