A Nightmare Before Sleep

Rating: Null/10 (24 March 2011)

'The Machinist' is a tense and chilling atmospheric and character driven piece. Anderson, his cast and crew do a tremendous job in building suspense. Where style of execution is concerned, Brad Anderson seems to have been inspired by filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. The editing and score feels very Hitchcockian while the claustrophobic darkness and feel of space is very Kubrickian.
The stylish cinematography and washed out colours are very effective in adding to this nightmarish atmosphere. The art direction and special effects are brilliant.
Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh deliver exceptional performances. Even though I have reservations about the fact that in reality Bale thinned down to a bag of bones for the role, his appearance does add to the atmosphere. Beautiful Aitana Sánchez-Gijón has a charming screen presence.
The writing is wonderful. The dialogues are poetic in a subtle way and this couples well with the artistic visuals. I cannot say much about the story without risking spoilers but, even though it starts off a little slow, the gradual building of tension is very well done and the mystery is properly revealed in the end.