Could be Exhibit A for anyone arguing the case that modern filmmaking lacks a strong sense of story.

Leonidas walks this tightrope quite engagingly, showing us a girl on the cusp of womanhood, torn between two competing needs -- to become an adult, to remain a child, to vilify, to revere.

McKean's inexperience as a director trips the film. There is so much going on that the viewer can't take in all the imagery, and McKean's devotion to his skewed vision slows the story to a crawl.

Mirrormask eventually establishes itself as an thoroughly interminable piece of work that substitutes endless creativity for context and character development...