Demon Box
Film Review
By Fabricio Estevam Mira

Sometimes we need magic. We need to float in good, substantial movie fantasy. But for that, you need a special kind of magician. It takes a different kind of director, one who is able to feel and imagine like a kid, but have the sharp, well-prepared mind of an adult. A special kind of creative being. Spielberg and Lucas, before they exhausted and sold out their inner children, had this. Many try. Some just for the money, others out of naivety. The naturals are few.
One of my main rules for initially trying to evaluate an author's ability, is to only do so after experiencing at least three of their works. Of course, other factors are also taken into consideration. But occasionally, pieces come along that make me take exception. They have a magnetism of their own. They have that special glow that makes you want to see everything this artist produces in the future. The other day I watched a short, experimental documentary called Demon Box by a director named Sean Wainsteim. In Demon Box, Wainsteim recounts his family traumas and memories that, while somewhat heavy, are also full of legitimate beauty. It could be a clichéd movie about the resonance of the Holocaust in a Jewish family whose one member was a survivor. Something melodramatic and overly sugary. But it isn't. The script is creative, fresh, and uses good humor in a measured way, never being gratuitous. Never detracting from the central drama. Never ashamed of the human character of this drama. The unconventional and slightly experimental presentation for a documentary makes any possible dry didacticism give place to a story that flows in an instigating and colorful way. The entire cast is very good, with highlights for actors Michael Jordan "Zaydie" and Liam Hill "Boy", who could easily be in a big budget movie. In fact, Demon Box, as a whole, is so well done, that it owes nothing to big budget films. In fact, it's more interesting than the vast majority of them. Excellent photography. Excellent art direction. Excellent direction overall. Demon Box is a rare case of a unique movie, capable of making you predict possible great things for a director with a great ability to make you dream, without making you feel guilty about it. An absurd potential.