CAST: Daniel Craig (Will Attenton), Rachel Weisz (Libby), Naomi Watts, Elias, Koteas, Marton Csokas;DIRECTOR:Jim Sheridan;SCREENWRITER: Jim Sheridan PRODUCER: Morgan Creek;EDITOR: MUSICAL DIRECTOR;GENRE:Drama, Mystery, Thriller;CINEMATOGRAPHER: Caleb Deschanel;DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Studio;LOCATION: USA ; RUNNING TIME: 92 minutes
Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 1.5
Cinema Rating: For viewers 18 years old and above
Will Attenton (Daniel Craig) decides to give-up his high-paying job so he can finally settle down and spend more time with his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz) and two young daughters. They just recently moved into what Will would call, a dream house in suburb New England. Everything is blissful until the kids and Libby start to see and feel that something is wrong in the house. Will and Libby later on discover that their house is a site of murder wherein a man named Peter Ward killed his wife and two daughters. As Will investigates further, he will become more wary to learn that Peter Ward is still and already on the loose. For fear that his family might be the next target, Will does further investigation to locate Peter Ward, only to discover the truth that would be difficult for him to accept and handle.
Dream House boosts a powerful cast of good thespians who are able to pull off whatever it is that’s lacking in the film’s narrative. The audience is able to engage in the story more so because of the actors’ acting. The film has a strong beginning, however, when it revealed the greatest twist in the story, it never moved on to more interesting directions and possibilities. The story has nothing much to offer anymore after the said revelation. The scare never climaxes and the suspense becomes less thrilling. If one scrutinizes the plot, there are many loopholes in the logic of the thread. Much craft is seen though more on the film’s cinematography, music and sound that blend well. Then again, the audience will always look into the story. Dream House could’ve been great given the genius behind the film. Perhaps, they should think of a more intelligent plot after the twist and switch of fate is over.
The film dwells on one’s miseries with the distress he has gone though in life. Dream House is about a man who tries to move on only to find out that the very root of his problem is the fact that he has not moved on. There is a lot of genius in this premise only that the same point blurs somewhere in the story when it fails to convince how things came about. Will believed in his own ghosts that he is able to create and re-create a ghost-reality. But then, faith is not seen in such hallucinations, it only furthers the works of the devil. It seems, justice is elusive in such innocent lives and innocent victims in the story. Why such a horror would happen to a nearly-perfect family living in a dream house? Perhaps the film is also saying that bad things really happen to good people. It will be apparent towards the film’s end that somehow, justice is served to those who deserved to be punished. Some scenes of violence may not fit the very young audience.
