The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

There is an art to achieving the perfect balance between eating the last piece of chicken with the last fork of spaghetti, or munching down the last of your fries with the last of the ketchup; the concept of “perfect balance” is something that most horror films seem not to have recently. There seems to be a major problem with balancing the focus between the plot and the horror factors and, in I still See You, there is barely any horror factor, and the plot’s focus takes a very bad turn.

I Still See You is set in a town just outside Chicago where a scientific experiment went wrong and killed millions of people. Now, ten years later, people can still see the ghosts of the victims, or “remnants” as they call them, and have to deal with seeing strangers as well as loved ones caught in a loop of doing the same thing over and over again and then disappearing. High schooler Veronica (Bella Thorne) has become accustomed to her father’s remnant appearing every day at the breakfast table. But, when an unknown remnant communicates a violent message to her, she is freaked. Veronica seeks the help of her laid-back teacher Mr. Bittner (Dermot Mulroney). But when he doesn’t believe her, she turns to outcast classmate Kirk (Richard Harmon) who is known for his obsession with remnants. Together the pair venture on an investigation to find out who the remnant Veronica saw is, and what he wants from her, but what they uncover is so much bigger than their wildest expectations.

This is perhaps the simplest way to put the plot since it spirals into incoherence and over-complexity rather quickly. All the film’s scattered ventures get resolved in the end but with a multitude of unanswered questions.

The core premise of I Still See You seems quite interesting: the world is one endless haunted house. However, the world the film creates around that premise is full of illogical gaps, neglected aspects, and absolute haphazardness. The main events are also very predictable, including the film’s major plot twist.

As for the acting, Bella Thorne’s performance was mediocre at best, with minimal emotional expression and even less charisma. Dermot Mulroney was the feature’s best performer and perhaps one of the few reasons people actually didn’t leave. Mulroney had a small role but was able to be charming, funny, charismatic, and interesting in the little time he had on screen. Richard Harmon’s performance was weak in the earlier scenes, but excelled as the film progressed; he managed to pull off an overall decent performance by the end.

If you are looking for a horror film to scare you, to resonate with you, or to even makes any sense, this isn’t it. But, if you are just looking for a Twilight-like horror movie with a cool premise, then I Still See You is for you.