HALF LIGHT

Rachel Carlson is a successful writer, with a beautiful family and a beautiful house overlooking the river. One day, the tranquility and happiness of Rachel suddenly vanish when her son Thomas drowns in the river. After months of grief and a divorce, Rachel decides to rent a cottage on the cliffs of a Scottish village where she can be at peace to reflect on her recent past and write her new novel in tranquility. There, the woman meets Angus, the young lighthouse keeper with a tragedy behind him: love blossoms between the two. The days pass peacefully, and Rachel seems to have returned to happiness despite the frequent dreams featuring her deceased son; until one day all her certainties shatter again, as she learns from the villagers that Angus died seven years ago! The rule of social reintegration for declining Hollywood stars is that the former stars in question attempt the path of the supernatural thriller to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public. This has already happened to Kevin Costner (Dragonfly - The Sign of the Dragonfly), Winona Ryder (Lost Souls - The Prophecy), and Richard Gear (The Mothman Prophecies), with results for the protagonists sometimes fortunate and sometimes less so. The same path has been taken by former star Demi Moore, who, three years after the sequel to "Charlie's Angels," attempts everything with this "Half Light," a Hitchcockian thriller with supernatural overtones. As often happens with this type of production, a high-quality technical and artistic execution is accompanied by a story that is often weak and unoriginal; this is also the case with "Half Light," a respectable film if one considers the numerous merits related to the formal realization of the work, but then extremely lacking in content. Therefore, we will be dealing with a film directed with great skill by an excellent Craig Rosenberg, capable of stunning tracking shots that enhance the suggestive natural setting that serves as the backdrop to the story, a coastal environment with great emotional impact and capable on its own of adding value to the entire work. This is added to by a dark photography, which gives a sense of coldness and melancholy, certainly very suitable for the atmosphere that is felt in the film; moreover, the choice of actors also seems rather appropriate and, alongside a good Hans Matheson ("Deathwatch"), in the role of the mysterious Angus, is a Demi Moore who is always good and fascinating. So, what doesn't work well in "Half Light"? Surely not entirely convincing is the central focus of every self-respecting thriller, that is, the story. In this film, the plot unfolds in three well-distinct and distinguishable moments: it starts with the loss of a loved one and family security for the partial reacquisition of these securities with the meeting of the lighthouse keeper, from which a new life develops. Therefore, the film begins with dramatic and then sentimental tones. The second part takes on a ghost story mystery with the revelation of the keeper's death that occurred years ago... and up to here nothing strange, since most of the new millennium's supernatural thrillers follow this setup, now considered classic. However, a third part emerges that abandons the supernatural tones to stabilize more properly on the thriller, but that type of thriller is predictable and a bit facile, certainly not up to the expectations that had been created. Therefore, the "Half Light" operation cannot be considered completely successful due to fluctuating narrative developments and some not very happy screenplay choices. Moreover, the tension tends to be lacking, ending up concentrating in very rare and rather telegraphed bus. More could (and should) have been expected from this film, although it remains fluid and quite suitable for spending a couple of hours of entertainment: it is not among the worst of its saturated genre, but it certainly does not leave a mark.