Magic Magic
Juno Temple, a couple of years ago, was voted BAFTA Rising Star. Unsurprisingly so, I might add. After all, by the age of 17, she had already given intense and stirring performances that encompass the backlash of youth in dramas such as Atonement and Notes of a Scandal. Now at 25 (which is my age so I’ll have to bite back my jealousy) she has a whole slew of roles under her belt including a supporting appearance in The Dark Knight and an unforgettable one in Killer Joe. And what’s more than that, she has a host of upcoming roles that’ll further her portfolio in a great way. One of these many many films is Magic Magic which sparked her previously mentioned win.
Magic Magic also stars Michael Cera and Emily Browning. Temple stars as Alicia, a timid and introverted girl who is forced to go on holiday with her much more outgoing cousin Sarah and Sarah’s friends. However, when Sarah unexpectedly gets a phone call and has to shoot back to school, Alicia is left to interact with the boisterous and loud friends. A lack of sleep and an already borderline mind-set means Alicia is left battling her own sanity as it slowly dwindles in the Chilean countryside. As tensions mount and her grip on reality loosens, Alicia must separate what is real from her own hallucinations.
Director and writer Sebastian Silva has created an intensely disturbing piece that is centred on Temple’s evocative performance that goes from strength to strength. The thrills of the action are imperatively placed right on Temple’s shoulders and she masterfully accomplishes an absorbing performance that is chilling and unnerving. As Alicia, she delicately debilitates her mind-set, weaving in small nuances at the beginning that snowball into full blown insanity. Her endearing portrayal gives Temple an edge over the rest of the rising stars as she accomplishes a detailed mental breakdown helped by Silva’s sweeping cinematography and imagery.
Though the players are good, Cera adequately annoying and Browning unforgettable nice, Silva’s drama piece is let down by an unwarranted end that feels cut and paste from two different movies. And whilst I don’t want to implement spoilers, it is so annoyingly done that I must address it. Alicia, a the height of her paranoia and insomnia riddle brain, jumps from a cliff face into the sea during the middle of a night (an act she couldn’t do during the day, polarising her further from the group). Instead of ending it there, which would have been a beautiful open ended finale, Silva takes Alicia to a healer who does a ritual in attempts to cure her which may actually kill her.
The end is polarised from a rather invigorating film and descends into silliness that doesn’t feel entirely fleshed out or thought through. Magic Magic’s final acts feel rushed and not clever, as though Silva struggled to round his tale off in a ridiculous way. Letting down the movie, if this shaman-esque last ten minutes were cut, leaving Alicia’s fate unknown in the murky midnight of the sea, Magic Magic would be more effective.
That being said, it is worth watching for Temple’s performance.