SPECTRES
Directed by Phil Leirness;
Starring Marina Sirtis, Dean Haglund, Tucker Smallwood, Lauren Birkell, Alexis Cruz,
“Spectre” is a different kind of film. Part sci-fi, part horror, and part drama. It comes with a talented cast and experienced filmmaking. It’s edgy. It’s spirited (at times). It’s sad and touching (at other times). Not a great film, but it kept me involved the entire trip.
A satchel of note to overcome was the post-presence of Startrek, TNG (Sirtis) and X-Files (Haglund). Thankfully, the notorious past didn’t offer any renderings as we remained with the current characters on screen.
Kelly (Birkell), age 16, tries to commit suicide. She is saved from death but emerges a different person. Her workaholic mother (Sirtis) makes a life changing attempt to reconnect with her daughter by taking an entire summer for vacation. Still angry and bitter, Kelly begins moving toward a more gentle spirit that wants to help others, especially children. Kelly attends regular visits to the psychiatrist Halsey (Haglund) and befriends and opens up to local boy, Sean (Cruz).
But is Kelly’s friend real or imagined? Is he safe or a threat? Is Kelly even “Kelly?” Enter psychic Franklin (Smallwood) who is “sensitive” to the spirit world and the ethereal gossamer hits the fan. Kelly appears to be a spiritual nexus acting as the next host of a long list of suicides lined up from history.
The film wants to be darker than it is, tries to be more dramatic then it can be, yet holds the story as viable and the complex characters as touchable. Overall, holding a haunted house and a scared teenager, a concerned but unseeing parent, and a cast of those who just want to help, “Spectres” works.
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