This was another charity shop DVD I had never heard of, but it looked interesting and I am a fan of reality bending Sci-Fi, so it was an easy decision to take it home with me. The film follows a small group of friends at a dinner party. To begin with all the events are pretty everyday and not unexpected, but then the film's direction begins to show itself. I will try not to give too much away.
The film takes place in a universe with multiple dimensions, the concept of which is based on the theory that when every event with two (or more) possible outcomes occurs, each outcome is played out in one of the dimensions. An approaching comet brings the dimensions into physical contact, allowing some of the timelines to merge and entwine together, in this case people can jump from one to another and interact with thier counterparts. This introduces an interesting dynamic of 'doppelgangers' infiltrating not unlike John Carpenter's The Thing.
There are quite a few scientific/theoretical elements at play in the plot. One 'dimension' becomes two, two dimensions become more. On top of the present overlapping, decisions of varying outcomes from long in the past come back to effect the character's present. Things that we know have already happened, start to happen. As the characters start to leave the house to shortly return, before long we are questioning whether those we are watching are the same as at the start. I think that for such a complex concept, the production, for the most part, does an excellent job of keeping things together and in check. There may be a moment or two of slightly awkward contrivance, but the fact that these are noticeable speaks volumes to the authentic feel of the film overall when it comes to the cast and their interactions. It proves if proof were needed, that you don't need a big budget to bring big ideas to the screen.
There were drawbacks. As mentioned, this is all reportedly happening because of a comet passing close to the Earth, I wonder if the comet plotline was needed atall. It may actually slightly take away some interest/wonder in the goings on, things like this don't necessarily need an explanation - it may have been stuck in my head for longer withiit one. It is slightly let down by the closing few minutes, it comes dangerously close to going supernova and collapsing under it's own weight.
There were definite echoes to Shane Carruth's brilliant and mindbending Primer, this also is a classic need to rewatch to piece things together. I will redo it in the future, this second viewing will dictate how I rate it overall but for now, this is a strong, surprisingly good film with real ambition and scope.
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