 | Original title: Coherence |
Rating:  (4 / 5) | |
| Year: 2013 | |
| Director: James Ward Byrkit | |
| Duration: 89 min. | |
| Genres: Sci-fi, Thriller/Horror |
Coherence
The just-above indie level film scene is probably one of my most favourite ones. It produced some great stuff over the years. A few good ones that spring to mind are Short Term 12, I Origins, Primer, Once, The Blair Witch Project, Pi and so on. Even Whiplash only cost a little over $3.000.000,- to make. Yet we still feel the need to throw around over 200 million on special effects, only to end up with The Lone Ranger. Back to basics, either because you believe it is the way to go, or because there just isn’t any budget is what I like. It produces honest beautiful films without all the fake nonsense that makes Hollywood Hollywood. One of such films is Coherence. A little Sci-Fi film with a so called micro-budget, that turns out to be a real treat for Sci-Fi lovers. One could argue that this film also contains some mild horror elements.
Because of its budget one shouldn’t expect any visual spectacle, but as it so happens that is not what is needed to make a good film. A living room, a street, a few boxes of glow sticks and a camera is all you need. And good actors and a good story. This film has all of the above, including the glow sticks. It starts with a bunch of people having a dinner party somewhere. They are just having a good time, but they also talk about a comet that is supposed to be passing that night. One person, Em, tells a story about a woman in 1920’s Finland who states the man she’s with is not her husband, because she murdered him the night before. It was that night that a comet passed over her village in the 20’s. Then the lights go out. Then there are strange noises. Uh oh.
No major spoilers, but some of it involves a letter, glow sticks and infinity. The plot is a very interesting one, and I quite liked the ending. Of course there’s your usual collection of people. Couples with a secret, the zen girl, the drunk, the somewhat aggressive type, the somewhat cautious type et cetera. It’s interesting to see how everyone copes with the somewhat ridiculous situation. When the lights are out, at least they have the common sense not to go anywhere alone. But after some wandering about, a letter, a box, some noises and a few strange encounters, who can you trust? And where are you? And who are you?
