Light from Light

source: Light from Light

I was quite pleased, despite it being (I assume) a low budget indie film. I had never seen any of the actors, but they seemed very real and believable.

You'll know the moment. A surprising and powerful moment in an otherwise still, and subtle film. Beautifully filmed. Delicately written, directed, and performed with, I feel compelled to say, respect. Not burdened by a need for conclusions.

A paranormal investigator (Marin Ireland) researches a home where a widowed husband (Jim Gaffigan) experiences paranormal activity after his wife passes away in a plane crash. Light from Light is a film that is very slow paced but in a calm relaxing way. The calming music in specific scenes gives the film mystery throughout the film. The characters deep conversations about life gives the feel/tone of the film a more realistic and natural approach. Light from Light is a melodic mystery on the feelings we experience from paranormal activity. Light from Light is a recommend film to watch. Overall a slow paced, thoughtful film with impressive performances from Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan.

"Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile; So ere you find where light in darkness lies, Your light grows dark by losing of your eyes." Light from Light is not a new movie. Though it is dealing with the paranormal one would not describe this film as spooky or a suspenseful. What Light from Light does is far more remarkable. It is a beautifully sad and haunting little movie that never makes a false step or allows itself to be false. Writer/Director Paul Harrill never gives in to the impulse to be gaudy or to scare us as so many of those moving furniture movies try to do. What he does is to tell a story of mourning and sadness tinging it with a little bit of hope. Marin Ireland, one of the most underrated and underused female actors out there, is, as always, wonderful as an ordinary understated woman who happens to have had hints of paranormal experience and is "in between" paranormal investigation groups, working at a car rental company. She's contacted by a priest after doing a local radio interview, who asks her to visit a widower who may be having paranormal experiences. Jim Gaffigan plays the widower. One would not immediately think of casting a comedian like Gaffigan in a role where there is no comedy, tremendous sadness and an undertow of rage, but he is perfect. There is something about his size and awkwardness that makes him so right for the role and it turns out that he can act. He is not just good. I'll say it again. He's perfect. Light from Light might not be for everyone. It's a very quiet movie. Maybe a bit of a sad movie. If you like explosions, super heroes, car crashes, moving furniture, slasher movies perhaps this is not the movie for you. But Light from Light is definitely haunting. In the truest meaning of the word. It deserves to be watched. And what better thing can you say about a film?

I can't say I enjoyed this one as much the previous film directed by Paul Harrell "Something, Anything", but it was enjoyable, engaging, and interesting. Am happy to see the relatively high Metacritic score though. Maybe I need to revisit this one!

This indie is well made from a cinematography perspective and the actors did a good job but this film ultimately went nowhere. I really wanted to like it more than I did but all but the last 15 minutes or so left me pretty bored. There's plenty to like about this movie but it just feels lacking by the time the credits roll.

This film is a perfect, searching and soulful little piece of film making. All four people brought to life here are living in hope for something outside of themselves and beyond the mundane but necessary realities of work, study and getting by. They seek life. They seek light. They seek love. And death is the undercurrent and background and vehicle through which this search takes on a more urgent and pressing need for meaning. And of course, there are various histories, some spoken and others not, relating to grief and loss and a need for forgiveness and closure. The father who 'drank himself to death'. The deceased wife who 'had something going on with another man'. The single mother who despite doing her best, cannot protect her son from the risks life and love inevitably bring, without hurting him herself. The title of the film, Light from Light. is borrowed from the Nicene Creed and the context in which it is used here, is, to quote a modern shibboleth, spiritual. not religious. It's beautifully filmed with a mellow soundtrack and lends itself to reflection over entertainment, much to the chagrin of at least one other reviewer here so far, I see (with much amusement). Enjoy!

I wouldn't watch this if I were you. Definitely one of the most boring movies I've seen in quite some time. It could have shot in 20 minutes maximum. Maybe the main actress was OK but that's about it.

When the most exciting part of the film in when a supporting character gets stung by a wasp, you know you've got a loser. Bottom line: this film was excruciatingly boring! It could've been done in 30 minutes. Many dragged out scenes with moody music that were completely unnecessary.