Transient is an indie sci-fi thriller that was written and directed by Chris Ruppert. The tale told here felt like an episode of Black Mirror stretched out to a feature length. It certainly has some interesting ideas, but for me, I wasn't particularly in the mood for a slow burn movie.
After a car crash that left his young daughter dead and marriage in tatters, David (Greg Poppa) became obsessed with creating technology that would allow him to re-visit past memories. With the help of business partner and friend Bill (Eric Francis Melaragni) he manages to actually succeed at this, with some type of new technology that allows people to experience memories recreated with A.I. David becomes obsessed with this, able to re-live happier times in his life. The prototype device isn't without its side effects however, including seeing past figures as 'ghosts' within the waking world, inadvertently being able to experience other peoples memories, and the ability to wipe unwanted memories from existence.
This is very Black Mirror, with the story here bringing up echoes of season one episode 'The Entire History of You'. It took me a while to understand exactly what was going on, with the first twenty minutes full of techno-babble between David and Bill. This ninety eight minute thriller had a slow pace to it, with much of the film having David sat around on his own in his house. There were some neat arthouse style moments when he re-lives the crash as a series of quickly edited together images. I also thought the grainy style that memories from the device were portrayed on camera worked very well, able to easily show what were actual memories and what were ones visited via the device. Bill gets his own subplot involving an office romance with secretary Shareese (Kenishia Green), but it didn't really travel anywhere too exciting. David was an obviously flawed protagonist, deep in mourning, he didn't seem to have any personality outside of that. That isn't a complaint, many characters here are purposely down to earth in a realistic manner.
The film was watched on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I did feel that it seemed every minute of its runtime. I do have time for slow films, but not on this particular day unfortunately. I thought the general idea was a good one, there were some decent mild twists later on, and the moments where characters encounter 'ghosts' were effective moments of horror. Some of the better ideas only really developed right towards the end of the movie, with around twenty minutes left to go. I did feel that more time to breath and expand on this third act change-up would have benefitted things, as there were some fun ideas introduced, leading up to a good finish.
Transient was well edited, and it was well put together, for me though it wasn't really the type of movie I was in the mood for. Like every good episode of Black Mirror, it does make you think, but the super serious cast and lack of too much excitement did have me clock watching more than once. Transient is available on Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Vudu and Youtube via Synergetic Distribution.
SCORE:
No comments:
Post a Comment