Director: Mark Young
Writer: Mark Young (Screenplay)
Starring: Lucian Charles Collier, Scottie Thompson, Lew Temple, Peter Jacobson, Veronica Cartwright, James Purefoy
Plot: A murderer finds himself on trial in Hell, caught between a bitter prosecutor and an inexperienced defense attorney.
Tagline – One Hell of a Story
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Uniquely Enjoyable
Story: Limbo starts when Jimmy (Temple) awakes in Balthazar’s (Collier) office, where he is being prepared for afterlife after committing a murder, leaving children orphaned, only facing his hearing which seems like a one way ticket to hell, Cassiel (Thompson) arrives to defend him.
As Cassiel presents Jimmy’s life, where he has been caught in the middle a violent cycle and he might have done some good in his life and instead of condemning him to more torture, he should be given a chance of peace.
Thoughts on Limbo
Characters – Balthazar is a prosecutor that has dealt with the dead for years now, he has seen the worst in humanity come through his doors on the way to hell, with the latest one being one that seems cut and dry, he has pressure from above to make sure he gets the job done quickly, but Cassiel is only going to make thing more complicated. Cassiel is a rookie defence lawyer that believes she can get Jimmy off the one way ticket to hell, she believes his life made his decisions more difficult than they needed to be. Jimmy is the man who has died after committing a murder, he is due to go to hell for his actions, but gets caught up in the middle of the battle between lawyers, we see how he lived his life, that never gave him an early change in life, he tried to do the right thing more often then not. We get see the different levels of demons that are trying to get the results they want, knowing they are working for a bigger boss that will question everything that comes their way.
Performances – Lucian Charles Collier and Scottie Thompson on either side of the case are both great to watch they both show the conviction in their characters, with Lucian showing a worn down side to his, and Scottie showing the righteous side to hers. Lew Temple fits this role perfectly, someone who has sinned, while doing the right thing along the way. The rest of the cast add to the quirky side to the story, bringing their colourful characters to life.
Story – The story here follows a trial between angels who are deciding whether a man should go to heaven or hell, as they look through his life to make the decision on his final reckoning. This is a nice spin on a courtroom film, it shows us how both sides would put an argument forward for sinners or not, does one bad thing make someone deserving of an eternity of suffering or can they balance it out in life, that is the big question being asked here. The story does have plenty of quirky moments with how different characters arrive demand answers and expect certain things to go their way only. We have a clever idea that plays into everything that could imagined, with the idea of interviewing dead people from your life too adding to moments of humor we experience through the film.
Horror/Comedy – The horror side of this film comes from what could happened to Jimmy if convicted to hell, most things are left to our imagination on this side of things, while the comedy comes from the different characters we are meeting along the way.
Settings – The film uses a office like setting for hearing, this keeps it contained to a conversation level, with the lighting showing us in a dark place, while the looking back scenes show the brightness of life that Jimmy once had.
Scene of the Movie – The final outcome.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The world feels well built, but we could have seen more from what the prison cells mean.
Final Thoughts – This is a quirky comedy that will get plenty of laughs along the way, it brings to life the unusually and shows that even in death there could be lawyers to decide your fate.
Overall: Fun, quirky comedy horror.
