User Reviews

I'm one of those people that came close to switching it off, I found the first half of the film excruciatingly boring, I've never watched a horror thriller before and found myself nodding off, with this I did. Possibly because I didn't quite get what was going on with the story, it wasn't explained in any sort of way, which I found frustrating, but once you become involved as a viewer, which is just over half way through, the film becomes gripping, captivating, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Very well acted, Adrien Brody is terrific, as is Sam Neill. Some terrific special effects, and good music, which doesn't overtake the film.

Second watch, and I'll enjoy it all the more.

The only scenario I can think of for this film, imagine being invited to a party where you don't know anyone, half way through you get to know the guests, have a drink, and engage. This film is the same.

After losing his daughter hit by a truck, the troubled psychologist Peter Bower (Adrien Brody) moves to Sidney with his wife Carol (Jenni Baird) and his colleague and friend Dr. Duncan Stewart (Sam Neill) gets strange patients for him. When Dr. Bower discovers a secret about Dr. Stewart and his patients, he travels alone to his hometown False Creek to the house of his estranged father William Bower (George Shevtsov). Haunted by his past, Peter digs his recollections and uncovers a hideous secret from his past.

"Backtrack" is an above average ghost story, with a good screenplay. The cast has great performance and the plot is intriguing, entwining family drama with horror and the conclusion is well resolved. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Visões do Passado" ("Visions from the Past")

The movie does play with expectations, but not in a "wink wink" way, we know you know or anything like that. It does feed into fears and it is very atmospheric to say the least. The main actors help elevate this into territory it might not have gone with lesser talent (no pun intended of course).

The story might be simple (if you look back at it), but it's the way they achieved what they set out to do. A thriller/horror/suspense hybrid, that takes you on a ride, without knowing where it will end and how we got there. There are the occasional jump scares and some might feel cheated by them, but it works all in favor of the movie. I'm not going to talk about the story, because you should dive in and find out, what is going on along with the character, peeling away layer after layer ...

This is a cracking psychological/supernatural thriller. The obvious comparison is with 'The Sixth Sense', and in direct contrast to that masterpiece, this story does get a little bit silly right at the end, but you can forgive the film as a whole because of a wonderful mood and a couple of excellently well crafted jump scares. Adrien Brody is marvellous and the rest of the cast do a solid job. Definitely worth a look.

When Adrien Brody stars, you know it will be good - you just are not sure HOW good. This movie is REALLY good and a better actor could not have been chosen to play this tortured soul struggling to hold onto his grasp on reality. To not lose his mind, he knows he must delve into his past where 'some memories are so unacceptable, we do whatever we can to keep them buried'- it has every element you want in a thriller. It is utterly haunting, moody, unpredictable, creepy, and emotional. Did I leave anything out? It is a cerebral thriller - not quick-paced - just enough to keep building suspense. And make no mistake - just when you think you have it figured out - you will be wrong.

Brody is excellent in this. The plot / storyline could have been better but the ambience was good.

It was slow to start and had me wondering, do i carry on? Maybe i am impatient or was it my mood that day? Then the mystery starts to unfold and you think you know, but you do not ha! The mystery almost holds it self to the very end.

I'm from old school where the Exorcist still remains my top scary film.

Freddy Kruger and Jason ...... Well them films are for kids, cos they have no imagination and have to live with special effects.

This film is about ones conscience even though he is not aware of for some time. A past that got locked out but comes back when his daughter is involved in a car crash

I gave it a 7 because it was good film

OK...before i start on the review itself, i just want to say that i am giving this movie a 7/10 rating. So far this movie has a rating of 5.9 which is a little low in my opinion. The movie itself was very professionally done and the Cgi in the movie...about a minute in all was fairly well done. I went in to the movie hoping Adrien Brody just didn't needed a paycheck...and was very happy he didn't. Don't want to give the spoiler for the movie...just like the other reviewers said. Please give this movie a chance if you are a fan of either horror, mystery or thriller movies. I think you'll be fairly pleased with the movie overall, as there are elements of all three genres in this movie. Hahaha...still thinking about this movie and just wanted to say that its classified under horror. I am a big fan of a good horror movie also..especially...a good jump scare...hehehe. THis movie although short..as you're watching it you will be thinking..OK..i know where this is going...the try for a jump scare is coming right now. This actually keeps happening for a while until you forget about it...because what you think might be a jump scare which you brace for never materializes....UNTIL...BOOMMM!!!. Hahaha...I swear i almost jumped out of my skin. For the reviewer who said it was a good movie with a god-awful ending..how would one close the movie???? There was only 2 ways out of the ending...and...the latter would have been to gloomy indeed, and would have made viewers very uneasy indeed. All in all a very worthwhile watch in my opinion for any fans of a good movie...and how long has it been since Brody made a movie?

