In his philosophical treatise "The Republic," Plato described the famous ring of Gyges, which permitted him to become invisible and do horrible things out of greed and self-interest. "Above the Shadows" offers a modern spin on the ancient tale with a twelve-year-old girl who becomes invisible after the tragic death of her mother.

In a fantasy-fairy tale structure, the film examines some of the same philosophical notions as Plato. Will the woman named Holly use her invisibility as a gift? Or, will it be the bane of her life? The film's opening sequence draws the audience immediately into the fantasy: "Once there was a girl who was invisible."

A seemingly miraculous occurrence takes place when a washed up kick-boxer named Shayne actually sees Holly, and they make contact. She then takes over as his manager, using her invisibility to make the matches and fix the fights. The two characters seem to have something to offer each other in their dire predicaments. But what will be the life lessons for both Holly and Shayne?

The filmmakers take the audience on an interesting journey in this fantasy, and the actress playing the adult Holly is terrific. From the sensitive boxer, Holly learns that she should not look for the worst in people, but the best. And she needs to be there for others, as opposed to expecting others to be there for her.

Holly's newfound wisdom helps her to reconnect to her family. A central visual metaphor of the film is a tiny kaleidoscope given to Holly by her mother. The shifting images within the viewfinder convey the events of her journey and help to guide Holly to a breakthrough in love and in life.

We can connect with not being seen. Of course for us it is not meant to be literal. We like either for certain people to see us or a general being not just taken for granted by everyone. Having said that, you have to cut the movie a lot of slack and really suspend your disbelief - as much as possible. But because the movie never really explains the "phenomenon", maybe questions like "shouldn't her clothes be visible" and the whole her actually being physically there ... can be left alone.

But again, if you have issues leaving things like that behind you - or if they bug you ... it may not be the best idea to watch the movie. Now leaving all that behind - the movie is an entertaining watch and has quite a few nice things to say. Of course you'll have a love story added to the philosophical aspect of "to be or not to be".

Good performances by everyone involved. Was a bit surprised to see Megan Fox in this one ... especially in a smaller role. But always good to see her - pun intended.

I definitely should not have watched this. i am guessing i started the trailer, was intrigued by the premise, and stopped the trailer before it got to the super heavy romance. it wasn't super cheesy which was nice. but it wasn't good either. and there was some really dumb stuff that made no sense. i enjoyed some of it, almost gave it a 4 til the dumbest thing in the movie happened. (1 viewing 11/27/19)

SPOILERS

the final shot when the dad sees her. reminding us how little sense it makes that they forgot her, and even less that they now remember her. DUMB