SXSW Review: 'One & Two' With 'Mad Men' Star Kiernan Shipka

What was it that Herman Melville once wrote? “It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation.” A nice little nugget of advice that transcends literature and easily applies to all arts. In the case of Andrew Droz Palermo’s “One & Two,” things are even more sour, because not only does his film cross the barriers of homage to dabble in straight-up imitation, but it’s not exactly succeeding at it, either. After “The Tree of Life,” the inimitable Terrence Malick had unwittingly unleashed an army of copycats; directors who have a good eye for pretty shots, but are not nearly as victorious in connecting all the other necessary elements to create a compelling piece of work. At one point, it becomes tough to watch them try, which brings us to Palermo’s hollow story of two supernaturally gifted siblings.

And it starts with such promise. We see a seabed-view of a lake’s translucent surface, daylight enticingly shimmering through until two young diving bodies disrupt...