"Pete … I'm here to help you. I really appreciate it. At least you're still alive to help me."

Adrien Brody failed in maintaining his level of acting after getting an Oscar for his brilliant part in "The Pianist". His contribution to "King Kong" and "Splice" still was acceptable. But his participation in the (in my opinion) very lousy movie "American Heist" was definitely a low point in his career. Was this promising actor on his way to build some sort Willis-Cage reputation? It looks like it. Especially after I've seen "Backtrack". This psychological thriller isn't a bad movie and cinematically it also looks pretty decent. But you can't really call it impressive. Similar movies have been made frequently. It doesn't take long to make a comparison with "The sixth sense" (a film from the heyday of Bruce Willis). The facial expression Brody used in "American Heist" was partially preserved. So expect a tormented look throughout the whole movie, while the cabinet of this psychologically cracked and grief-stricken psychologist gets visits from some strange patients.

You can hardly call this horror. There's practically not a single scary moment. The atmosphere is quite creepy and there are a few attempts to provide a jump scare, but in the end most of them are rather disappointing. It isn't original by any means and the subject has been widely used in other films already. As in "The Babadook" the main focus is a grieving process and the psychological impact it has on a person's psyche. The biggest problem is cataloging this movie in one particular genre. Is it a psychological thriller? Or a typical ghost story? Or can you label it as an old-fashioned murder mystery? You can expect some skeletons being found in the closet. Both literally and figuratively.

"Backtrack" isn't exactly a film that will leave a great impression. It isn't exactly bad either. And this because of the convincing acting of Brody. It's not high quality cinema, but it's appropriate to entertain yourself during a rainy Sunday. Even though the plot is a tad too predictable. Unfortunately it's also one of those many films you can't remember anything from the other day.

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"Backtrack" is well executed. The acting and cinematography are competent and professional. Special effects are more than adequate. It economically manages to convey a sense of desolation, solitude and creepiness.

Horror films generally adhere to a simple basic formula. A sinful act unleashes a supernatural power that wreaks vengeance on the guilty, but spares the innocent and those who repent. Occasionally films like "The Sixth Sense" and "Ghost Town" effectively embellish the basic formula in novel, interesting and dramatically gratifying ways.

"Backtrack" deviates from the basic horror conventions, but does not provide anything superior and is inconsistent. Arguably innocent people are caused to suffer. The supernatural forces torment the protagonist who is not the sole or even the most guilty party. They seem to want his help or he wants their help, but they seem equally capable of interacting with the most guilty party without him. It's not clear whether they need the protagonist's help or they want to involve him in order to help him expiate his guilt. The supernatural forces do not have a consistent understanding of their status.

The supernatural forces do not behave randomly, but even though they operate in concert, it's not clear that they understand their purpose or the master plan. Their motives for particular actions aren't always clear. They don't always seem to be on the same page.

Some of the early scenes are ambiguous. It's not clear whether the protagonist is alive, dead, dreaming, deluded, hallucinating or what. We have dreary, foreboding scenes of abandoned buildings and streets and empty trains. Everybody who visits the protagonist seems unusual. He never interacts with anybody who seems entirely normal. Then suddenly, his world is populated, but the reason for the transition is unclear.

The movie would have been stronger with a clearer concept of who and what the supernatural elements were, why they did what they did and what they know or believe about the events in question. If they need the protagonist's assistance to discover who was the guiltiest, that could have been clearer. If they have several suspects, why torment only the protagonist? One of the supernatural entities knows the whole story. Why they don't go after the guiltiest party directly is unclear, except that a negligent act gave him some special insights, but that resulted in the death of an innocent, so the story is less satisfying.

