When you come across a movie like mirror Mirror made by Cantabrian Marc Crehue (2023), comes to think of the few means that are really lacking for the worthy elaboration of such an audiovisual history; and that, if it were something of the monstrous industry of Hollywood, he would multiply his budget many times over. No need, of course. Just sit down to see it in a movie theater these days to find out.
Just like the incredible The Earth Manunexpected triumph of Richard Schenkman (2007), the genre to which we discover that it belongs, in addition to comedy, very often tends to lend itself to directors composing great shows atop the fireworks for the eyes of the viewer who, for some reason, seeks them out and is entertained. An aspect that is not unfavorable if they offer respectful efficiency, but it amounts to the same.
What is different is found, for example, in these small works that express a more or less curious ideabelonging to a genre that is not strictly realistic, in a way that appeals to the understanding of our gray matter, just like a proposal as enormous as fools’ dinnerby Francis Veber (1998) — and let the horrible burn in the hell of the abominable remake by Jay Roach (2010)—, and mirror Mirror He does not limit himself to betting everything on the rowdy and the visceral.
The highs and lows of humor in ‘Mirror Mirror’
Marc Crehuet, whose first feature film was the one-eyed king (2016) and who, among other things, wrote the scripts for several episodes of The neighbor (2019-2021), asks us a strange dynamic with something akin to the inner monologue of characters in literature, from those of English modernism to whatever you like, or the typical voice thought in disabled of the seventh art… but exteriorized with a doppleganger which responds through the reflection of the protagonists.
On the other hand, he seasons it with working-class satire, on certain types of people and interpersonal relationships, and A mood it’s not okay Absolutely with disgust but of varied purpose, because sometimes he manages to press the button for a sincere laugh in the respectable and other times he wants to press it and only reaches that of the smiles or even fails with one of them because he is in the dark. However, its scenario does not skimp on certain touches of fantastical surrealism.
What must be implied is that, if it was the job of the casting, Marc Crehuet would never miss the shot. In such an eccentric situation, there is not much more to ask for. the visible humanity of Malena Alterio in the skin of Cristina, Santi Millán in that of Álvaro, Carlos Areces at Alberto, for which they reserve the best shots, Natalia de Molina in the recognizable Paula or Betsy Túrnez in Antonia. With the company of a flawless secondary, eye.
A good idea that gave more
There are turns of mirror Mirror which remind us of the nightmare of the chapter “Bart Sells His Soul” (7×04) of the veteran animated series The simpsons (since 1989). However, at some point, hilarity freezes us and the intimate dramas that had arisen from the beginning among the sarcasm escape him, and one finds oneself worried about these characters. Even when it comes to the mother played by the late Verónica Forqué for sadly obvious reasons.
Similarly, Marc Crehuet occasionally plays with the limits of the plausible, even the ridiculous; but it eventually goes away graceful in his juggling on the tightrope. Without showing, of course, that the visual layout remains in an acceptable performance, with some striking parallel montages. And we can’t regret having eaten mirror Mirror whose plot what could be expressed is not expressed if he was deepening the bad blood of a black comedy.
