The worst part of being lost in the plot of a movie is that you take time to connect the loose ends and by when you think you understand what is happening you realize that the story has moved in another direction and you will remain confused until the end credits. IMThem is the kind of movie that, although it seems to have a good story, bad editing ruins what they had achieved.

David (Clayton Ballard) is a struggling horror makeup artist who apparently is amazing at what he does but never seems to deliver in results has had enough of making pointless tutorial videos— he wants the big bucks that no one is willing to pay. Finally, he takes a job for a local movie production that mysteriously starts every day after midnight. On his first day, he walks back home only to accidentally witness the gruesome murder of the town mayor and, reminding ourselves that he isn’t the master of disguise or being quiet, the masked assassins discover that David saw everything and steal his belongings to frame him and later eliminate his entire family and friends. David will find himself in a race against time, the authorities and a supernatural cult — I’m still trying to figure that one out — to clear his name and possibly save his family, but his egocentricity will outweigh the lemons life throws in his favor.

IMThem has a strong start from which the intention or idea they wanted to express cannot be denied. It has several comic overtones that I appreciate were not forced despite some details in the performance of some members of the main cast— but it’s something they should’ve taken care of because some incidental characters stand out more than the main ones. I can’t say the acting is bad because it makes up for the hilarity of some of the scenes and it does help when it becomes more theatrical than dramatic for the sake of the satire it represents.

During the first two acts the story is well structured, you can see clearly the path they were traveling on. However, there is a moment when the twists and turns begin and the fog begins to roll down from the mountains to cloud the audience’s view— the video editing is terrible at the most critical stage of the story’s development: the climax and its conclusions. It cuts back and forth though present time, dream sequences and ghostly apparitions that only keep confusing the storyline; the lack of a filter to identify which is what is crucial and it was ignored. To me, it feels like it leaves a plot hole bigger than the sentiment of emptiness the uncertainty causes.

IMThem proves that you could get out of any trouble as long as you have a packet of glitter ready to throw against your enemies face, the only thing that can’t be fixed is bad editing, no matter how much makeup and glitter you try to glue on the surface, it’ll still look flawed on the borderline of tackiness.

3 OUT OF 10 MAKEUP BAGS