After a huge performance in the pianist and getting Oscar Brody struggled to capitalise on this success, appearing in mostly forgettable movies that failed to make use of his potential.Backtrack borrows ideas from a number of other films, including The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echoes, failing to improve on them in any measurable way.The story is very familiar and has many clichés. the two main characters on display share painfully contrived dialogue that prevents audiences from empathising with their grief.Luckily, though — at least for its own attorneys — "Backtrack" eventually moves beyond its shamelessly borrowed set-up to create a few chills of its own.Brody does his best even if it's awfully familiar. But the movie really doesn't stand up to further analysis. And unless Brody starts landing some better jobs soon, his career really doesn't stand a ghost of a chance.

Backtrack starts off setting the mood. From the opening credits and first few minutes you know that Peter Bower (played by Adrien Brody) and his wife, Carol (Jenni Baird) are regaining their footing in life after some terrible incident.

Peter works in some psychiatric capacity, seeing patients. The weather is drab, the routine - taking it's toll, home life is yet in shambles. First cracks start to appear as odd occurrences, then things get progressively more inexplicable and Peter comes to shocking realizations, explanations to which must be sought in his past, back at his home town...

It is rather commendable that Backtrack manages to start off disguising itself as a psychology mystery, but slowly progresses into a cool detective.

I was not a fan of the cheap jump-scares, I would have liked Peter's confusion and anxiety communicated differently. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy the ghost story symbolisms of doors that just won't stay shut, pages that just won't burn etc.

Cinematography in Backtrack is very well done - colors and lighting always play well with the tone of scenes, especially the dark and shadowy beginning portraying hopelessness and brightness in the end signifying new vitality.

The classical score is also to be praised - it works well to accent the continually growing suspense of the story.

The unkempt Brody works extremely well as the morally crushed Peter Bower, definitely matured since the 2005s The Jacket, shining in key scenes like "saying her name" and "after confession". Honorable mention to Robin McLeavy's senior constable Barbara Henning, portraying sensible competence and also managing to be the damsel in distress when necessary.

Backtrack is not perfect. "Some characters were not developed enough" is a legitimate complaint. "That scene did not make sense/was unnecessary" is also an understandable criticism. Nevertheless, the movie does not bore, nor does it get tripped up by it's own flaws on the way of delivering a convincing mystery that always hangs by the last thread to make sense of it all.

8/10, would backtrack again.

Review: I lost interest in this movie because it's extremely slow and really boring. The tone that was set from the beginning, is pretty glum and the whole "I'm seeing dead people" concept, dried up after a while. Sam Neill (Duncan Stewart), was totally wasted as Peter Bowers (Adrien Brody), psychiatrist and the suspense element of the movie was quite bad. On the plus side, Brody does put in a good performance and he brings some intensity to the movie but the script is badly put together, which is a shame because there was some decent material which could have made the movie much better. Anyway, Peter Bowers is a troubled psychiatrist who is getting over the lose of his young girl, with his depressed wife. Peter also sees a psychiatrist, Duncan Stewart, and when he gets a visit from a young girl, who disappears into thin air, he starts to delve into his past which leads him back to his family home. Peter then starts to investigate an incident that happened with him and his close friend when he was young, and he soon realises that there was more to the fatal accident. For people who haven't seen the movie, I don't want to spoil the plot by saying what exactly happened but believe me, it isn't that great. Anyway, I wasn't that impressed with the film and I expected better from Brody and Neill. Disappointing!

Round-Up: This movie was directed by Michael Petroni, who wrote the Book Thief, The Rite with Anthony Hopkins, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treaded and Possession, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Personally, I think that he should stick to writing movies because this film was pretty bad. 

I recommend this movie to people who are into their mystery/thrillers starring Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Robin McLeavy, Bruce Spence and Jenni Baird. 2/10

While I enjoyed this, it seemed to drag out in parts. I found myself wanting to get to the answers more quickly but I understood it was meant to set up the ending. I have to take away some stars for being able to see what was coming. This did have the gloomy, dark tone and that, I loved. I also thought that Adrian Broody did a great job of being the focus of the film. The special effect were just ok for me. It's not bad. Check it out.

