TV psychic John Edward made millions over the late 1990s and 2000s from touring around the country, purportedly speaking on behalf of the dead to their living relatives and sharing love from the afterlife. Edward is not the only so-called Sixth Sense “I see dead people” psychic to cash in on the pain of the grieving, but he was and remains the target of reams of skeptic-penned criticism explaining how ESP parlor tricks can come off like the paranormal. At the end of the day, Edward, like seance performers of the early 20th century, is a performer — but his magic tricks work on people. Does that count as real?
Edward’s business (grift?) comes to mind watching the trailer for Look Into My Eyes, a new documentary from director Lana Wilson (Miss Americana, After Tiller) and A24. Set to release in September, the film takes a calm and collected look at the psychic business, following a group of New York City readers who claim to communicate with the dead in hopes of healing their clients. The tone is intimate, more like sitting in on a series of therapy sessions than sensational episodes of Crossing Over with John Edward — and the emotions, even cut up into trailer bits, are palpable.
“I didn’t have any interest in psychics,” says one of Wilson’s client subjects, “but it helped me more than any of the therapy in my life ever helped me.”
Wilson is one of the finest and most compassionate documentarians working today. In 2013’s After Tiller, she took a visceral and loaded subject, third-trimester abortions, and never lost sight of the human thread. Like Look Into My Eyes, her 2017 doc The Departure found a similar spiritual thread to tug at in profiling a down-to-Earth Buddhist priest who aids those contemplating suicide. Wilson’s sensibilities invert even the celeb-focused doc; Taylor Swift gave her full access to her creative process for Miss Americana, and the documentarian approached it with the same compassion and precision. She’s a great filmmaker and Look Into My Eyes is poised to be another unexpected stunner.
I can’t say I buy into Edward’s psychic sales pitch, but there’s clear power to the confrontational nature of his shtick — or at least the two-people-in-a-New-York-apartment version of the act. Look Into My Eyes appears to go there, and knowing Wilson’s work, it should be as challenging and meditative as the trailer.
Look Into My Eyes opens in theaters on Sept. 6.
