Dr. Reineger, a famous neuro-psychologist, has become convinced that a twin girl named Anna has a rare form of Autism called Asperger's Syndrome, rendering her unable to cope with reality. As for her blind sister, Sarah, the doctor cannot say for sure why her imaginary visions map so close to Anna's. At home, unable to face reality, their father leaves the family. To escape the pain, the girls sink deeper and deeper into their imagination. When a major earthquake takes their mother's life, Reineger gets more involved with helping the now-orphaned twins, while struggling with his realization that the girls seem to be capable of prophetic visions. The girls escape the doctor's institution and a subsequent search finds no trace of them. Have they transcended the physical realm? A mixture of live action, stop motion animation and other techniques makes this film a fantastic journey into the realm of imagination.
Direction
Eric Leiser's mixed-media ambition punches above budget.
Practical Effects
Stop-motion sequences that haunt like a broken music box.
Director
Eric Leiser
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Real-life sisters Nikki and Jessi Haddad played the twins, shot when they were roughly 8-10 years old—their actual sibling chemistry grounds the surrealism.
Released in 2007, the film's clinical framing of Anna's neurodivergence reflects pre-2010s autism discourse; modern audiences often re-read her 'visions' as sensory processing rather than supernatural gift.
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