Glasshouse: Review

16th July 2022

Mother (Adrienne Pearce) is the matriarch in a small family who live in a large and very beautiful glass house that feels like it should be used in a Victorian period drama. She has three daughters; Bee (Jessica Alexander), Evie (Anja Taljaard) and her youngest, Daisy (Kitty Harris).

There are also a couple of men who live there and their injuries force the women to restrain them until they get better. Gabe (Brent Vermeulen) is having trouble adjusting to the new world, but the stranger (Hilton Pelser) sees things differently and soon grows closer to one of the girls. However, in this dystopian future where oxygen is precious and memory is easily lost, then they may all soon forget themselves.

Glasshouse is a dystopian melodrama set in a place which feels very much grounded in our history, but seems to be far into our future. In her feature directorial debut, Kelsey Egan has created a world like no other and offers something different than the usual tropes that so often malign science fiction.

In fact, if there weren’t talk of ‘The Shred’ and if Daisy wasn’t so curious about the outside world, then the audience may not even realise its intentions.

With a set up that evokes The Beguiled, Glasshouse is a lavish production with a great cast and an intriguing story. However, with its mixing of genres then it may not be for everybody. Having what appears to be a period drama mixed in with a science fiction inflected world may draw some people in who enjoy the production value, but may similarly turn people away who want a more conventional sci fi tale.

This is particularly evident because although the world building is impeccably done, it does seem to take its time in explaining everything and how the film got to this point. This does slow down the pacing somewhat and may even make the audience wonder where it’s all going – and not in a good way.

In whatever way audiences may approach Glasshouse, they may either revel in the unique setting or be turned off by the dialogue that can’t decide between telling a story or fleshing out a world. Either way, Glasshouse is an original idea with an original premise which may have needed a little more polishing to make things clearer.

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