Reflect Leads Viewers on a Mind-Bending Spiritual Odyssey

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know what to expect from Reflect. When I first heard about it, the film was described to me as a “metaphysical sci-fi thriller,” and I honestly think that was the first time I ever heard those words put together in that order. I simply had no idea what I was in for. If there was one thing I knew, this movie promised to be all sorts of weird. After finally getting the chance to watch it, I can confirm that on that count, it does not disappoint.

Reflect was written and directed by Dana Kippel, and Kippel also stars in the film alongside Grace Patterson, Marissa Patterson, Jadelyn Breier, and Ariana Brown. The story follows five female friends who trek out to the Arizona desert to complete a spiritual obstacle course. As you can probably guess, they get a bit more than they bargained for.

Not only do these women learn more about themselves and one another as they come face to face with their deepest secrets and hidden traumas, but they’re part of a bizarre cosmic reality show as well. A guy is documenting their experiences and broadcasting them to other dimensions, and we also see mysterious hooded figures watching the characters and picking them off one by one as they go through the various stages of this deadly exercise.

If you have no idea what a spiritual obstacle course is, don’t worry. I’m a pretty spiritual guy myself, and I didn’t have the slightest clue what that phrase could mean. Even after watching Reflect, I still have a few questions about the whole concept, but that’s not the point. This story is all about the inner journeys these women take and the various ways they have to face their past traumas. This means the movie stands or falls largely on the strength of its five main characters.

Unfortunately, they’re not quite up to the task. First and foremost, the acting in Reflect is a bit lackluster. Granted, it’s not terrible, I never quite found myself rolling my eyes at these performances, but it still wasn’t strong enough to get me invested in the characters or their story. It almost feels like this cast feels like actors are reading lines rather than real people going through real experiences, and that kept me from caring about what happened to them.

Even apart from the mediocre acting, these women simply aren’t likable. Right from the get-go, they bicker, they make their disrespect for one another fairly obvious, and they act more like high school “frenemies” than mature adult friends. I don’t know about you, but I really can’t stand that vibe. It immediately killed any interest I may have had in these characters, and even though they did get better as the movie went on, it ended up being too little too late.

On top of all that, Reflect is also a little too out there for its own good. This film gets pretty bizarre, and there were even a couple of times when it reminded me a bit of a David Lynch movie (and not in a good way). Things often just happen without much rhyme or reason, and it’s not always clear how the plot and the setting move forward from scene to scene.

What’s more, the side characters in this movie add to that weirdness as well. To take just one example, for the first leg of their spiritual obstacle course, the women are led by an oddball guru named Hermes, who comes across as a live-action South Park character.

In particular, the dynamic between him and the main characters is the same dynamic we often see between the four South Park boys and the adults in their town. Almost everything this guy says and does is downright ridiculous, and the women know it. Even when Hermes carries on like he’s the most normal person in the world. His quirks make for a whole bunch of weird WTF moments, and the mismatch between him and the main group makes that weirdness stand out even more.

All that being said, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. While I can’t say I enjoyed Reflect overall, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that there is some genuinely good stuff in here. To begin, the whole idea of people going out to the desert and being picked off by mysterious hooded figures appeals quite a bit to the horror fan in me, and the film makes fairly effective use of these cryptic antagonists a couple of times.

But above all else, Reflect does a good job of bringing the main characters’ pain and trauma to life. The story explores some heavy real-life issues like eating disorders and suicide ideation. When we see flashbacks to these women’s pasts, they feel natural and believable. Those moments made me believe that these were real people and not just actors, so they almost got me back on board with the movie.

But not quite. At the end of the day, the bad in Reflect still outweighs the good, so I’m sad to say I wouldn’t recommend it. The weak acting, unlikable characters, and over-the-top weirdness just bring it down a little too much. If you’re hoping to start your year off with a bang, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.

Reflect is set to hit VOD on January 9.