X
- 2012
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 50 m
- 2012
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 50 m
Summary Set in the strange and oppressive emotional landscape of the year 1983, Beyond The Black Rainbow is a Reagan-era fever dream inspired by hazy childhood memories of midnight movies and Saturday morning cartoons. (Magnet Releasing)
Directed By: Panos Cosmatos
Written By: Panos Cosmatos
- 2012
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 50 m
- 2012
- R
- Magnet Releasing
- 1 h 50 m
Beyond the Black Rainbow
49
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary Set in the strange and oppressive emotional landscape of the year 1983, Beyond The Black Rainbow is a Reagan-era fever dream inspired by hazy childhood memories of midnight movies and Saturday morning cartoons. (Magnet Releasing)
Directed By: Panos Cosmatos
Written By: Panos Cosmatos
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
49
40% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
30% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
30% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
49
40% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
30% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
30% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Something like a trippy grindhouse homage whose familiar images are refracted through a prism of blacklight posters, Jodorowsky films, and even Rob Zombie's grungy psychotropic sensibility.
At heart, the film is no more (or less) than a brilliantly executed lark, but it's not often that we're reminded with such potency that movies are most delightful as sensory experiences.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.4
56% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
22% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
22% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.4
56% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
22% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
22% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Beyond the Black Rainbow is admittedly a niche film, for those who love atmospheric, psychedelic film, this homage to '80s Sci-fi Thrillers is absolutely a must watch. The visual experience is breathtaking, as is the admirable and expert use of practical special effects. The plot is not particularly complicated or dense, but it is also not a Superhero movie. This is a film that demands a modicum of your attention as it plays out in order to follow the action, although the viewer is fully rewarded with simultaneously astringent and lush cinematography and an oppressive yet delightfully nostalgic soundtrack, which references 80's Sci-fi scores with canny agility. Detractors would argue that it is purely visual, to which I would say it is purely sensate. There is a critical difference between the two, with the latter seeking to be emotionally evocative and the latter seeking to be titillating. Beyond the Black Rainbow does not stoop so low as to merely try to arouse or frighten. The film relies on its visual aesthetic to convey much of its emotional content, and does so very well. Beyond the Black Rainbow is on the fast track to becoming a cult-classic, and I can't recommend it more highly.
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A moody thinkpiece, but boy is it more satisfying than it ought to be. This is pretty much all concept, forcing you to pay very close attention to piece together even the shadow of a story. But if you can come to it on those terms you'll find a lot to like and some that you'll never forget
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Though the finale feels a bit anticlimactic, the lysergic atmosphere, synth-heavy score and logic-resistant story line more than earn Beyond the Black Rainbow's concluding quote, borrowed from another classic midnight movie: "No matter where you go…there you are." See the late show.
Unless you're among those who still drop acid as a midnight-movie apéritif, your enjoyment of this retro oddity remains far from guaranteed.
Beyond the Black Rainbow is the kind of movie whose cool-looking trailer entices you to midnight screenings, but the film will bore you so profoundly you'll fall asleep halfway and wake up disoriented during the closing credits.
Add two more stars here if zoning out to weirdo-dreamy, '80s public-access TV with a synthesizer soundtrack is your idea of midnight fun. Because this ambitious, but not uninteresting, failure has that in its DNA.
His late father directed "Rambo: First Blood,'' but Panos Cosmatos' debut feature couldn't be more different - this would-be cult classic is the movie equivalent of gazing at a lava lamp for nearly two hours.
Beyond the Black Rainbow is a B-movie with great visual style and synth scoring. I wanted to rate it up for those alone, but still it is a B-movie and it shows. The film lacks in plot and acting. My advice is to watch the trailer and if it is something you'd like to look at and listen to then queue up the movie, but do so without expectation that you will get something of cinematic substance.
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A gorgeous and unique, yet abstruse and overindulgant film. If you loooove experimental arthouse/psychedelic cinema and have the patience of Job, you'll adore it.
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I liked Beyond the Black Rainbow for making me feel uncomfortable throughout. This is not an easy film to sit through. This is also not a film for everyone. However, if you can deal with the internal discord brought on by the soundtrack, story and visuals you might find yourself to have enjoyed the film.
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this movie was borring as hell. There was a scene where the guy is getting dressed and its doing it in ultra slow motion that when i pressed fast forward it still looked like he was getting dressed slowly...;I. are you kidding me? its not stylish, its not trippy, its not anything but boring.
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Awards
Vancouver Film Critics Circle
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
