72 Hours To Save The Future
Split across two separate time periods and boasting an unpredictable story, Spanish Netflix Original Mirage is an interesting and well written sci-fi thriller. With enough twists and turns along the way and an empathetic lead character at its helm, Mirage does well to keep its intrigue running throughout its 2 hour run time. The story begins on November 9th 1989 with a 12-year-old boy practicing the guitar, recording himself on the TV. As a freak 72 hour storm closes in, Nico witnesses a horrific crime across the street and, as he runs outside to take a closer look, ends up being hit by a car. Fast forward to November 9th 2014 and Vera and her family look forward to spending their life together in the same house Nico once lived in. As the strange 72 hour storm begins again, Vera finds out more about the boy and somehow manages to communicate with him through the television via the old tapes he recorded. From here, the story really picks up as Vera warns Nico away from veering outside and subsequently saves him from his fated death. When Vera awakens the next day she finds herself in a parallel universe where her life has been turned upside down and what she once knew, now a distant memory – including her daughter. What follows is Vera’s desperate struggle to try to find a way back to her old life and undo the changes she’s caused. For the most part, Mirage does well with its story and the inclusion of the parallel universe does well to reinforce the alienation Vera feels throughout the film. These moments are peppered with fragmented memories of her old life too and as she starts to learn more about what’s happened, there’s a deliberate sense of urgency injected into the film. All of this builds toward a climactic finale, revealing some surprising twists along the way. Stylistically, Mirage does well and there’s some really nice set pieces here involving flashing lights partway through the film. For the most part though, Mirage utilizes a lot of steady camera shots, keeping the focus on Vera as she delivers a decent performance as an exasperated woman caught up in this whirlwind of the unknown. Mirage is a bit of a slow burn though but the journey is well worth taking. The parallel universe idea may not be wholly original, but it is told with enough originality and clever twists to keep this one unpredictable and enjoyable. It may not be the best sci-fi thriller out there, but it is one of the better ones making it well worth a watch.
