Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Hannah and Benjamin are a happily married couple whose love is tested inways they never could have imagined in this touching supernatural drama. But when Hannah is killed in a car accident, the couple's strong bond may be responsible for an unusual twist of fate that keeps their love alive - at the expense of their daughter.

Films where family members swap bodies are nothing new but this tale takes a different turn on the approach. When the mother and daughter have a horrible accident and both die in the ER, the mother transfers her soul into the daughter. Shortly after, the daughter comes through but there is no sign of her soul or memories, only the mothers. This causes a dilemma for the father as he sees his daughter’s body but listens to his wife’s words. Both journey into trying to figure out what happened as they cope with their own husband and wife desires along with the mother figuring out how to pass as the daughter with school and her friends. Most swap movies don’t deal with the adult themes featured here and it was interesting seeing how the filmmakers decided to approach it.

The HD presentation was a bit of a disappointment. The film has a very soft look that looks veiled in detail and dimension. While it doesn’t look like an upscaled DVD, it just lacks the fine detail and crisp imagery so commonly associated with HD. Colors are slighted muted and washed out and contrast levels are a bit elevated which doesn’t help with dimension. Depth of image isn’t too bad though given the circumstances and close ups reveal enough fine detail to still know you’re watching HD.

The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio but the mix is slightly subdued in dynamic quality. Dialogue always sounds natural and imaging across the main channels is solid, but the spatial quality of the mix is a bit flat. Surrounds do bring out some ambiance on occasion, but don’t look for an overly lively mix.

Extras include interviews with the primary cast members along with a production feature that looks at the making of the film. The trailer is also included.

This was a better than average drama with some interesting twists on a common theme. The performances were excellent all around but the presentation is a bit disappointing visually. Worth a rental for fans of the genre.