I removed the 'horror' part from the title of this post as Alchemy of the Spirit only partially goes into that territory. Written and directed by Steve Balderson (Hell Town, Firecracker), this is a poignant and frequently melancholic study into the human spirit. As that may sound like, this is most certainly an arthouse movie, one that at times became almost like an essay brought to life.
Elderly artist Oliver (Xander Berkeley - Air Force One, Terminator 2: Judgement Day) awakens one morning to discover his beloved wife Evelyn (Sarah Clarke - Twilight, 24 TV series) has died in her sleep. Full of grief, the artist decides that rather than report her death to the authorities, he is instead going to try and preserve the body, in order to create his magnum opus, with her as his inspiration. With perfect timing, his manager Alex (Mink Stole - All About Evil, Neighbor) tells the artist that she has managed to get him the job of creating an art installation at a prestigious gallery, so he decides his latest work will be for that installation. Whether due to supernatural means or down to his intense sorrow, the spirit of his wife appears to him. She informs him that guides from the afterlife have told her that she will be able to spend five days with him, but after this time she will be gone forever.
Having avoided reading the synopsis, it didn't take me too long to realise the type of movie this would be. Alchemy of the Spirit is an ultra slow burn, but one that thankfully avoids overstaying its welcome by rocking in at a ninety minute run time. For the lack of much that occurs within the film storywise, I didn't actually find it that dull at all. This is a movie with a dreamlike feel to it, where the fantastical and real merge in a way that made me unsure what was actual and which was within the mind of Oliver. Berkeley carries much of the film, though Clark's character Evelyn also features quite a bit. She is where it becomes most arthouse, with her descriptions of what it's like to be dead, and her spoken essays on the nature of reality and the human spirit mixed in with disparate images of her, such as her standing in a sun drenched meadow surrounded by artificial butterflies.
Outside of this metaphysical dreamlike fugue Oliver finds himself in, there is a more grounded story taking place in the background. First is the fact that the man has tried to preserve his wife's body in a bathtub full of ice. With his busybody manager constantly finding excuses to visit his house (and able to smell the decay which is never mentioned from Oliver's perspective), there was a low level feel of threat of him being found out. Like the more spiritual plot though, this itself felt airy, especially later on when it seems he is going to be found out but somehow isn't. This more real part of the film does however suffer from an ill placed reaction from one of the side characters, whose over the top startled exclamations sounded unintentionally funny to my ears.
This may not sound much like a horror, but it does feature some moments. In particular, there are some nightmare sequences that impressed, such as one where Oliver accidentally tears through the self portrait he is painting, only for blood to start coming out of his own neck in the exact place the painting was torn. Then there is the ominous five day countdown, each passing day represented by a celestial star floating in a vast distant nebula. This gave a feeling of something bad on the horizon. There was one outdoors sequence that really stood out for me, a simple walk to the shop on a typical looking day somehow felt full of menace and peril due to the editing and visual effects.
The film is helped by some good artwork, in particular the death mask that Oliver is working on looked great. The plot was leading up to the reveal of what the artist had been working on, frustratingly that is never revealed on camera, but I can see how that probably wouldn't have lived up to the hype.
This may not sound much like a horror, but it does feature some moments. In particular, there are some nightmare sequences that impressed, such as one where Oliver accidentally tears through the self portrait he is painting, only for blood to start coming out of his own neck in the exact place the painting was torn. Then there is the ominous five day countdown, each passing day represented by a celestial star floating in a vast distant nebula. This gave a feeling of something bad on the horizon. There was one outdoors sequence that really stood out for me, a simple walk to the shop on a typical looking day somehow felt full of menace and peril due to the editing and visual effects.
The film is helped by some good artwork, in particular the death mask that Oliver is working on looked great. The plot was leading up to the reveal of what the artist had been working on, frustratingly that is never revealed on camera, but I can see how that probably wouldn't have lived up to the hype.
Alchemy of the Spirit was a beautiful and occasionally moving film, but one whose central idea wasn't something I could really get invested in. Despite the slow pace and lack of much plot, this was one that didn't get boring, mainly due to the wonderful acting, directing and cinematography throughout. Alchemy of the Spirit is now available on Prime Video and VOD.
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