Welcome to the 9th annual Fantastic Fest film festival here in Austin, TX. This is my daily recap which over the next week will primarily recap the film experiences I have as well as touch on the mental and physical status of the Festival going folk, myself included. My entertainment is guaranteed but please, pray for my well being. To the fest!
COHERENCE:
Been a lot of positive buzz surround this film since it first played on the opening evening opposite Machete Kills, so I was looking forward to checking it out for myself.
A group of old friends, all with various connections to each other, meet up for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead. As the wine starts to flow and stories get told, phones stop working, the internet goes out, and soon they are pitched into blackness as the power shuts off entirely. The entire city is dark, except for one hose two blocks up the street. Seeking a working phone they visit the house, only to discover it is the house they just left…
I will say no more plot wise — suffice to say the movie toys with time displacement and distortion. But these are not physicists dining together. They are actors, dancers, businesswomen and so on. We get pretty natural reactions to what is happening both outside and inside the house. Tensions ratchet up, paranoia and distrust set in. But the film never goes too far — there is a sense of authenticity to things and that only serves to hold your attention all the more. Things could go batshit crazy, you wonder if this is going to go down a more well-trodden path of people fighting against each other, but you end up getting something much smarter than that.
Coherence is very well shot and edited. The handheld camera work adds to the frenetic unfolding of things, and watching the film was like being able to sit down and listen in to a dinner party as a guest amongst a group of friends. The conversations and interplay sparkled with authenticity — according to the Q&A the cast almost entirely improvised these scenes together. A real credit to all involved they were able to turn in such work, without which the film would not have been nearly as successful. Probably the most recognizable star is Nicholas Brendon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) who turns in a decent performance, but it is very much an ensemble picture and each member contributes to a great cast.
You may spot the clues or piece things together but the plot still unfolds delightfully and is still able to surprise even the most analytical viewer. It is clever but delivered with a deft and careful hand, so it is not too complex to follow. Coherence ended up sneaking into my top 5 films of the festival. Director James Ward Byrkit had a clever idea and with limited resources produced an absolute gem of a film. In less capable hands it may have been better served as a episode of the X-Files or Twilight Zone, but Byrkit has put together a engrossing, charming and clever film that is one of the best surprises of Fantastic Fest.
SECRET SCREENING:
This film is currently embargoed, secrets will remain a secret for now. Suffice to say, it features an incredible central performance that was as if Daniel Day Lewis and Viggo Mortensen had a inbred actor baby. I mean that in a hugely complimentary way. There should be a review later this month when we’re able to share some thoughts.
The rest of Day five involved lots of beer. Tomorrow we line up with Blue Ruin, Cheap Thrills, Moebius and Afflicted!