“Mirage,” an original Netflix move, is surprisingly good.
I say “surprisingly” because, well, here’s the description:
A space-time continuum glitch allows Vera to save a boy’s life 25 years earlier, but results in the loss of her daughter, whom she fights to get back.
So, first, it’s got a time-travel element to it, which always makes me a little nervous as those storylines can so quickly go off the rails. Plus, this element is often used as a lazy plot device to help an author get herself out of a jam.
Even worse, in this particular case, is that the time travel aspect is connected to, of all things, television sets and VCR tapes. (I know, it’s almost as silly as it sounds.)
I likely wouldn’t have watched this move based on the set up, but I saw enough of the trailer to see what it actually is—a murder mystery with elements of psychological thriller thrown in for good measure.
(Yes, I know, a murder mystery with time-traveling elements seems even more peculiar, but it actually worked.)
I was pleasantly surprised at how well “Mirage” played out. Yes, I figured the mystery out pretty early on, but somehow, that didn’t lessen the entertainment for me. And it had an interesting twist at the end that I didn’t see coming.
Of course, I may have enjoyed it more because I had some pretty low expectations. (Again, time travel, TV sets, enough said.) And, I’m fully aware that the sheer fact I’m writing a good review of this movie may mean you DON’T enjoy it, because now, you likely have higher expectations than I did.
But, that said, I’ll take the risk, because I’ve watched enough bad Netflix original movies (hello “Open House”) that I personally wouldn’t mind a recommendation for those nights I really feel like watching a movie.
I recommend just watching “Mirage” without thinking too hard about the time travel component. Although this one does a better job than most (as no one is actually going backwards or forwards in time, which does help), the logic always falls apart under too much scrutiny. (There likely is a reason we can’t really travel through time, despite what you might hear in a quantum physics laboratory.)
