If I had
Visitors like these, I would have turned the engine right the heck on . . .
Yachtsman, Georgia Perry (Radha Mitchell) probably tried to leave her demons behind her when she started her 140 day solo sail around the world. Unfortunately for her, they followed her and once her boat was becalmed at sea they caught right up and boarded. The fact that she would lose her challenge if she either turned the boat's engine on or was boarded by another person caused Georgia to try and weather her personal storms alone.
Being sponsored by her fiance, Luke's (Dominic Purcell) employer - a cosmetics company - Georgia is forced even before she begins this massive voyage to both change the name of her boat and loose just a little of herself. Throughout her trip we see through flashbacks all of Georgia's personal problems. These translate into the strange visitors she has on the boat as she is making her way round the world.
I really found myself sucked into the plot of Visitors right from the beginning. Whether you believe that Georgia really does see the ghosts she believes she does or is just having hallucinations due to some sort of combination of barnacle contamination and loneliness, her struggle still evokes some sort of empathy. I mean really, who hasn't had guilt take over their lives at least a teensy weensy bit at some time or another. And we all have internal struggles with our personal demons from time to time.
This was a really original film with most of the action out at sea with Georgia and her cat who seemed to have conversations with her. Georgia's parents, Mom - Carolyn (Susannah York) and Dad - Bill (Ray Barrett), play a big role in the completion (or lack there of) of her challenge. Dad being very supportive and Mom really standing in her way at every turn. Whether alive or dead, Mom seemed not to want Georgia to do this. And just as an aside, Mom as a ghost was really terrifying - the way she moved, looked, reacted and her facial expressions just gave me chills.
An interesting concept and pretty well done. I really enjoyed the spirits that visited Georgia during her trip. The cat was a novel way to let us hear Georgia's inner dialogue and the spider-crab creatures that came out of the barnacles on the boat were quite freaky. The spooky atmosphere on the ship at night really lent itself to the whole spirit angle and I thought it interesting that the spirits began appearing after the crow (the international sign for bad luck and death) was caught on her boat and subsequently drowned.
The ending was a bit odd to me at first, but after further thought it made a lot of sense. I would definitely recommend watching
Visitors if you find it on while you are flipping through the channels. I would even recommend renting it - very original and quite eerie.
Visitors Movie Cast and Credits
Directed by
Richard Franklin
Writing credits
Everett De Roche
Cast (in credits order)
Radha Mitchell .... Georgia Perry
Susannah York .... Carolyn Perry
Ray Barrett .... Bill Perry
Dominic Purcell .... Luke (as Domenic Purcell)
Tottie Goldsmith .... Casey
Che Timmins .... Kai
Christopher Kirby .... Rob (as Chris Kirby)
Jan Friedl .... Bev (as Jan Freidl)
Soula Alexander
Roberta Connelly .... Barbie
Michelle McClatchy
Diana Greentree .... Julie
Bridgette Burton
Donni Frizzell .... Stowaway (as Donni Frizzel)
Phil Ceberano .... Pirate Captain
Khairi Razzaai .... Henchman #1
Allan Q .... Henchman #2
Clive Hearne .... Commodore
Bruce Hughes .... TV Reporter (Actual)
Tim Elston .... Young Bill
Alysha McKenzie .... Young Georgia
Steven Grives .... The voice of Taco
More Visitors Movie Reviews
Movie Review of Visitors from In Film AustraliaVisitors Movie Review and Information Page at The Internet Movie Database
