''Magic Magic'' is a 2013

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

film written and directed by Sebastián Silva and starring

Juno Temple Juno Temple (born 21 July 1989) is a British actress. She has appeared in the films ''Notes on a Scandal'' (2006), ''Atonement'' (2007), '' The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2008), ''The Three Musketeers'' (2011), ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), '' Ma ...

, Emily Browning,

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears'' and portraying a young Chuck B ...

, and

Catalina Sandino Moreno Catalina Sandino Moreno (born 19 April 1981) is a Colombian actress. She shared the Silver Bear with Charlize Theron and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her leading role in '' Maria Full of Grace'' (2004). She c ...

. The film

premiered A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

on January 22, 2013 at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It was also played at the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and ...

Plot

Alicia (

), making her first trip outside the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, arrives in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

where her cousin Sara ( Emily Browning) is studying, to accompany her on a road trip with Sara's boyfriend Agustín (Agustín Silva), as well as his sister Bárbara (

) and his friend Brink (

). However, Sara soon receives a call which reminds her of an important exam that she cannot miss. Alicia is nervous about being left alone with a group of Sara's friends, but is reassured that Sara will be back in only a day. She leaves, while the rest of the group continue on to the island where they are to stay. Several unexpected events along the journey result in Alicia becoming concerned that Bárbara is irritated with her presence. They all finally reach the island, where Alicia grows increasingly isolated due to both the lack of a phone signal in which to reach Sara, and the behavior of Brink, whom she finds self-centred and antagonizing. Having not had much sleep, Agustín invites her along for a walk the next morning, where she becomes upset after Brink kills a macaw with the air rifle he had brought along. She runs off into the hills and finds a phone signal to call Sara, who says that she'll have to stay in the city for one more day. Alicia becomes exasperated, calling the group "sadists", but the signal dies before Sara can respond. Alicia returns to Agustín and Brink, and also finds a wandering sheepdog, which she happily pets until she realizes that it is humping her leg. She recoils in disgust and Brink laughs as Agustín chases the dog away. Later that night, Alicia continues to be mocked by Brink about the incident; he begins to play wrestle with her until she becomes frightened and kicks him in the nose. Alicia becomes increasingly uncomfortable feeling unwelcomed and humiliated by the group. She tearfully manages to call Sara again, who arrives on the island the next day and speaks to Alicia in private. Alicia references the call from the previous night, but Sara says she did not get a call from her. In a whispered conversation Sara reveals she did not have to take a test but had an

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

. The group decides to cliff dive into the water later that day. Agustín, Brink and Sara all manage to perform the dive, yet Alicia becomes extremely fearful of the jump. Ultimately, she has an attack of

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

and is brought back to the cabin. Sara is concerned that Alicia does not seem well due to a lack of sleep, but the group does not pay much attention. That night, Agustín demonstrates hypnosis on Alicia, who they think begins to loosen up when she performs the tasks Brink playfully orders her to do. However, she snaps out of her trance when he tells her to put her hand in the fireplace and she burns herself. Sara puts Alicia to bed after the incident and leaves with Agustín. Alicia, however, begins to suffer hallucinations of Sara and Brink in the room. Later in the night, she wanders around the house and hears voices of the others talking about her disparagingly, but finds only Brink asleep when she investigates. In his room, she finds the air rifle and momentarily aims it at him, before pulling down her pants and waking him up by forcing his face into her crotch and leaving. When Sara returns to the cabin, she notices that Alicia has covered all of the mirrors. The next day, Brink angrily confronts Alicia, but she becomes distraught and denies that it ever happened. As Sara and Agustín attempt to calm the situation, Alicia runs off and breaks down in tears in front of Melda (Roxana Naranjo), another resident of the island. Melda takes her and the group to her home, where she treats Alicia's burn with herbal remedies. They all then return Alicia to the cabin and put her to bed again. Sara suggests to the group that Alicia should be taken to a hospital, but is told that the nearest one is five hours away. They then discover that she has escaped her room under the cover of darkness and has consumed all of Bárbara's sleeping pills; after intensively searching the island, the group discover Alicia back at the cliff face. They all attempt to talk her down, but she finally jumps in and is recovered. The group desperately bring Alicia back to Melda, where she finally suffers a complete mental breakdown. Melda brings her to the island's only healer, who begins an ancient ritual that involves the body of a lamb and ritualistic music. Sara begins to panic as Alicia becomes calm and is convinced that she has died; the healer insists that Alicia's soul has only left her body temporarily for purification. The film ends as the group brings Alicia to the mainland on a motorboat, as Sara desperately tries to revive her cousin.

Cast

as Alicia, a Californian and Sara's cousin * Emily Browning as Sara, cousin to Alicia and a student living in Chile *

as Brink, Agustín's flamboyant schoolmate and friend *

as Bárbara, Agustín's older sister * Agustín Silva as Agustín, Sara's boyfriend

Reception

''Magic Magic'' received mixed to positive reviews from critics.

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website

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reports that 67% of critics have given the film positive reviews, based on 36 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a 59 out of 100 rating based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

''Magic Magic'' won the Sitges Award for Best Actress for Temple.

References

External links