Empty but gorgeous imagery, filled with references to other movies and heavily indebted to Kenneth Anger. No, it's not a Nicholas Winding Refn film but Beyond the Black Rainbow, a low-budget throwback gem from Canadian filmmaker Panos Cosmatos. With a stark but smooth, even John Carpenter-like direction, Cosmatos descends into a head trip that takes its cues from '70s and '80s sci-fi movies even as it proudly stakes out its own territory. The film's Oedipal trappings are just add-ons, but the true delight is wandering around the director's hazy headspace, filmed with striking colors, soft focus, and thick grain. Maybe not a great film, but an intoxicating one.
My full review is up now at Spectrum Culture.
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