Review of Synchronic
midlandsmovies • January 30, 2021
Synchronic (2021) Dir. Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead
After the disappointing Outside the Wire (our review here), Anthony Mackie returns in a more cerebral slice of sci-fi than that film, in a new mind-and-time-bending drama directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Resolution, The Endless).
Mackie plays Steve Denube, a paramedic working night shifts with his friend Dennis (Jamie Dornan), who together discover dead or injured people in mysterious mental states. The apparent cause is a new designer drug (Synchronic) that appears to alter users’ perception of reality.
Meanwhile, Dennis’ daughter (Ally Ioannides as Brianna) has gone missing and when Steve discovers he has a terminal illness he attempts to buy all the Synchronic in the city. But with his own time on earth limited, he gambles with the drug himself and stumbles upon the fact that it does a whole lot more than provide hallucinatory experiences.
Synchronic is another stab at a profound sci-fi from the directors, who infuse this (and their other flicks) with thought-provoking HG Wells and Lovecraftian story beats. And as we discover that the pill actually propels the user through time, Steve’s experiments see him jump backwards to the past meeting blade-wielding settlers as well as Woolly mammoths in frozen wastelands.
It’s undoubtedly well shot and as precise as you’d expect, yet as gifted as they are, the directors sometimes fail to create engaging characters despite their interesting and peculiar themes. The film’s takes a while to get going showing up its weakest element which is drama, pure and simple. The directors’ previous two films have suffered from much the same problem I felt as slow long essays on “deep” themes slow the film’s pace to a halt.
It’s cold delivery on screen made me feel that nothing seems to massively matter – or it’s certainly written that way – and I found myself, well, not caring about their outcome particularly. Is it bad the most emotional part by far is a sad sequence involving Steve’s dog rather than the missing child? I’d argue yes. Quite a problem indeed.
Steve’s adventures continue which lead to many time-travel mishaps and I appreciated how various time periods intersected, with the visuals really capturing the strange bending of reality. Definitely a highlight.
If you enjoyed the directors’ earlier work I think it’s guaranteed you’ll find things to enjoy in Synchronic. For me however, the flaws of their previous films have time-travelled over to this one creating a muddled film that could do with a prescribed dose of emotion. That said, given enough patience there are probably more positive side effects than negative consequences when taking a hit of Synchronic's deep themes.
★★★
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