an intense journey into escapism

Rating: 9/10 (27 May 2012)

Three characters living mundane lives find themselves with the strangest of opportunities. We see them evolve into hypocritical, selfish and brutally honest souls who turn a portal into John Malkovich into a introspective amusement park for their developing love tryst, alongside a bizarre existence of others living a secret eternal life. Charlie Kaufman's script is a maze of self searching, ultimately exposing the dream of being someone else as false escape. Director Spike Jonze captures desperation of self and sympathizes with a struggle familiar to many of us, "playing with people". This is an intriguing exposure of unfulfilled lives that grows more intense with every viewing