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Synchronic -
From DeLoreans to hot tubs, movies have given us many clever means of time travel. Instead, what if time travel was something you ingested? The title of this pretty good sci-fi horror is a drug that does just that, and it's keeping New Orleans EMTs Steve (Mackie) and Dennis (Dornan) busy. Despite getting to work together, the pals aren't having the best time (no pun intended) of it, with Dennis contending with a new addition and his directionless teenage daughter, Brianna (Ioannides), and Steve coping with an unfortunate diagnosis. To make matters worse, Brianna has just disappeared.
The movie's time travel concept, which could be inspired by McConnaughey's "time is a flat circle" monologue in True Detective - a character even uses a record to describe it - is as clever as its presentation, especially when the past appears in the room like a construction accident occurred. That writer Benson did his research in his depictions of New Orleans' past is a bonus, a highlight being when Steve runs afoul of a Spanish explorer in a swamp. Also, in addition to how the EMTs are still reckoning with a certain unfortunate event in their city's history, the movie makes a convincing argument that may ruffle a few nostalgia lovers' feathers: the past sucks. What prevents this from being a great movie instead of just a pretty good one, though, is that as unique and thought-provoking as its take on time travel may be, the missing person quest that it tells with it is not. I'm still glad I watched it, especially since I've been wanting to get into Benson and Moorhead's work for a long time and I'm eager to see more. Oh, and if you've only seen New Orleans native Anthony Mackie in his Falcon armor, it's as good a place as any to see him in a role without it.
From DeLoreans to hot tubs, movies have given us many clever means of time travel. Instead, what if time travel was something you ingested? The title of this pretty good sci-fi horror is a drug that does just that, and it's keeping New Orleans EMTs Steve (Mackie) and Dennis (Dornan) busy. Despite getting to work together, the pals aren't having the best time (no pun intended) of it, with Dennis contending with a new addition and his directionless teenage daughter, Brianna (Ioannides), and Steve coping with an unfortunate diagnosis. To make matters worse, Brianna has just disappeared.
The movie's time travel concept, which could be inspired by McConnaughey's "time is a flat circle" monologue in True Detective - a character even uses a record to describe it - is as clever as its presentation, especially when the past appears in the room like a construction accident occurred. That writer Benson did his research in his depictions of New Orleans' past is a bonus, a highlight being when Steve runs afoul of a Spanish explorer in a swamp. Also, in addition to how the EMTs are still reckoning with a certain unfortunate event in their city's history, the movie makes a convincing argument that may ruffle a few nostalgia lovers' feathers: the past sucks. What prevents this from being a great movie instead of just a pretty good one, though, is that as unique and thought-provoking as its take on time travel may be, the missing person quest that it tells with it is not. I'm still glad I watched it, especially since I've been wanting to get into Benson and Moorhead's work for a long time and I'm eager to see more. Oh, and if you've only seen New Orleans native Anthony Mackie in his Falcon armor, it's as good a place as any to see him in a role without it.