Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2010

©Copyright 2008 FIDELITE FILMS-AFTERWARDS PRODUCTION INC-AKKORD FILMPRODUKTION-WILD BUNCH-M6 FILMS

A high-powered New York lawyer, haunted by a near-death experience as a child, as well as by the SIDS death of his toddler son and subsequent separation from his wife, is approached by a spooky man known only as Dr. Kay, who claims to have the psychic ability to spot those who are not long for this world. Naturally, the lawyer is skeptical of this fruitcake, but after witnessing a number of accurately predicted deaths, he becomes more willing to listen, and wants to get his mess of a life in order before the grim reaper comes. It’s an intriguing if not entirely original premise, and the able cast includes John Malkovich, French actor Romain Duris and Evangeline Lilly (from TV’s Lost). It could have been a scary and/or thought-provoking film about accepting death had director Gilles Bourdos not structured it with a plodding and pretentious art-house sensibility, exacerbated by frequent and superfluous camera tricks, that smothers any positive attributes it may have had. The result is a depressing and oppressive watch-watcher that seems way longer than it is.