A superb supernatural drama

Rating: 10/10 (30 May 2000)

I saw this at the cinema once, and I will honestly say that no other film of 1999 left such an impression.
Now before I carry on I will say that I'm quite well "viewed" as far as this genre of film goes. A number of my favourite films are from the psychological horror genre. I won't compare this film to any other of its kind because I prefer to judge a film on its own merits. This isn't really a review, but rather what I was thinking while watching it.
(SPOILERS)
OK, so I saw it. I wasn't expecting great things from it. Which is the only reason I can think of why it took me so completely by surprise. It started promisingly, with a quite disturbing intruder scene and a gunshot. Suddenly, its "The Next Fall" (Autumn for us Brits!) and here is a man, previously injured by said gunshot, pick up the case of an odd young man with similar childhood problems to his attacker. At this point I had no reason to think that anything was amiss. If you don't start to wonder at this point, it's too late. I was completely drawn into the relationships between the characters and this young man's plight. Obviously I wasn't watching it in the same state of mind as others, who may have guessed the "surprise" right away. Call me thick or whatever, but I feel better off than those who did guess. Because they will have missed out on one of the greatest movie experiences for some time.
Its a very personal drama with delicate performances, combined with some extremely effective chills. It slowly moves along to it's conclusion, introducing several elements on the way to distract you. Cole's mother's anguish at not understanding what is happening to her son is well portrayed. As things progressed, I thought "this is a good film". Then towards the end, a quite devastating shock is revealed at the dead little girl's wake (whom Cole is now trying to help.) I was so repulsed at and chilled with what was revealed here. Now it was a "great film". As things were being tied up, with a quite emotional scene between Cole and his mother, then between Malcolm and his wife- BANG! It happened. As Malcolm looked at his hand, my blood froze. And it stayed frozen till the close and well into the end credits. I walked out into the night air, I was dizzy. I hadn't walked out of the cinema feeling like that for a long long time. It's not the most original surprise ending, but it's certainly up there with the best of them.
Now, here I am, after buying the DVD and watching it a second time. And even though I know the ending and how obvious it is in hindsight, It still has a great effect on me as I remember my feelings during the first viewing. But isn't that what all great films do...
This film has generated a lot of debate in this forum, which says more about it's quality than I can.