I found this movie to be entertaining and creepy, which is what I was expecting, but NOT real. For crying out loud, it's a MOVIE! I don't believe "shadow people" are real, however, I DO believe that the placebo effect is real. If a person believes intensely that a shadowy figure will kill them in their sleep, then it will. People have cured themselves because they believed in miracles, became un*beeping* crazy because they took sugar pills daily that they believed were anti-psychotics, and hypochondriacs who truly believe they have a disease can honestly be experiencing symptoms that no doctor can conclude exists with tests. The mind is far more powerful than we give it credit, and psychiatrists and scientists know very little of what the brain is capable. So, in a way, the people who experienced this "phenomenon" ARE *beep* crazy, because their own mind has turned against them.
If this movie were real, which it obviously is not, then it would be extremely irresponsible to plant this seed of self destruction in the mind of its viewers. Despite that, I am certain there are some people who may have become disturbed after watching the movie based on the placebo effect premise.
Back in 2008, I was going through a tough time in a relationship and became extremely ill. I was in the hospital for a week on an IV undergoing a battery of tests that had inconclusive results. They found absolutely nothing wrong with me, but still I was in extreme doubling over pain near my duodenum. Eventually, they found an unexplained "mass" near my appendix in an x-ray. (which, by the way, is nowhere near the duodenum) I had surgery to remove my appendix where they found a gummy-like scar tissue that had attached itself to my appendix, a benign ovarian cyst and the lining of my guts. They removed the cyst, the appendix, and cleaned up the gummy tissue, but never had an explanation as to "why" it occurred, "what" exactly it was and "how" to prevent something like this from happening again. I am certain that the stress that I was under during that time period had caused my mind to attack itself. I said all of that to say this: the mind is a powerful tool that most of us are careless with. As long as you don't believe in "shadow people", then "shadow people" cannot hurt you.
I liked how in the ending the ultimate question: "how do you get yourself to stop thinking about something" was answered: by Charlie telling his listeners "shadow people" were not real. Once his son spread the footage to plant the seed of doubt, he was actually responsible for hardship on the viewers. And possible death. Of course, this didn't happen, it's a movie. But the placebo effect premise is real. An age old ghost story meant to scare the pants off of the listeners by using their own imagination. I actually thought there were some clever moments in the movie. Recurring themes. If you are capable of thinking deeply about ordinary things, this movie could actually be considered a mind-screw...something to think about.
I'm all in your head, but you can call me Surreal Sista instead.
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