The Ring

An incredible picture with its own set of rules. Yes, Verbinski forges a methodical narrative based on the wildly supernatural incarnation of neglect and vengeance in the form of a videotape, causing the visible mutilation of the world around us with suffocating visual language, tackling the recursive consequences of poor parenting, and seamlessly exploring a gripping self-contained mythology at the same time. And does it work? Most definitely so. Every frame is a juicy vessel of one’s attention, washed in a desaturated and pale bluish-green colour palette, sometimes even verging on monochrome. And that’s exactly what Gore wants us to feel: as though the curse is inescapable for humanity, as if we’re all damned to eternally climb our own wells without ever reaching the light, reinforced by our selfish tendencies that are cursed to repeat rather than resolve. Ouroboric.