Synchronic
review by Bobby Blakey
Well Go USA has been churning them out as of late with a wide variety of genres. Their Cut Throat City was the first film I returned to the theater for and now they have another getting ready to be unleashed. Synchronic features a great cast including Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan, Katie Aselton, and Ally Ioannides from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Could this film offer up something worth exploring or will it fail to find its place in time?
Synchronic follows New Orleans paramedics and longtime best friends Steve and Dennis who are called to a series of bizarre, gruesome accidents, and they chalk it up to the mysterious new party drug found at the scene. But after Dennis’s oldest daughter suddenly disappears, Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality—and the flow of time itself.
I had only seen the trailer for this film once and its one of those that actually seems more confusing than straight forward which tells me it is either going to be great or go horribly wrong. As a whole the movie is pretty damn good, but there are some bumps in the road getting there at times. While there is a sci-fi element the film is grounded in a real character study of these guy’s struggles. The focus is mostly on Mackie’s character, but Dornan’s story is a big part of the narrative. Both of them are good in the film but its Mackie that steals the show.
Throughout the film Mackie has to deal with not only the mystery he is trying to solve, but the circumstances and events that unfold throughout. He brings his top game to the role and really knocks it out of the park. Dornan is good as well and has the more directly emotional role and while he carries it well I felt that aspect of the story is mishandled. It felt like it should be deeper and more emotional, but the bigger mystery of it all tended to overshadow it.
The beginning of the film has a different tone than it shifts to later. Thankfully so since it kind of struggles a bit to get started and find its footing. It is interesting during these opening moments but not near as compelling as the rest of the film turns out. The effects used in the film are really cool and something that feels fresh and new. They add a cool element to the direction it goes and makes for a much cooler movie than it might have been otherwise even though it would have still worked without it.
This is a movie you just need to see and experience to how it all unfolds so just let the experience happen. In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including Commentary with Directors and Producer, featurettes, deleted scene and alternate ending. Grab your copy of Synchronic available now on digital and then on Blu-ray and DVD on January 26th from Well Go USA.
