Surveillance

A pretty surprising movie that at times manages to work as a thriller and also as a comedy/parody, with everything holding together in a perverted way. Yet, I can’t avoid the feeling that it held together because of my mood rather than the competence of the creators. Throughout the screening, I could never feel sure whether the filmmakers truly wanted me to switch to another position every five minutes together with the film (which I wouldn’t mind if it was intentional), or whether that was a result of their incompetence. The very nice ending gives certain hopes that during that hour and a half you were in the hands of smart people, but then you remember the moments with the “good and bad cop” and those hopes shake to their core. Overall, though, Surveillance is a fairly untraditional movie that’s worth a go. (21.12.2008)

Despite the creators giving away too much too soon with various hints, I found the whole experience surprisingly entertaining. The story, woven together from three eyewitness accounts and a plotline that unveiled the actual sequence of events, worked exceptionally well for me. Even though Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond outshone the rest of the cast by a mile, I can't say any performance left me disappointed. The most unexpected revelation for me was that, despite all the explicit violence and psychopathic outbursts, Jennifer Lynch actually crafted a film about love, even though the word "romantic" is noticeably absent from the film's genre. / Lesson learned: Do not go over the speed limit. (20.07.2022)

When you see the name Lynch listed under the director of a film, know that you’re not in for something simple but rather a thoroughly crafted movie with many twists, enriched by the unique style of this director (though his work isn’t for everyone, obviously). Watching a film by his daughter feels like a carbon copy—it’s unbelievable, but she must be a 100% genuine clone. Surveillance is a gritty crime thriller, but it stands in its own light and can’t be compared to any other film. We are taken to rural America, where the oppressive atmosphere is felt right from the first minutes. Instead of protecting their citizens, the police shoot at foreigners’ tires and then enjoy a face-to-face conversation with them, and then we can add a pair of serial killers operating in this setting. That sets the stage for a truly bleak film with no room for humor. The pair of main FBI detectives are astonishingly deadly (should I even call them detectives? Those who’ve seen it will understand), the atmosphere is gripping, and the gradual piecing together of the story was executed perfectly. The ending is an uncompromising punch to the face—I had the resolution in front of me the whole time, and I missed it. A little more work on the characters and some of the duller moments, and we’d have one of the best detective films in history. Even so, it’s a film you should watch immediately. I give it 86%. (23.08.2017)