Movie Reviews

‘The World Is Full Of Secrets’ Blu-Ray Review – Horror Film Tackles Art Of Oral Storytelling

By Dillon Gonzales
November 5, 2020
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The art of storytelling is one that dates back to when mankind first developed languages. Sharing stories is ingrained in our DNA, and the way in which we communicate those stories has evolved over the years. In Graham Swon’s intentionally sparse debut feature The World Is Full of Secrets, the filmmaker attempts to bring the tradition of oral storytelling into the visual medium of film. There are countless examples in film of characters reciting a story that would rank among as some of the finest moments in cinema. What these films usually have, though, is a strong traditional narrative surrounding the story to give it some emotional heft. While Swon should be commended for taking a big narrative swing in his understated feature, he ultimately fails to capture the excitement one feels when being told an engaging story. Storytelling is less about the text that is right in front of you and more about the emotions that are put into a well-told story.

The World Is Full of Secrets focuses on a group of girls at a sleepover in the summer of 1996 who challenge one another to share the scariest stories they have ever heard. The tale is presided over by a much older version of one of the girls (voiced by Peggy Stefans) who attempts to give some context to the evening before cryptically alluding to a tragedy that happened to them that night. Before the girls delve into their stories, they engage in some typical teenage behavior around the parent-less house; messing around in the mirror, sneaking some booze, etc. This behavior goes on for too long, especially since you get very little in the way of character development during these scenes. You are relieved by the time you get to the actual storytelling, but you are subsequently greeted with another patience-testing exercise with this action. The main chunks of the movie are two different stories that last 20-30 minutes each in which the camera sets transfixed on a young girl’s face as she tells her story. Emily (Alexa Shae Niziak) shares a story about a woman who became a martyr for Christianity during Roman times while Suzie (Ayla Guttman) gets a bit darker with her story of a teenage girl who is beaten and killed by her classmates in an interesting example of peer pressure. Each girl is allowed to tell her story in one uninterrupted take.

While the content of these stories have their horrific moments, nothing about the way they are told feels compelling. What should be thrilling feels more like homework at the end of the day. The young actresses do a fine job and try to inject some personality where they can; Suzie’s story is at least heightened by the slightly too-enthusiastic performance from Guttman that leaves you concerned about her mental state. Despite this, there is just no imagination to Swon’s filmmaking. It feels very indulgent to shoot their story as an uninterrupted take, which results in these young talents giving unnatural performances that feel staged and executed just as he intended. These are stories that have been precisely written just so, but the way in which they are presented feels antithetical to how individuals would truly tell a story. Swon seems intent to go against audience expectations of a horror film, but he does not deliver anything to make up the deficit. The tragedy that is brought up consistently throughout the film is not even revealed by the time the credits start rolling. The film seems to think that leaving you with theoretical horror is enough to keep you creeped out, but The World Is Full Of Secrets just leaves you feeling unsatisfied at the end of the day.

Video Quality

The World Is Full of Secrets comes to Blu-Ray with a new digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in the atypical aspect ratio of 1.19:1. When evaluating this transfer, you have to take into account that this film was a low budget, independent production that is not intended to look Hollywood sleek. The film is imbued with a stylistically hazy look that keeps you off balance in a dreamlike state. The presentation looks quite excellent throughout most of the runtime as it represents the film how it was intended to be shown. The picture tends to run a bit soft, but colors are well saturated in a visually splendid way. Skin tones are natural and consistent with subtle facial features easily noticeable in closeup. Black levels hold up well with very little in the way of crush. There does not appear to be any digital noise, compression artifacts or other nuisances of the sort. Kino Lorber has given this film an excellent, faithful presentation in high definition.

Audio Quality

Kino Lorber brings us this new Blu-Ray with a lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix that beautifully reproduces the film sonically. This is a film entirely about storytelling, and the dialogue comes through crisp and clear during all of the storytelling sequences. The environmental effects are delineated nicely even if said effects are not exactly showy. The unsettling pieces of music maintain a nice fidelity throughout the runtime. This is a track that represents the film in a very satisfying way. This film was never going to be a demo-worthy track, but this audio presentation makes the film sound as good as you could possibly hope for it to be. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are provided on this disc.

Special Features

The Blu-Ray of The World Is Full of Secrets includes a multi-page booklet featuring the essay “Tales of a Long Night” by Boris Nelepo. The essay provides a great amount of cinematic context to the film and offers up interesting interpretations, but this only left me wishing I had gotten what he did from the film.. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Graham Swon provides a pretty standard but informative commentary track in which he discusses many of the technical aspects of shooting the film, working with the young actors, the themes of the film and more.

Deleted Scene: A 21-minute unused story from the film that concerns a magic mirror and a man who develops a taste for killing. Fairly interesting, but the film was already overly long as it is.

Trailer: A two-minute trailer is provided here that gives you a good sense of what to expect from the film while making it seem slightly more interesting.

Final Thoughts

The World Is Full Of Secrets is a film that is all tease without much in the way of a payoff. The young actresses who embody these characters do a great job, but the writing and direction leaves a lot to be desired in the end. If you are going to go through the effort of making a film, there should at least be something cinematic on screen. Kino Lorber offers up a Blu-Ray with a pleasing A/V presentation and some worthwhile special features for fans of the film.

The World Is Full Of Secrets is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Lorber has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.