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A year after her son drowns just outside their home, London-based novelist Rachel Carlson
(Demi Moore) still blames herself for the mishap. Distraught, she separates from her husband Brian (Henry Ian Cusick) and goes on self-exile in an isolated Scottish fishing
village, hoping to find peace as she tries to write again.
On this island she meets the young lighthouse-keeper Angus, descended from a long line of lighthouse-keepers in that village. Hardly recovering from the trauma that took away her son, Rachel is haunted by the young boy, frequently visited by her, alternately comforting and tormenting her until in confusion she runs to Angus—and falls for him. The thing is, the whole village thinks Rachel is strange, because Angus has been dead for seven years.
The plot seems recycled from old and better movies of the same genre. Strange things happen and the viewer can not quite
figure out fact from fantasy in the story.
Is the heroine living inside her head, or have the villagers slept through their life too long? Much of the thrills in the story get their push from the creepy music and sound effects. Cinematography is good and highlights the most delightful sceneries from the pristine seascape of Scotland. Acting is from average to so-so, there being very little in the plot to challenge their mettle. Moore, who has been "invisible" for six years returns to do a role similar to the one that first put her name in lights in Hollywood (
Ghost). She's right for the part of a distraught, bewildered writer, having advance in years and lost much of her animal appeal.
It is understandable that the heroine should feel so guilty for her son's death, she being so absorbed by her career that she
cannot have enough time to look after the boy.
And why is she so absorbed? She's a wildly successful novelist, making four million pounds from her first novel. Don't let this "thriller" fool you into thinking this is a mere ghost or detective movie. More than the whodunit part of the story, the viewer should see that the root of all confusion here—around which revolve the illusions, the crimes, the loves—is money. The lust for money—pure and simple! But if we tell you why, we'll have to tell you the ending, too. You don't want that.
(Date Reviewed: 27 January 2006)
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