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I recently discovered the 2020 film by filmmaker Levin Garbisch, Veil Miranda, which is described as a fantasy horror mystery. It’s a pretty interesting mix of genres there. What the hell was I walking into?
Synopsis:
When aspiring serial killer Soren abducts his first victim, Miranda, the two are shocked to discover that she is unable to die.
Veil Miranda was written and directed by Levin Garbisch (Syndicate Crusher 2017 – read our review here) and produced by Maggie Brown and Jordan Henderson. The cast includes Zach Steffey, Annabel Barrett, Vida Ghaffari (Blood beast moon 2019 – read our review here), Dry blood 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 earth, the fox is the winding of the road, the cat is the multitude of stars… in a world of fire, you will need the deer. There you have to decide who you are … – Fox
What works
Veil Miranda jump straight into the story. At first we don’t have a lot of time to learn more about the characters, but that’s okay because the movie itself is both character and dialogue focused, so we get to know Miranda (Barrett) and Soren (Steffey) as the going goes. The acting between the two is wonderful, especially since they carry the film pretty much on their own. There are other characters, like The Rabbit (Fontaine), The Fox (Satriano) and The Cat (Violet), as well as Miranda’s parents (Ghaffari, Jones) and her friends (Herst, Blu), but these two – tell the majority of the tail. Speaking of the bunny, the fox, and the cat, they all spoke to Miranda on her journey and gave her nebulous advice and answers (as do random, dreamlike characters named after the animals), and for some reason, she could only talk to them when Soren wasn’t there. Soren and Miranda’s relationship feels pretty natural, which is odd considering they met while he was trying to kill her. The concept of the story is unique and I appreciated how far these characters have come.
Despite the dark materials in Veil Miranda, the film changes gears after about 25 minutes and becomes a dark comedy with a strong touch of romance. It’s definitely not where I thought it would go, but I’m surprised to say I was happy with the result. I would love to see this idea explored more deeply in other films.
What does not work
While I liked the story and the new take on serial killers here, there were a few things that I was disappointed with. The editing is quite 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 is alone and Soren is watching her. It was shocking to say the least. Maybe it was done to involve a more dreamy aesthetic, but personally I don’t think it worked. The camera is a bit bouncy, especially during in-car scenes, and the sound can be quite far away. There is no actual action in Veil Miranda, which was fine for me, 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 way? I thought it was all set for something, but when the credits rolled I found myself scratching my head, trying to figure it out. I like a good ambiguous ending, but this one left way too many questions and not enough answers.
Final thoughts
Veil Miranda isn’t a serial killer slasher or even a tense thriller. However, it’s a creative and thought-provoking story with quirky characters and it’s an interesting way to spend an afternoon. Find out to see the story of two people who only fell in love with each other after their murder was committed.
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