Review of What Lies Beneath (2000) by Filipeneto — 05 May 2021

This film was badly mistreated by critics, but, I confess, it worked reasonably for me, and I am not disappointed with it. It is not a brilliant film, it has flaws, but it seems to me a successful effort. The well-written script, full of twists that add to the mystery and prevent the audience from realizing what is really going on until almost the end, as well as the excellent performances of the main actors, were decisive for the quality of the final result.

At first, it looks like a simple mild psychological horror film around another haunted house: Norman and Claire are a middle-aged couple and now live alone, as their daughter went to University. They recovered the family's country house, but Claire will begin to hear voices and have strange and frightening visions, which she quickly relates to a couple of neighbors with somewhat strange behaviors. But the truth is hidden closer than she thinks, and what we thought was a light horror film turns out to be, after all, a very elegant and engaging mystery thriller.

The cast is skillfully led by two great actors, who need no introduction nor to prove their talent to anyone: Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. She is totally at ease with her character and is still very beautiful, although she is no longer the young actress of "Age of Innocence". Ford gives us an equally solid and fresh work, as it is extraordinarily rare to see this actor not being the good guy. The way in which both actors act together is very positive, full of chemistry and intensity. The supporting characters are guaranteed, with pride and merit, by actors like Diana Scarwid and Katharine Towne.

Technically, the film shows the full value of its budget. Skillfully directed by Robert Zemeckis, it has excellent cinematography, with a dark and dense atmosphere, good light and shade and a very restrained, but effective, use of outside scenes. The house is beautiful, and the set is very elegant, as well as the costumes, particularly Pfeiffer's. The film is over two hours in length, and it may seem a little too long, but I confess that I handled it well and didn't feel that it needed many additional cuts. Most of the time, it manages to create the atmosphere and environment necessary for the suspense to work, but this begins to fail as the film moves towards its climax.