By Adam Ruhl
While researching Frequencies before sitting down to write
this article, I noticed a trend amongst those who had seen writer-director
Darren Paul Fisher’s new sci-fi romance. There was a desperate and widely
varied need to compare it to another well-known film. This is a pretty common
trick when a new movie doesn’t fit easily into one genre. It’s being called
sci-fi romance but that seems too simplistic. If I had to group it with another
film in a common genre I’d probably pick Primer. The two films have nothing in
common plot-wise, Primer being about time travel, but in genre they feel like
litter mates. My best stab at naming that genre would be character-driven,
cerebral, sci-fi, indie.
Frequencies centers on an alternate version of our world
where everyone emits a different frequency. The positive or negative level of
this frequency impacts everything from luck to destiny and determines who you
can be with. We follow two children, Zak and Marie, with polar opposite
frequencies from childhood to adulthood. They can only be together for one
minute each year until they are repelled. Zak is determined to find a way to
alter the frequency and lift the barrier, however; his eventual success carries
some side effects and unintended consequences.
The film is small and personal in scope but the rules of
this universe are complex. I needed several viewings to catch a lot of the
smaller details of what was happening. Don’t be surprised if upon finishing you
find you want to start all over again with a complete picture. The movie takes
a little time to build up steam, but once you get into the story it is deeply
engrossing. I would recommend the film for anyone who enjoys a movie that is a
bit of a puzzle to be worked out.
Frequencies opens on May 22nd in theaters and on
VOD. The iTunes link can be found HERE.
Not rated
105 minutes
No comments:
Post a Comment