The Other Side of the Door (2016)

The Other Side of the Door: Directed by Johannes Roberts. With Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Sofia Rosinsky, Logan Creran. After her young son is killed in a tragic accident, a woman learns of a ritual which will bring him back to say goodbye, but when she disobeys a sacred warning, she upsets the balance between life and death.

“A clear definition of Hinduism is hard to pin down. Hinduism is a culture, a philosophy and, of course, a religion. Itu0026#39;s considered one of the worldu0026#39;s great religions and one of the oldest. It has the third highest number of adherents worldwide (behind Christianity and Islam) and is the major religion of India, the worldu0026#39;s second most populous country, where 80% of its 1.3 billion inhabitants are Hindu. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion whose many gods are interconnected by their legends. Hindus also believe in the reincarnation of the immortal soul after the death of the physical body. Digging deeper into Hinduism yields stories that have evolved over the centuries and beliefs that are difficult for most non-Hindus to truly understand. In short, Hinduism is a mystery to most of the world – especially to the western world. Perhaps that is why it makes a good basis for a ghost story like u0026quot;The Other Side of the Dooru0026quot; (R, 1:36).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMichael and Maria (Jeremy Sisto and Sarah Wayne Callies) are Americans running a furniture business in India, which they decide to make their home when Maria discovers sheu0026#39;s pregnant with the coupleu0026#39;s first child. Five years later, theyu0026#39;re enjoying life in Mumbai with their son, Oliver (Logan Creran), and younger daughter, Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky)… that is, until a tragic accident takes Oliveru0026#39;s life. Maria is inconsolable. As much she loves her husband and daughter, sheu0026#39;s racked with guilt over her sonu0026#39;s death and finds it nearly impossible to maintain her own will to live. Seeing Mariau0026#39;s pain, the familyu0026#39;s Indian housekeeper, Piki (Suchitra Pillai-Malik), offers Maria a chance to get some closure and move past Oliveru0026#39;s death.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePiki tells Maria of an abandoned Hindu temple near Pikiu0026#39;s childhood home in southern India. Piki says that if Maria spreads Oliveru0026#39;s ashes on the temple steps, goes into the temple and waits until after dark, Oliveru0026#39;s spirit will come to the temple and Maria can say her final goodbyes to her son through the door – as long as she doesnu0026#39;t open the door – no matter what. Yup, you guessed it. Maria, overcome by the longing to hold her son once again when she hears his voice, opens the door – an act which disrupts the balance between the living and the dead and prevents Oliveru0026#39;s soul from being reincarnated. Instead, Oliveru0026#39;s spirit, in its altered and transitory state, wreaks havoc on Mariau0026#39;s family, while an unhappy Hindu goddess and a tribe of spiritualists who communicate with the dead are intent on restoring order.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;The Other Side of the Dooru0026quot; is a (mostly) original and satisfying horror flick. You wonu0026#39;t get much in the way of actual insight into the Hindu religion, but its beliefs provide an interesting foundation for the filmu0026#39;s story. Rather than happening u0026quot;just becauseu0026quot;, as in many horror movies, the scary stuff in this movie at least has an explanation. The flashback scene of the accident that killed Oliver is heartbreaking, the ending is creepy and the story in between keeps you wondering whatu0026#39;s real, whatu0026#39;s not and where the story is going. (I thought I had it figured out 10 minutes in. I was wrong.) Bringing it all together are Callies and Sisto. Both are movie and TV veterans who bring the necessary acting heft to this ghost storyu0026#39;s plot points. Unfortunately, there are some cheap jump scares and the creepy sights and sounds seem recycled from almost every cinematic ghost story from u0026quot;The Grudgeu0026quot; to u0026quot;The Conjuringu0026quot;. This all leaves us with a movie whose frights arenu0026#39;t very fresh, but with a surprisingly solid story and style. u0026quot;B+u0026quot;”