Review: Between the Walls -  1122 days ago

 

His father’s territory – exclusively. During his growing up years, Peter knew the room beyond the locked door was forbidden to both him and his mother. But time has passed, and with his parents’ house being repossessed by the bank, he comes home to help the moving process. But then he faces the door…and what lies beyond. Its contents will change every aspect of his life.

That’s the premise of Beyond the Walls, a film by Glowing Nose Productions. And now that I’ve given that intro, here’s the trailer.




As you can tell from the trailer, it’s a low-budget Christian film. So how well did it communicate? Here’s my take:

Artistic:
I was very impressed with the flashback scenes. Most of the strongest writing, acting and/or directorial moments were showcased when Peter pushed play on the tape recorder. The filmmakers also pulled off some very creative transitions into these moments. One of my favorite was a dolly shot that circled around Peter. One moment he’s in the present, sitting at the kitchen table, and as the camera moves around him, suddenly you see his mom there. It felt very natural and organic, pulling the viewer into the story.

Biggest weakness? The “preachy” scenes where the Christian character tries to reason with Peter. This type of writing seems to be a stumbling block for the majority of Christian indie producers, and I can understand why! Effectively communicating your message without being overly wordy is a challenge.

Another part of the plot I loved was the build-up to the room behind the door. I was hooked pretty quickly, wondering what would be found when the hinges turned. If you’re an indie producer, watch just for the way the story grabs the viewer here. But unfortunately, that payoff came too quickly and it took a while before the film engaged me again. A new plot hook needed to be introduced. Maybe build up the dad’s inner struggles more in order to bring a greater payoff to the forgiveness scene? I’d like to hear the filmmakers’ thoughts some time on how they structured the story.

Technical:
It IS low budget, so don’t expect Hollywood here, but overall the lighting and camera work were very good. Notice how they wrote the script to maximize the location – almost the entire movie takes place at the house. Smart. The GlowingNose guys also didn’t extend the movie too long, so you really don’t get tired of the house.

If you’re a Christian wanting to make a low, low budget film, then watch this picture. It’s definitely one of the better ones. But beyond the film itself are the DVD extras. The step by step story of production ups and downs provides insight into the true story of making a movie. They also provide some behind the scenes featurettes of how they did a scene from a technical standpoint.

You might need Netflix or Blockbuster Online to rent a copy – as with most of this type of indie film, few brick and mortar stores carry it.

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