Magic Magic

A vacationing insomniac loses the ability to distinguish dreams from reality while traveling the Chilean countryside with a group of adventurers that includes her best friend and an enigmatic American in this downbeat saga. Though it came to the U.S. billed as a thriller or a horror picture, Chilean director Sebastian Silva's Magic Magic is more aptly described as a dark psychological drama with tense overtones. Juno Temple stars as Alicia - an emotionally fragile young woman in her early 20s with a murky history. She joins her cousin Sarah (Emily Browning), Sarah's boyfriend Agustín (Agustín Silva), the couple's eccentric friend Brink (Michael Cera) and Agustín's sister Barbara (Catalina Sandina Moreno) for a retreat in the countryside, but from the beginning, things don't go as planned. In the days that follow, more tension erupts between Alicia and the other members of the group, particularly Brink, who displays extreme anti-social tendencies and grows fond of malevolently pushing the girl's buttons. After Sarah returns, all hell threatens to break loose: Alicia is accosted by a local dog that attempts to copulate with her leg; Brink and Agustín play a dangerous game that threatens to cause Alicia grave physical harm, and it becomes increasingly apparent, throughout, that Alicia is now teetering on the brink of a full-scale mental breakdown, which terrifies the others.