fedor8 A seemingly interesting premise (though not nearly as original as horror newbies who've only seen 5 "scary" movies think it is), original only inasmuch as it hasn't been used often (the way vampires and zombies have). The film is executed well from a technical point, and with a competent cast, but unfortunately yet another pointless retelling of the ant vs. elephant story, the most pointless fable of them all. We know the elephant is infinitely superior to the ant in every way conceivable, so why watch the duel? I never watch Djokovic or Nadal play a guy ranked outside the top 100, because the outcome is just too predictable. Remember that hilarious Python sketch in which John Cleese beats up a schoolgirl over and over in a box-ring? Similarly, once the mirror elephant showed that it can literally do ANYTHING it wants to, what chance did the two ant siblings have? Zero. And so they got royally screwed - as ants always do when picking a fight with an elephant. The entire movie is about how the ant siblings don't stand a smidgen of a chance against their mighty adversary. But believing that the writer can't be THAT unimaginative, that daft, we the gullible, easily dupable viewers hope that the film gives the ants some kind of an innovative, unexpected lifeline, to turn the tables, to make the war interesting. No dice. For the duration, the ants lose round after round - just like Connie Booth in the boxing ring vs Cleese - while we even get "bonus scenes" to watch them lose round after round as kids too - and then the mirror comes out as the undisputed winner with flying colours, as it had been for centuries. Hence a question to the lousy writer: WHY tell this story if it's the same story that's been going on for centuries with that mirror? Why THIS mirror episode and not any of the previous ones? If we the gullible viewers are to be handed a totally lop-sided fight - which is in itself idiotic because the outcome is a foregone conclusion hence boring - which involves a superior warrior battling a tiny defenseless infant, at least give the infant a fighting chance: make up something, anything, invent a way for the infant to fight back (give him toxic drool or something). Otherwise what you're serving to the viewer serves no purpose whatsoever: telling viewers that total superiority must always beat total inferiority is like informing them - in an "astounding" plot-twist - that the sky is blue. But, once again, feeble-brained film-makers have such a raging st*ffy for turning this stupid mirror into a franchise, that they wanted to make sure that the sequel door was left wide, very wide, open. What a dumb overkill though. I shall make sure I skip "Oculus 2: The Return of the Predictable Superior Mirror", "Oculus 3: Mirror Kills More Helpless Inferior Humans", "Oculus 4: The Mirror Has A Ball Killing 100 More People Without Being Ever Even Slightly Challenged" and "Oculus 5: Mirror Destroys Entire Cities Without Even Trying".Nor did I like the movie's increasingly schizophrenic dual-time story-telling style which gave us too much detail of what happened a decade earlier - despite the fact we could already predict the outcome. Very silly. And what's the mirror's back-story anyway? Who built it? When was it built? Nope, we don't even get a tiny clue. Despite the hype and the flash, this is a very primitive, idiotic movie.

thestophairshop Stupid of course it would kill her by her own devise why not use fire if you were going to die can't escape that .new what was going to happen when she first took the mirror in the room so predictable good acting stupid writer - director rubbish end hate films like that worst horror I've ever seen could been grate unfinished but don't make a number 2 please reviewed straight away because it pissed me off how crap it was

Michael Ledo As children Tim (Brenton Thwaites) and Kaylie's (Karen Gillan) parents were murdered. Tim was the trigger man who killed his dad, although the kids have a memory of a haunted mirror that controlled their family.Tim has had therapy and wants to move on and "protect his recovery" as he can now finally remember he pulled the trigger. Kaylie is compulsive obsessive and insists the mirror is to blame. She goes to great lengths to set up a controlled experiment to prove the mirror is the culprit. Tim is not eager. They have slightly different memories as to what happened.Their past is presented as a subplot. An hour into the film, you realize that there were things that went on in the household that might be misinterpret by children, yet at the same time there are things going on in the present that don't add up. Is it imagination? Insanity? Supplanted memory? Or is the mirror really haunted?The film combines several old themes to give us something that seems refreshingly new. Well done all the way around. Good horror build up.Parental Guide: Some muttered F-bombs. No sex or nudity.

James Purcell This is a well made, well acted, well directed, well written movie that I didn't like and would never recommend to anyone. That's because this movie, after the first 20 minutes or so, goes like this:They are walking around the house. 5 minutes later- flashback to a time period that is not disclosed to the viewer. They are walking around the house again. 5 minutes later- flashback to a slightly different time period that is not disclosed to the viewer. Walking around the house again. 2 minutes later- flashback to a completely different time period that is not disclosed to the viewer. More house exploring. 1 minute later- new time period- House walking. 30 seconds later- new time period.It's just not an enjoyable watch, or at least wasn't for me. I read other reviews, I thought I was prepared for flashbacks. Not like this. Nothing like this. I've never seen such incessant, liberal use of constant flashbacks. This movie did so much right. -sufficiently creepy, doesn't rely on jump scares (were there even any?) -well acted -good music, good effects -just fantastic all around.Except for the flashbacks. You wouldn't think that would be a deal breaker, but guys - this is a new level of fail. It almost has to be seen to be believed, although I don't recommend you waste your time. I'm rambling, good night.