But after a violent assault blinded her, she's forced to stay away from the limelight. Her brother moves her to a high-rise apartment with a recovery nurse. The nurse's name is Clayton (Alexander Koch), a young boy who is smitten with the girl.
Ellen's loss of sight triggered depressing thoughts within her. The paranoia of her attacker returning also didn't help. Her inability to accept her reality comes to a point where she contemplates ending her life.
To make matters more stressful, she begins to hear cries for help from the apartment next door. It turns out that her neighbor, Russo (Lee Jones), is beating his wife, Lana (December Ensminger).
It's up to Ellen now how to stop this violence despite her blindness.
"Sightless" is a 2020 psychological thriller film directed by Cooper Karl. He is also the writer-director of the short film where it is adapted.
"Sightless" is a unique thriller compare to other films within its circle. It tells the story of a distraught prodigy from the perspective of the protagonist which is blind. So what Karl did is paint a picture of her perceived reality.
That technique is where "Sightless" draws its strength. It immerses the viewers into a world where they, themselves, are blind. Like Ellen, Karl forces the audience to second guess and doubt the characters as well.
This strategy works wonders throughout the film. A part of it is because Karl captures the perfect timing to misdirect and reveal secrets.
However, "Sightless" weakness is it cuts too thin to have a compelling commentary on the disability. It delves too long in messing with people's perception that it forgot what it needs to do further.
Cooper Karl's clever and twisted first featured film is shocking for its twists and gimmicks. But that's about it.
2/5
