Twixt (2011)
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A struggling novelist discovers a murder mystery in a small town that leads him into a haunting, dream-like alternative reality.
The story
Hall Baltimore, a down-on-his-luck writer specializing in witch-hunting novels, is approached by an eccentric fan, Sheriff Bobby LaGrange, during a book signing. Bobby requests that Hall accompany him to a morgue to view a recent murder victim. While Hall initially refuses to look at the victim's face, the town's oddities—including a hotel that once sheltered Edgar Allan Poe—prompt him to plan a story about the area. After falling asleep, Hall begins experiencing vivid dreams of a dream-like version of the town where he encounters a mysterious girl named V and a figure resembling Edgar Allan Poe.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Hall Baltimore, a struggling writer, is invited by Sheriff Bobby LaGrange to view a murder victim. Hall decides to write a story about the town, which features a hotel once occupied by Edgar Allan Poe. In his dreams, Hall meets a girl named V (nicknamed 'Vampira') and encounters Edgar Allan Poe. Bobby provides Hall with sleeping pills to induce more dreams, where Hall discovers a dark history: a priest murdered children to prevent them from joining a group of vampires called Flamingo, and V was one of the survivors. In the waking world, strange events mirror these dreams, and Bobby eventually knocks Hall unconscious. Hall realizes his writer's block stems from guilt over his daughter's death in a boating accident. He writes a story where V survives and is rescued by Flamingo. Upon waking, Hall finds Bobby has hanged himself with a note saying 'Guilty.' Hall goes to the morgue and finds the murder victim is actually V, who awakens and attacks him. The film ends with Hall's publisher praising the manuscript, revealing the entire experience was the story Hall was writing.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 88
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
- Francis Ford Coppola · writer; Francis Ford Coppola · director; Francis Ford Coppola · producer
- Cast and characters
- Val Kilmer · Hall Baltimore; Bruce Dern · Bobby LaGrange; Elle Fanning · V; Ben Chaplin; Alden Ehrenreich; David Paymer; Joanne Whalley; Tom Waits
- Genres
- horror; gothic horror; vampire films
- Themes
- guilt; dreams vs. reality; murder; vampires
- Tone and mood
- gothic; dream-like; horror
- Premise and plot tags
- writer; murder mystery; dream world; vampires
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with some calling it 'flimsy' or 'unwatchable,' while others praised it as 'intermittently gorgeous.' It was notably ranked as the third best film of 2012 by Cahiers du cinéma.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 30% · review count: 20; Metacritic · score: 40 · scale: 100 · review count: 6
- Production trivia
- The title 'Twixt' refers to the dream and waking worlds.; The film marks the on-screen reunion of former spouses Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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