This indie drama/sci fi/horror from writer/director Michael Felker is intriguing and well made if a bit confusing. Siblings Joseph and Sid (Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy) meet in what we assume is the present before he takes her to a remote location to hide out after some kind of robbery that has earned them $7m. Entering a certain closet allows them to go somewhere else in time until they can return safely. Except they can't.
The time travel plot device plays out rather awkwardly in places as the two kill time in a big house and offer minimal exposition. Why are they estranged? Why did they commit a robbery? Eventually a strange force called The Vise enters their lives in the form of a mysterious safe with tape recorder. (Quite lo fi for a time travel film!) They need to follow instructions to get back safely.
One oddity is how the two siblings are so well armed. Did they serve in the military? They stalk the property with their guns and then retreat to the kitchen to make use of the automatically restocking fridge. Once I noticed the contents resemble film set craft, I couldn't shake the notion the whole film is a metaphor for DIY film-making: being stuck in a location with a limited supply of food while the world proceeds unbothered.
Anyway, Sid and Joseph await an unwelcome visitor and the whole thing goes full fight-to-the-death for a bit. And then gets weirder. By the end I had no idea what had happened or why. It seemed improbable certain characters would or would not recognise each other. So, it proved a frustrating watch, albeit with fully committed performances from the actors and some clever film-making to work within what was clearly a limited budget.
I want an automatically restocking fridge!
No comments:
Post a Comment