My Review of Mirrors

Directed by Alexandre Aja
Written by Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur

In Mirrors, Kiefer Sutherland, best known for the Fox TV show, 24 plays Ben Carson, a security guard for an old, condemned building who quickly discovers that there's something evil lurking within the mirrors of this creepy building. From here on out, Mirrors plays like a mystery wrapped inside a horror film; i.e., The Ring.

Ben Carson was once a police detective. An accident got him fired. He's been drinking, off and on ever since. He takes prescription drugs to help fight the addiction. He has two children and a wife that refuses to let Ben see them. His life is not something to be happy about at the moment. Carson gets a job as the security guard at an old building.

In fact, this old building was once a promenant shopping center like Macy's and before that, a building for the criminally insane. Mirrors of every size are placed throughout the building. None of them have a scratch or blemish on them. Already, we know that this building has the best setup for some spooky stuff.

As Ben gets used to his job, patroling the building from top to bottom, he begins to see some unusual stuff happening within the mirrors. Even Ben's own reflection becomes untrustworthy. From this point on, Ben thinks he might be losing his mind, but he also considers these strange things in the mirrors to be dangerous. His concerns are only amplified when the mirrors start killing people close to him. Don't ask me how they kill. I'm not going to give away too much. Then, Ben tries everything to keep his wife and children safe from the mirrors, including taking down and covering each mirror in their house.

Will Ben be able to stop the mirrors from killing his son or daughter or his wife? I can't say. Who's going to live? I can't spoil the surprise ending. Who or what created these deadly reflections you ask? All I can say is that SHE is a nun and she doesn't want to let "them" loose. Will you enjoy Mirrors? There are a lot of good things to enjoy about this movie. Will you be scared by Mirrors? There were a few times when I jumped out of my skin.

Final thoughts

Mirrors is not without a few problems. Some of the characters besides Ben are cardboard and bland. Sutherland on the other hand was impressive. I remember the last time I saw him in so many movies. When Kiefer did A Few Good Men and Flatliners, I thought his acting abilities were impressive then. But he never quite shook the image of the bad guy until after his TV show, 24. Now we can appreciate him as a bad guy and a good guy.

Then we come to the story and the writers. The writers never seem to fully connect the dots in their story, so to speak. And the story itself becomes a little too obviously formulaic at times. But I enjoyed Mirrors for the most part.

More of the principle cast

Paula Patton plays Amy Carson
Cameron Boyce plays Michael Carson
Amy Smart plays Angela Carson
Erica Gluck plays Daisy Carson