6 Souls Blu-ray review

Actors: Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Conroy, Nathan Corddry

Director: Björn Stein, Måns Mårlind

Writers: Michael Cooney

Producers: Alex Garcia, Bill Bannerman, Billy Rovzar, Darlene Caamano Loquet, David Bergstein

Format: Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay

Release Date: July 2, 2013

Run Time: 112 minutes

 

 

        Far from an original script or any ideas contained within it, 6 Souls manages to rise above the terrible thanks to a cast of talented actors and director team that knows how to utilize them. This is far from a memorable or even good film, but that should already be expected from a movie that has been sitting on the shelf since 2010. What is unexpected is how engaging a bad idea can be with Julianne Moore as your protagonist. Even the most unbelievable scenarios are easier to believe, and this actually allows some of the suspense to work as well.

 

        The film follows the investigation of forensic psychiatrist Dr. Cara Harding (Moore) into the multiple personalities of Adam (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Cara is brought in to interview Adam by her father (Jeffrey DeMunn), who is also a psychiatrist of some sort, in order to debunk the existence of split personalities. This is the typical scenario in which a credible authority in disproving supernatural events is forced to face an unexplainable situation. This particular situation is a man with several personalities, all of which seem to be former murder victims.

 

        Apparently this film was originally titled Shelter when it played at festivals years back. It sat on the Weinstein shelf collecting dust, as many adequate films often do, even after directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein (simply appearing in credits as Marlind & Stein) directed the latest in the Underworld franchise in 2012. Why this film remained unseen for so long is a mystery, but the choice to release it straight to home entertainment is not. As I said before, this movie is not great. It is just surprisingly watchable.

 

        The Blu-ray release includes no special features, unsurprisingly. The high definition is not entirely necessary with a film like this, which delivers more chills than thrills, but there are a few special effects in the film which are effectively enhanced in this presentation.         

Entertainment Value: 5/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 6.5/10

Historical Significance: 2/10

Disc Features: 0/10