Doctor Mordrid translates a cosmic battle between sorcerers into apartment rooms, museums and city streets. Its modest physical world gives the magical intrusions a pleasing concreteness. The hero's restraint contrasts with the temptation to use knowledge and power as proof of superiority. Watch how ordinary relationships complicate the role of a guardian: someone capable of extraordinary action still needs to recognize what nearby people see, fear and misunderstand. The effects are most engaging when a familiar object becomes unexpectedly active.