The Whole Truth (Movie Review)
This is a spectacular movie with some intense acting. It kicks of as two siblings stumble on a strange hole in the wall of their grandparents' house, horrifying incidents reveal sinister secrets about the family. So we have a mom with two teenage kids.
In one rainy night, the mom gets into a car accident and now is in a coma. Grandparents, who the kids don't remember ever meeting, come to take care of them while their mom is on the mend. And then while the kids are at the grandparents' house, they discover a hole in the wall that shows some very disturbing imagery.
And the kids try to figure out what that means. Everything in this story is over-exaggerated, from the acting and responses to the music. I mean, each item is turned way past 11.
So first were the kids. They have some encounters where their facial expressions, gestures and voices instantly go from zero to a thousand. And while it wasn't really laughable, it was hard to get used to.
I was finally able to reconcile all of their interactions, responses and reactions from being what I considered to be overdramatic. And then once I did that, I took them just as part of the performances. It didn't become a distraction anymore.
The musical score for this is a lot also. And there are several times throughout the story that the dialogue is competing with the music, which I thought was odd. But then the music itself was overly dramatic, too.
And I understand how music is used to help shape our feelings and emotions, especially within scenes. But this was over-the-top obvious in how it was attempting to manipulate the way we feel. Even though much of this is inflated drama, there are portions of the story and execution which I really enjoyed.
First, the concept of this is really great. We have a hole in the wall that shows some sort of horrifying imagery. And then the mystery that unfolds as characters try to determine what it all means.
There's a central focus of family within this. And I think that the internal drama can resonate somewhat with everyone. I don't think to the extreme that this story takes things, but just disagreements and baggage between family members are a fairly typical thing.
The narrative is pretty dark once everything is unveiled. And I like how layered it is. Some portions are pretty obvious and predictable, I thought.
But then there was also something that was introduced that I hadn't expected, which I thought was then good. There are two side stories that take place within this that really only serve as a distraction to the main storyline. But luckily, one is not the focus for too long.
But it is there long enough to add unnecessary time to the film. And this is a long movie already at two hours and five minutes. The second side story does help to build in some other intrigue and character depth, and along with some additional story conflict.
So that one didn't feel as useless to me. Some of the cinematography is good and immersive, as they will have a camera that will spin around the character and then into the room to just envelop us in the experience. Not all of it works, though, but it is a good technique that can be effective in putting us right into the middle of things.
There are some practical effects in this and camera edits that help to add a creepiness to the story. But then there are also some digital special effects that are clearly CGI, and they're not done well at all. Most of the time, that's having to do with blood.
And even though they try to hide some of the deficiencies with darkness and shadows, it's still pretty poor in quality. The pacing of this is uneven, where we'll have some instances flow well, and then there are other sequences that just feel rushed and jumbled, spending too little time on certain interactions and then way too long on portions that lead nowhere. Because of how certain character dynamics are set up, I got some vibes of M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit.
And I think a lot of that has to do with mysterious grandparents and visiting kids who are experiencing weirdness. And thankfully, though, this is a different story. This is billed as a dramatic horror, but I never really felt some of the tension and suspense that can come with horrors.
There are scenes of violence and gore and even effects that match the horror genre. But that's about where the feelings end. The story didn't cause anxiety, uneasiness or even dread.
It certainly got drama, though, even if it is melodramatic. The whole truth is an engaging concept of a story. And I love the drama that is created by being able to see horrifying events through a hole in the wall.
It may seem like this is a voyeuristic theme, but it really has nothing to do with that. Family is the driving force, and the mystery that's contained within this and really at its core is intriguing. Unfortunately, though, the execution just didn't work for me.
The music and acting are both over-exaggerated in ways that distract from the narrative. And even when I got past the melodrama of the actors, the pacing and digital effects were completely against any tension. While this had potential and does contain some worthwhile moments, the whole of it isn't worth the time investment. This is the kind of movie that I'd give a rating of 5 out of 10.
Such a detailed review!
I mist commend how you pick each aspect to the movie and review it separately. It makes for an insightful story. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading through