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Beyond The Black Rainbow, 2010

Release Date: May 18, 2012 (USA)

Director: Panos Cosmatos

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWF0bBKhe6o&t=1s&frags=pl%2Cwn

Beyond the Black Rainbow, also known as the worst film to ever watch while tripping on any type of hallucinogens, will go down as one of the strangest, yet insanely visually stimulating movies of the 10s. It’s safe to say that this sci-fi horror film did not fall short in regards to its genre, as it is filled with science and an amped up perspective on the normal level of unnerving horror. To this day Beyond The Black Rainbow is either hated or strangely loved by its viewers. After reading this review you will soon understand why...

Based on the strange and unsettling time period that the year 1983 fell under, Beyond the Black Rainbow is a film based off of the feeling of having completely no control over your senses. From the characters themselves experiencing this traumatic feeling of being held hostage in the most literal sense. As the protagonist, Elena, finds herself being held captive by the young protege of Dr. Arboria, Barry Nyle. A charming, yet psychotic scientist who has been keeping Elena under his constraints due to her psychic abilities. A power in which Dr. Nyle has the power of controlling with a glowing prismatic device. 

In an effort to understand Elena and her powers, Dr. Nyle conducts daily therapy sessions while she is either heavily sedated or on the fine line of being so. Furthering his knowledge on her telekineses in order to use her abilities for himself, as he frequently subjects them onto others throughout the movie, Ultimately leading to most of their demise. 

It is within the middle portion of the film that emphasizes Elena’s desire to escape Dr. Nyles firm grasp. Other advances such as the reasoning behind Dr. Nyle being the psycho that he is are also displayed. The backstory behind Nyle being as posessive as he is over Elena lies within his own journey towards reaching what his mentor, Dr. Arboria’s, main goal was for his institute... transcendence. In order to reach this level of superiority Arboria had put Nyle  through a procedure that would in a sense open his third eye. 

It is within this flashback that the truth comes to the forefront and all things begin to finally make sense. Given that the whole reason Elena is stuck under Nyle’s control is due to her father actually being Dr. Arboria, and she too had succumb to the same procedure Nyle had gone through. Making them connected, yet at the same time making her the one with the stronger powers given how young she was when this all went down. 

From this point on the overall theme of the movie takes a very dark turn and is then based around hallucinations, unearthly looking creatures, Dr. Nyle being one of them. 

However, Elena eventually ends up being able to finally escape out of the institute that up until then was the only thing she knew. It wasn't long before Nyle would come chasing after her, just to meet his own downfall, as Elena is finally able to break through his control and use them for her own benefit. Which could only be Nyle’s monotonous death. 

Overall this movie was filled with disturbing visuals, along with eerie scenes that could keep the mind up for days on end. Although the plot was slowly developed thanks to the lack of dialogue at the very beginning, the end result was still in fact shocking and worth the watch. I can assure you that I have never experienced a movie such as Beyond The Black Rainbow.

Some of the overall themes depicted can be subjective for the viewer. However, the ones dually noted are the social control mechanisms, internal controls, and the effect of religion has on our perspective on society. Given that the film expressed deep interest in making sure that the viewer felt uncomfortable while having no control over what they might have thought to happen next within each and every scene, as well as what horrifying imagery they’d see next. Along with the constant repression and lack of control one could feel while sympathizing with the protagonist, Elena.

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