This was an interesting movie to say the least. I saw this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival so I had no idea what I was going to see. This movie sets up the interesting premise of a psychiatrist, grieving the loss of his daughter, seeing ghosts who are trying to show him something he blocked out of his mind. Adrien Brody plays said psychiatrists and, as expected, gives a great performance but I do feel this movie was way too laid back for his standard and he basically felt, well, complacent. Though some parts of the plot may seem familiar it was a brilliantly written story until the last 20 minutes in which the writers pulled as much as they could out of their asses before this potential filled movie ended. All and all I would give this movie a 70 or a B+. Its a great movie in every aspect except its ending.

Maybe I was in one of my rare good moods, but there could've been worse ways to spend 90 minutes than watching Backtrack. Yes, I did think the movie plodded along slowly, but given what it was supposed to be - an atmospheric thriller - it did that well, so I can't complain.

Technically, this film has been made before in some other kind of iteration so the reveal wasn't that surprising. The music carried the movie well as did the acting; it only falls into cliché land with some of the more predictable ghostly elements, something that's very common in Korean films these days.

The movie wasn't a waste of time. Is it a must see? Not really; there isn't really anything here you've never seen before. I just thought that watching it didn't feel like a waste of time like a lot of other travesties I've been exposed to.

At times Familiar but Moody and Atmospheric Film that is a Hybrid that Avoids Singular Compartmentalization. It's a Horror/Supernatural/Psychological Thriller that Feels Comfortable Flirting with Conventions and Delivers a Good Looking Movie that Captures the Audience with Twists and Turns, Revelations and Melodrama.

Adrian Brody is Virtually a One Man Show as He Struggles with the Death of His Young Daughter and a Past that Haunts Him Endlessly. Two Traumatic Events have all but Destroyed this Sensitive Man and the Story is a Compelling One of Discovery as He Uncovers Secrets and Lies.

It's quite Scary at times and the Audience is given a Number of Chills and Thrills. A very Low-Budget is Not Evident as the Acting and the Feel of the Film is First Rate. The Cinematography is Excellent and Haunting as is the Whole Movie.

Overall, a Fine Australian Production that is an Underrated Indie that's Worth a Watch. It Captivates with its Stylish Story.

Very interesting and Brody just hit it out of the park in this one. Overall very good movie. Not boring at all.

An Australian psychological thriller that harbors a potentially powerful narrative, The Rite and The Book Thief writer turned director Michael Petroni's film fails to capitalise on his stories potential as Backtrack squanders a capable cast in amongst some dire execution, tired storytelling tropes and an overall feel of mundanity that ruins any chance Backtrack had of finding an audience or fans.

Hiring Oscar winner and one time blockbuster participant Adrien Brody and acquiring the services of the refreshed Sam Neill may've seemed like a nice stepping stone for Backtrack's audience acquisitions but not even the two seasoned performers can save this stinker from wallowing in its own self-made problems of ineptitude.

The career of Adrien Brody needs particular attention paid to it after his largely lifeless and badly Australian accented turn as psychologist with a past and ghostly visions Peter Bower sees the star of King Kong and The Pianist continue on a career bender to the edges of obscurity that not even the shores of Australia can save.

Since Brody's win at the Academy Awards way back in 2003, the actor has put his name to such projects as Giallo, High School, Third Person, Dragon Blade and American Heist and his presence in Backtrack ads absolutely zilch to proceedings as Petroni's film starts off uninvitingly and continues on its merry way with neither the scares, chills or emotional heft to make the mystery of Bower's past and his ghostly friends worthwhile and Petroni struggles to culminate proceedings in a satisfactory manner as things take a turn for the downright ludicrous as Bower's father William and Robin McLeavy's kindly police officer Barbara Henning become involved in the various uninteresting twists and turns.

There's a decent film somewhere at the core of Backtrack but this is a highly lacklustre Australian offering that will be neither well received on home soil or abroad and in a local industry that is already facing an uphill battle to maintain a loyal local following, films like this certainly help the cause very little.

1 plastic poncho out of 5

BACKTRACK (2015)

Mystery, thriller, drama. The whole package

A simple plot when you look back at it, But the exquisite story telling that keeps you at the edge of your seat for the whole run time is what really makes it a masterpiece.

Also an amazing achievement in giving an atmospheric mood.

The tune is creepy but entertaining at the same time.

Gotta give credit to adrien brody for an outstanding performance. Alongside with the whole stellar cast. Just wow !!

You can't ask for more.

Buckle up and enjoy the journey, it's worth it.