Beyond the Black Rainbow

2010

Panos Cosmatos brings a bold, Kubrickian vision to the screen in stunning detail in this sci-fi fable of a young woman imprisoned in an experimental laboratory and the enigmatic scientist who is her captor. Set in a futuristic 1983, Elena finds herself held against her will in a mysterious facility under the watchful eye of the sinister Dr. Barry Nyle. Pushed to her limits, Elena is left with no choice but to navigate an escape from her labyrinthine prison, in the process revealing its hidden secrets. At once creatively futuristic and hypnotically retro, Beyond the Black Rainbow evokes the spirit of classic 1970s and '80s science fiction films through its vintage-inspired chromatic cinematography, elaborate set pieces, and an authentically retro sci-fi score composed entirely on analog synthesizers by Black Mountain's Jeremy Schmidt. With all the makings of a cult classic, Beyond the Black Rainbow is sure to absorb viewers in its unique dystopian futurescape, and marks the trippy, exciting debut of a promising new talent in the science fiction world. more..

Director: Panos Cosmatos

Starring: Michael Rogers, Eva Allan, Scott Hylands, Marilyn Norry, Rondel Reynoldsen

 28 Reviews

Reviews

  • Beyond The Black Rainbow is more surface than substance, but those surfaces are gleamingly polished enough to make for a hypnotic experiment that goes beyond genre pastiche or art-school wankery to seem formally daring.

    - The A.V. Club

    29 November 2012

  • Though the finale feels a bit anticlimactic, the lysergic atmosphere, synth-heavy score and logic-resistant story line more than earn Beyond the Black Rainbow's concluding quote, borrowed from another classic midnight movie: "No matter where you go?there you are." See the late show.

    - Time Out New York

    29 November 2012

  • At heart, the film is no more (or less) than a brilliantly executed lark, but it's not often that we're reminded with such potency that movies are most delightful as sensory experiences.

    - Village Voice

    29 November 2012

  • Unless you're among those who still drop acid as a midnight-movie apéritif, your enjoyment of this retro oddity remains far from guaranteed.

    Jeannette Catsoulis - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • As filmmaking debuts go, Panos Cosmatos' Beyond the Black Rainbow is as striking as it is nuts.

    Marjorie Baumgarten - Austin Chronicle

    29 November 2012

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