The fairytale-like story of an adolescent girl living a life as a circus performer and railing against her family does not seem like a film a 38 year old man would typically like, but if I said that the film was written by frequent collaborators Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean? It might make more sense and even pique your interest. This team worked on the seminal 'The Sandman' series together and Gaiman has also written American Gods, Coraline, The Graveyard Book, Stardust and much more. This is quite a pedigree and so, as expected, MirrorMask does not disappoint, coming across like a modern version of Labyrinth, even down to the Jim Henson Company producing the puppets that frequently the film.

The film is about young Helena, very ably played by Stephanie Leonidas, who is an aspiring artist with an active imagination. Her family run the family circus and are part of a carny community but this is transient and lacks the consistency that Helena thinks she wants. When she rebels it sends her mother into a coma and Helena enters a mirror world where the Dark Queen, an evil version of her mother, keeps the White Queen, her coma'd mother, in a deep sleeps. Can Helena find a way to rescue her mother and discover some personal truths? Of course she can but the journey is intriguing and on accession, Dr. Who-esque scary.

The actors are all very good and the special effects suit the dreamy style of the film well. I know some people have criticised the over-reliance on green screen but with an obviously limited budget, the film does a commendable job of bringing McKean's art and drawings to life. The story is intriguing enough and the singular art style make this film a worthwhile watch but it does feel like an incoherent journey, actions happen and you have no idea of it is good or bad and the bloom effect starts to grate after a while. Don't get me wrong I liked the film just fine but didn't love it. It's no Labyrinth, but then... what is?