He said and she said: their love was tanking. The romance was a struggle. Could they ever move forward together with the baggage they carried unpacked? Or was this the time to part ways- while things were still relatively amicable? He said and she said they should go by what their therapist said, and so begins the strangest couple’s retreat tale ever, complete with beings from a parallel universe.
Sophie (Elizabeth Moss) and Ethan (Mark Duplass) retreat to a beautiful property in the country at their counselor’s bidding, pumped up on the mutual hope that they will exit like
the other couples he told them
about, ones who entered the beautiful house with issues and left for home with the bond between them stronger than ever before. Stepping back …just a foot or so, this seems a little extra out of the ordinary. Is the promise in the lush green lawns? The Pottery Barn-esque decor? The solitude? It seems from the very beginning that this couple screams paranormal. Later, when the term “aberration” is used three times in as many scenes, it’s no wonder why: they are aliens of a sort!
Of a sort, but not really. You see, the great thing this feature questions is what normalcy looks like through a house of mirrors series of circumstances. For example: if we got to meet our own perfect image of our significant other, would we fall in love with them, would we choose the vision in our on ego-mind? Would the other us (you, me) be jealous or supportive if it choseq? Basically, would we do what is best for our love or our partner. We hope so! But of course it’s all different from the other side of the looking-glass. This film brings up what it means to choose to move “forward” and to choose faithfulness over fear.
Kaitlin Sansoucie 