Are you ready to get your thinking cap on? This isn’t an easy watching, light-hearted movie. It’s complicated and confusing and dark; it’s also mesmerizing and thought provoking and truly unique. If that sounds like a good time for you then this is the movie you should watch tonight to get your weekend on it’s way.
The story surrounds eight friends who have come together for a dinner party. At one point in the night the power goes off and strange things start to happen, seemingly perpetuated by a meteor that is passing very closely to Earth. This movie is simultaneously a suspense, a thriller and a sci-fi with a healthy amount of drama mixed in. It’s an interesting examination of what holds people together and what tears them apart, examining how people hold up in incredibly stressful situations. It makes you turn the microscope on yourself and ask yourself what you would do in a similar situation. Not what your best self would do, but what your worst self would do.
This movie is a true ode to storytelling and credit has to be given to the director, James Ward Byrkit, whose only other credit for directing is Rango (he’s done some shorts and TV shows but these are his only major film credits). Being fairly new to the game, he really outdid himself and created a suspense-ridden film in Coherence, especially considering that the whole film takes place in a living room and has a very low budget. It goes to show that you don’t need a truckload of effects and a big budget to create something meaningful and thought provoking.
It helps that the cast is filled with great actors. I was mesmerized by Emily Foxler, who plays Em. She has great emotional depth and really was a great anchor to watch while everyone else was going crazy.
There were a couple moments in the film that had me thinking that the characters were blowing things a little bit out of proportion. There were points where nothing surreal had happened yet and they were losing their minds. I wanted to grab them by the shoulders, shake them and yell, “Calm down!” Maybe where these people come from, there are no power outages, but where I come from (near Toronto) they do happen from time to time and it’s really nothing to panic about.
Aside from that though, there really isn’t anything to complain about. It is a great film and I highly recommend it. Give it a watch tonight.
Director:
James Ward Byrkit
Writers:
James Ward Byrkit (screenplay), James Ward Byrkit (story)
Stars:
Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon