TSJ Reviews Sci-Fi Film Coherence
This low budget science fiction film made in 2013 has crossed my digital feed several times in the past year. I had heard rumblings about it being “one of the best SF films in recent years” and other glowing comments of that nature. To be honest, when I finally sat down to watch it …
… I had no idea it was from 2013. I thought it was a recent movie, which was the reason for the positive comments I’d been reading online lately. This is testament to the strength of this film’s drama, concept, acting, and realization. The word of mouth started slowly, and it is not only continuing, it is growing. And here’s the crucial bit here: it is well deserved.
Very well deserved.
This film blew me away. I am still thinking about it, days after my viewing, and I believe I will even watch it again soon. It was that good.
Title: Coherence
Studio: Bellanova Films
Release: September, 2013
Cast: Hugo Armstrong, Emily Foxler, Nicholas Brendon
Writer: James Ward Byrkit
Director: James Ward Byrkit
Budget: $50,000
Box Office: $150,000 (approx.)
Run Time: 89 minutes
Platform: Amazon Prime
TSJ’s Review — Very Mild Spoilers Within
The film follows a somewhat common trope in science fiction: a comet passing very near to Earth wreaks havoc on a group of people, and, possibly, the entire planet. We’ve seen this before: Night of the Comet and Maximum Overdrive are the movies that first come to mind. The comet’s tail has a mysterious impact on humans and/or machines on Earth. It is usually a simplistic plot device used to explain extraordinary occurrences. It’s pretty senseless, to be honest. A comet is just a clump of frozen water and other gases, burning off due to the sun’s radiation. Simply passing Earth would have no supernatural effect whatsoever. That being said, celestial events such as eclipses, equinoxes, supernovas, and conjunctions (when planets align in outer space) have always been source fodder to explain phenomena on Earth in dramas and supernatural science fiction and horror books and films. There’s nothing particularly rare about this. In Night of the Living Dead (1968), the plot device used was similar: a probe returning from Venus explodes in orbit, emitting a unique or unknown radiation. Coherence, following this pattern, uses the celestial plot device, but in this case there is actually a warning before the comet approaches Earth, almost as if people in positions of power know something most others do not. They are expecting something to happen in this case, and that adds more weight to this version of the theme. I enjoyed that, frankly. In the narrative, physicists are already aware that something might happen, so the characters have a warning to beware of weird events. It added a sense of foreboding to the story, and some obvious foreshadowing as well.
The majority of the film takes place in one location: the dining room where the dinner party is occurring. There are a few other scenes in the kitchen or out on the street, but not many. In fact, in hindsight, this would make a fantastic play.
Here’s the short synopsis from the studio:
“Eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of events due to the malevolent influence of a passing comet.”
The eight friends at the dinner party
The comet is just a plot device to create the situation during the dinner party. There is no other purpose for it. It’s a quiet suburban street. As the comet passes by overhead, a few strange events occur. Then the power suddenly goes out.
Except for one house down the street.
Cast from the famous Twilight Zone episode
When this situation was revealed, shades of Twilight Zone’s The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street and the movie The Trigger Effect (1996) came to mind. In fact, at first I felt this film was likely a straight retelling of The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. However, it quickly became obvious that this was far from the case. The situations that the characters in the two stories face are vastly different. In both, the suspense and tension is very real, however.
The character relationships and paths are quickly put to the test as events unfold. In Coherence, there is heart-pounding tension and real psychological mystery. As writer/director Byrkit slowly immerses the characters in this life-altering situation, and reels the viewer in with one incredible plot reveal after another, I realized how different all these stories really are. I don’t want to give away too much here, but soon you will be studying each event in minute detail to figure out who’s who and just what motivations are driving these people.
And you will want to watch it again.
Coherence is a stunning film. The fact that it was made in five days for only $50,000 is testament to the strength of the story, directing, and acting. In researching for this review, I discovered that there really wasn’t a script at all; rather, there was a twelve-page treatment containing twists and turns and major reveals in the story, but most of the dialogue is actually improvised and ad libbed. Each day, actors would receive index cards which provided direction and what they had to get other characters to do or believe. It sounds odd, but it really worked.
When the movie was finished, I thought I had it largely figured out. I thought I knew when things started to go sideways, and when the eerie circumstances started to affect the group of friends. But upon reflection, more and more layers are revealing themselves to me. I now believe that the … event? … started in the first minute of the film and even as the characters were arriving to the party. However, I can’t say more now, but one day I would love to write a spoiler-heavy summary of my thoughts here at LAG.
Things are falling apart
It’s been eleven years and word of mouth has been accelerating on this film. I’ve seen several lists with Coherence on it in the last few months alone, and finally decided to give it a go. It was well worth the viewing. The situation and events have so many layers, you will be debating with friends about the movie (and the ending) for days after you watch. There are many important themes in the movie. I guess the most notable would be, “What if?” and “What if things could be different? How far would I go to change my life?” When we examine our lives, how happy are we really? What would you change if you could? Beyond that, mentioning more will give important plot points away, and I don’t want to do that to you. It’s currently on Prime for free, but I would have gladly paid the full amount to see it in theatres. I highly recommend this film as a psychological thriller and an intense thought-experiment to debate with your friends. Watch this film!
TSJ’s Review: 8.5/10
BONUS: Apparently there is a “follow-up” coming from the director and producer because of the film’s “cult following since its release to critical acclaim in 2013.” The story link is at Deadline.
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