Just in time for the holiday season, as if it weren’t blue enough for most, arrives a film that might leave you feeling cold and melancholic— Double Walker.

The ghost of a young woman (Sylvie Mix) is freely walking the face of the Earth consuming revenge on the people who seems to have caused her premature death. But how is she trapped in our world? When she dies, she is immediately visited by three specters that give her several options: rest, return to Earth one day to fix whatever she needs or wants to avoid, or return forever with whichever purpose she desires, but she will only be seen by paranormal believers and sinners. Without thinking twice, she decides to return to ensure that her murderers do not commit the same heinous acts on anyone ever again— or so she thinks. As time goes by, she begins to realize that her decision creates more problems than solutions, and the culprits are still free by the faults in her own actions.

Double Walker states an obvious inspiration from A Christmas Carol with dark twists that magnify the very plot of this feature film. From the beginning you can feel the elements that it replicates: three dark figures visit her after death to give her a choice. These are clearly seen as the ghost of past when it gives her a chance to go back and fix the events that caused her death, the ghost of present when it invites her to move on, and the ghost of future when it seduces her with a better offer to live forever with obvious restrictions. Even when the girl goes back to avenge her death, she visits three guys that are presumably the culprits. But, with the help of every clue given to the spectator, you may start to think she probably made a bad choice.

The most relevant thing about this story is how important details are to help the viewer decipher who’s the real culprit of her departure. Each character maintains a profile that makes them a suspect: the mother is in deep depression and finds comfort in alcohol, the father shows no emotion for the loss of his daughter, two of the alleged culprits continue with their lives as if nothing happened, and another lives in constant paranoia. In that aspect, the story is very well curated as a vehicle to get to the plot twist. However, at the same time it neglects other things such as the reasons why a little girl of around 6 years old returns in the form of a young adult or why the process of who can see her is so selective when there are people who would have no reason to do so, and still they become victims. Yes, it definitely seems to have some holes that have been purposely left to give the supporting characters some weight.

Double Walker puts an interesting twist on a Christmas classic. It probably doesn’t have the same celebratory conclusion as its inspiration, but it does show a certain yet extremely gloomy satisfaction in solving its dilemma by closing it with a dry tone that not even 12-Days-of-Christmas could help lift your spirits after watching. Give it a chance, but prepare yourself to feel a sad void.

7 OUT OF 10 SPOONS