MirrorMask is an imaginatively conceived and brilliantly produced story of a young girl's journey of self-discovery by way of a hallucinatory adventure through her dreams. And oh, what dreams do come. It's doubtful that the most ardent absinthe drinkers ever had dreams such as these.

Helena is the daughter of travelling circus owners, a performing juggler by necessity, but passionate about her drawing, which adorns the walls of her room. While other children her age dream of running away to join the circus, Helena dreams of running away from it. Although her parents are kind and understanding, Helena's desire to find her own way is the cause of friction.

After a particularly angry fight in which the girl wishes her mother dead, Helena is heartbroken to discover that a short time later, her mother was indeed stricken by a potentially fatal malady which will require a dangerous operation to cure.

Helena goes to sleep that night, overwhelmed by her guilt and conflicted emotions, and enters a uniquely beautiful, disturbing and sometimes precognitive dreamworld in which both she and her mother are personified as twin entities, one dark and one light.

Author Neil Gaiman, renowned for his Sandman series of graphic novels, was enlisted for the creation of MirrorMask by the Jim Henson Company, seeking to create a fantasy film in the style of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. The result is a delightfully satisfying treasure trove of beautiful visions, like an Alice in Wonderland for the 21st century.

MirrorMask also bears some passing resemblance to Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam, and of course to The Wizard of Oz, in its tale of a bored young girl who becomes lost in a dreamlike world only to return with a new perspective on reality.

Actress Stephanie Leonidas is charming as Helena, and Gina McKee's patrician beauty is perfect for her dual roles as loving mother and icy Queen of Darkness.

MirrorMask is a must see, and is sure to be a must-own on DVD.