Movie Review: Look Into My Eyes

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A very compelling documentary. 

Most films about psychics would either try to prove or disprove whether or not they can actually do what they say they can. However, director Lana Wilson has little interest in this. Instead, she is interested in people. Whether they truly have a psychic gift is nowhere near as important as who these people are. This is a deeply empathetic film. Even if you are a skeptic (like me), you will still find yourself connecting to these people on a personal level. While none of these psychics have the same story, there are certain similarities between all of them. They are all outcasts who don't quite fit into society. They all have their own anxieties and have something in their past that hurt them. However, their "abilities" have a way of helping them cope. One gets the idea that they are not only doing this to help their clients get through something but to help themselves make it through their pain as well. Yet sometimes their insecurities can reach even into their careers as psychics. They even admit themselves that they sometimes wonder if their abilities are real or if they are making stuff up. There are moments in this movie that make it seems like these abilities have to be real and there are others where it seems like these psychics are completely making stuff up. Yet the camera just sits and observes these scenes, and Wilson offers no commentary on them. This is the rare current documentary that never tells us what to think. People who are skeptics may look at these scenes completely different from those who are believers. There is no narrator or even subtitles telling us who these people are. The camera and the director just sit and observe. Yet this sheer honesty is what makes the film so fascinating. It is also why we are allowed to connect so deeply with these people, even as we may not share the same beliefs. 

This is a truly wonderful movie and must watch for fans of documentaries. I personally had little interest in the subject matter, yet found myself glued to the screen.