PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I was recently introduced to Filmmaker Levin Garbisch’s 2020 film, Miranda Veil, which is described as a fantasy horror mystery. That’s quite an interesting mashup of genres there. What the heck was I was walking into?
Synopsis:
When aspiring serial killer Soren abducts his first victim, Miranda, both of them are shocked to discover that she is unable to die.
Miranda Veil was written and directed by Levin Garbisch (Syndicate Smasher 2017 – read our review here) and produced by Maggie Brown and Jordan Henderson. The cast includes Zach Steffey, Annabel Barrett, Vida Ghaffari (Moon of the Blood Beast 2019 – read our review here), Dry Blood’s Kelton Jones (read our interview with him here), Olivia Blue, Dean Satriano, Irena Violette, Caitlin Herst, and Esmond Fountain.
The rabbit is the vacancy of the land, the fox is the winding of the road, the cat is the multitude of the stars… in a world of fire, you will need the deer. There, you must decide who you are… – The Fox
What Works
Miranda Veil jumps into the story right away. We don’t get much time to learn about the characters at first, but that’s okay, as the film itself is both character- and dialogue-driven, so we grow to know Miranda (Barrett) and Soren (Steffey) as things progress. The acting between the two is wonderful, especially considering that they carry the film pretty much all by themselves. There are other characters, like The Rabbit (Fountain), The Fox (Satriano), and The Cat (Violette), as well as Miranda’s parents (Ghaffari, Jones) and friends (Herst, Blu), but these two tell the majority of the tail. Speaking of The Rabbit, The Fox, and The Cat, they all talked to Miranda on her journey and gave her nebulous advice and answers (as random, dream-like characters named after animals are wont to do), and for some reason, she could only talk to them when Soren wasn’t around. The relationship between Soren and Miranda seems quite natural, which is weird considering they met when he was trying to kill her. The story concept is unique, and I enjoyed the path these characters take.
Despite the dark materials in Miranda Veil, the film switches gears about 25 minutes in and becomes a black comedy with a strong hint of romance. This is certainly not where I thought it would go, but I’m surprised to say that I was happy with the results. I’d love to see this idea explored more deeply in other films.
What Doesn’t Work
While I liked the story and new take on serial killers here, I was disappointed with a few things. The edited is pretty choppy and the continuity needs work. For example, in one scene, a drunk Miranda is walking down the street with her friends, and in the next, she’s alone and Soren is watching her. This was jarring to say the least. Maybe it was done to imply a more dreamy aesthetic, but personally, I don’t think it worked. The camera is a bit bouncy, especially during the scenes in the car, and the sound can be pretty far off. There’s no action to speak of in Miranda Veil, which was fine by my, but if you’re looking for a serial killer chase through the woods, you’re not going to get it here. I’m also not sure what the animal characters had to do with anything… maybe they all had to do with death in some capacity? I thought it was all a set up for something, but when the credits rolled, I found myself scratching my head, trying to figure it out. I do love a good, ambiguous ending, but this one left way too many questions and not enough answers.
Final Thoughts
Miranda Veil is not a serial killer slasher or even a tense thriller. However, it is a creative, thought-provoking story with quirky characters and is an interesting way to spend an afternoon. Check it out to see the story of two people who fell for each other only after her murder is committed.
