Expected more

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This psychological thriller limps along, but has enough substance to hold your interest. Lucas Hardy(Ben Keyworth)is a 12 year old boy that has disintegrating eyesight and must come to grips with the fact he may become totally blind like his mother Miriam(Fanny Ardant). Lucas overhears his policeman father(James Fox)as he brings home the news of a blind woman having her face slashed by an attacker during broad daylight. There is more than usual concern since the woman comes to the London eye clinic for the blind, where Miriam works. Since Lucas is on school vacation, he decides to open his own search for the blade wielding attacker, who has victimized another woman from the clinic. Have patience for you're sometimes watching through the failing eyes of a paranoid boy's concern for his mother. The cast includes: Paul McGann, Robert Stephens, Susan Wooldridge and most impressive Clare Holman.

I saw this film when it was released, and I remember the negative reviews. They weren't outright pans, but most complained about the film's jumpiness and inconsistencies. I remember liking the film but having that experience afterward that I hadn't really caught everything. After having now seen it four times, I have come to truly appreciate it.The two things really holding it together are writer/director Peploe's one-of-a-kind story and little Ben Keyworth's unbelievably deft performance as the protagonist who is slowly going blind.What's awesome about Keyworth's performance is his pitch-perfect reactions and expressions. They perfectly bottle a portrait of a severely depressed, extremely terrified young man who is simultaneously fighting as a mini-superhero to both save his life and flee his fears. My jaw dropped when I read people's interpretations of his performance as affectless and...snotty??? O-kay...there's someone whose imagination has the depth of a wading pool! And this is why the movie bombed...as many people have highlighted, you need to be watching every frame of this movie to really follow it. It's not an easy entertainment. Then again, I can't think of many other films that effectively start as a very creepy slasher film and then morph into a psychological exploration of impending psychosis. You have to let it take you on the journey and drop your preconceptions of what it should be, which is extremely hard for, I would say, 80% of the potential audience.This movie has some great iconographic visuals, most notably the shot of Keyworth tapping the knitting needle on his opaque glass lenses. It is both ominous and rather heart-rending once you understand just what he's doing. Would have made a great movie poster. But again...marketing.

Some viewers may be a little confused by parts of this psychological adventure, but remember that the point of view in the film is that of a small boy who is himself confused and fearful. The tension between illusion and reality is sometimes tenuous.The strongest element in this spooky thriller is its slow-paced atmosphere. It is a quiet film exploring the confused perspective of a boy slowly going blind. Visuals are almost everything here. Abundant close-ups of the boy and the things he sees with his large, fading eyes act as visual hieroglyphs while the child moves slowly through a bizarre series of events both imagined and real. The well-chosen title says it all metaphorically.

This is a very interesting film. If you watched it without any knowledge of what the storyline was then you should have been intrigued by the slightly twisted world the lead character lives in.That is about as much as I can describe the film without ruining it by telling you more.In terms of a film despite living in England my whole life I do tend to prefer cheerier sets than those seen in this film. I find them depressing to be honest. Some people will probably find that adds to the film or its message.My strongest post viewing thought was, I wish they had crammed more into the film to push the story along. There is some good stuff here, but I fear that many viewers will just be lost or lose patience; if you don't feed a dog he won't be your friend.