LIKE MINDS

(a.k.a. MURDEROUS INTENT)

After a brief train-set opening scene, we meet teenager Alex (Eddie Redmayne, THE GOOD SHEPHERD), who has been arrested for the murder of his friend Nigel (Tom Sturridge, VANITY FAIR).

Detective McKenzie (Richard Roxburgh, VAN HELSING) greets Alex in a police interview room, and the tale of Alex and Nigel's curious friendship begins to unravel in increasingly protracted flashbacks ...

We see that Alex was a brilliant but bored student at a stuffy boarding school governed by his own father (Patrick Malahide, SAHARA). Life initially got worse for him when a new pupil arrived at the school, and was allocated to share Alex's room - much to Alex's chagrin.

The new pupil was the quiet and at times icy cool Nigel (Tom Sturridge, VANITY FAIR). Here, their story begins proper. Nigel is preoccupied with history, heritage and blood lineage. More disconcertingly, he likes to gut dead animals and practice taxidermy on their corpses.

Alex is initially irritated by everything Nigel says and does, but Nigel's menacing moods and cold, calculated manner eventually attract Alex's curiosity and a truly strange relationship forms between the two.

Even when strange murders start to occur - including a stand-out crucifixion scene - Alex continues to grow closer to Nigel, whom he now suspects is evil through and through.

Back in the present tense, McKenzie becomes increasingly perplexed by the young lad's story and enlists the help of sanctimonious criminal psychologist Sally (the underused Toni Collette, THE SIXTH SENSE). She tries her best to understand Alex's mental condition, and to prise more of his story from him - all of which leads to a startling finale.

It's difficult to say too much about LIKE MINDS' plot, as it relies on it's viewer knowing as little as possible beforehand. If possible, go into this as blind as you can, and I assure you, you'll be rewarded for your ignorance.

Writer-director Gregory J Read has crafted a well-paced and carefully plotted thriller, with an unnervingly morbid friendship at its core. With it's cast of top performers (especially the two boys - Sturridge in particular is riveting) and austere production values, it could have easily been a mainstream hit were it not for the creepiness of the relationship between Alex and Nigel.

It's not that it's homoerotic (although it so very is), there just seems to be something more sinister connecting them throughout ... to this end, comparisons to HEAVENLY CREATURES and DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL spring to mind.

The cinematography in LIKE MINDS is very appealing to the eye, as are the costume design and decor of the school. It's a very visually conscious film, and therefore aesthetically delightful. But it's the plot that will hopefully draw people in, as the truth behind Nigel's murder (shot in the head) comes to light.

There are flaws. Some of the dialogue is clunky and Collette doesn't get much to do, despite being mentioned heavily in most articles advertising the film. The film does end with a twist, which more astute viewers will start to guess as soon as the opening credits finish. And it has to be said that while Read has a keen eye for visually stunning compositions and a knack of illiciting good performances from his cast, he's not quite mastered the art of directing convincing "action" sequences.

All in all though, LIKE MINDS is an above-average thriller with an offbeat tone and a great look to it.

Lion's Gate's R2 release offers the film uncut in a pleasingly sharp and vibrant anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer.

The English 2.0 audio comes across well, and is complemented by easily readable English Hard-of-Hearing subtitles.

A static scene-selection menu allows access to the main feature via 16 chapters.

Extras begin with an engaging commentary track from Read and composer Carlo Giacco. It's a serious affair for the most part and at times a little too self-congratulating, but still makes for a highly interesting listen with a wealth of background information offered by Read.

A 21-minute Making Of documentary follows, offering clips from the film intercut with cast and crew interviews. Roxburgh is a little too gushy-gushy over being involved in the project, and Read is perhaps running the risk of sounding pompous when comparing his film to FRANKENSTIEN ... but the end effect is that all involved were totally committed to making LIKE MINDS, and are rightfully proud of the end result.

Finally we get two deleted/extended scenes, totalling 4 minutes. Curiously, these are presented in non-anamorphic 2.35:1.

A decent disc for an above average thriller that is sure to acquire a cult following in time.

Review by Stuart Willis