‘Look Into My Eyes’: Inside the Weird World of New York City Psychics
Look into My Eyes recognizes that its subjects—a collection of psychics plying their trade in New York City—do not possess real supernatural powers. Nonetheless, that’s beside the point of Lana Wilson’s heartfelt and empathetic documentary, whose genuine focus is the emotional turmoil that drives people to practice this profession as well as to patronize its “experts” in search of guidance and insights into the biggest questions of their lives.
Premiering in theaters on Sept. 6 following its acclaimed debut at the Sundance Film Festival, it’s a profile of the co-dependent relationship shared by mediums and their clients, both of whom, through their meetings, seek answers, assurances, validation, comfort, encouragement, and relief from inescapable guilt and grief.
Opening with a graceful Hitchcockian shot that moves from the heavens above to a small apartment window, Wilson’s film doesn’t identify any of its speakers, only some of whose names are heard during the course of its 105 minutes. As it turns out, who they specifically are isn’t as important as the things that bind them, beginning with a shared love of the theatrical and cinematic arts.