VOD Review - Synchronic

This film falls in line with a lot of independent, science-fiction films. In 2003, the Sundance Film Festival created the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for films that focus on science or technology. One of the early winners of the prize was Primer (2004), which was about time travel that was able to handle time travel ideas dramatically without a lot of visual effects or big budget action. It was a more intellectual version of Tenet (2020). Over the years, independent films from Sundance or other film festivals have tried to do more and more with visual effects. Some films have done a good job with engaging with the science-fiction ideas, regardless of VFX or not. Others have not, such as Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), which was ostensibly about time travel too, but it didn't actually depict time travel or engage with it as an active idea. Obviously, dealing with a more down-to-Earth story is needed, but having a science-fiction concept felt like a bait-and-switch than an integral idea to its story.

This film doesn't feel like a bait-and-switch. The science-fiction concept here is again time travel, which is a very popular, if not cliché topic. However, this film actually depicts the time travel. Therefore, it engages with that idea. The concept isn't exactly original in terms of its mechanics. Season 6, Episode 6 of The Simpsons was "Treehouse of Horror V" (1994), which included a short story about Homer Simpson traveling back in time for a short period of time and then returning. That episode of The Simpsons took that premise to explore what's known as the butterfly effect, which is itself a trope done in numerous properties about time travel, including Back to the Future (1985), which is referenced in this film.

Anthony Mackie (Pain & Gain and The Hurt Locker) stars as Steve Denube, a paramedic in New Orleans. He's not married. He doesn't have any children. His immediate family, including his parents and sister, was killed and their graves were washed away in Hurricane Katrina. He basically has one night stands with women, never getting into a committed relationship. The only committed relationship he has is with his dog named Hawking. Yet, he does have a best friend, one he's had since grade school. He's so intertwined in his best friend's life that his best friend's daughter calls him "Uncle Steve."

Jamie Dornan (Robin Hood and Fifty Shades of Grey) co-stars as Dennis Dannelly, the aforementioned best friend to Steve, as well as his co-worker. Dennis is also a paramedic who rides in the same vehicle with Steve. They're partners who respond to emergency calls, but they mainly work the night shift. Unlike Steve, Dennis is married with children. Dennis has a teenage daughter and he also has a newborn baby. He's in a bit of a rut with his wife. They're not having troubles. There's just a bit of boredom there. His daughter is the age when she should be going to college, but she doesn't seem to know what she wants to do with her life.

Things take a turn when Dennis' daughter named Brianna goes missing. No one knows what happened to her until Steve discovers that there is a drug that somehow made it to the market and to the streets that can cause people to travel back in time. Like in The Simpsons, the time travel is temporary and the person will return to the present. However, the person can bring things from the past into the present or sometimes the person can become stuck in the past. This is what Steve assumes happened to Brianna. It's not sure how long this drug has been on the streets. Presumably, it hasn't been that long, but it's not unlikely that other people have gotten stuck in the past.

The script has a joke where it's underlined how dangerous the past is, including wars, racism or just inhospitable weather or environments. A lot of people, if not most people, are killed as a result of being thrown back in time without any warning or regard. There are rules as to how people are to be returned to the present. It's easy to break the rules, so the idea that more people aren't stuck in the past is preposterous. Yet, this film doesn't want to consider what people stuck in the past would mean or how they could change or effect things. One scene where Steve figures out how to travel back in time has him encounter various people, including KKK members. Seeing a man appear and then disappear right in front of their eyes might have some effect but the film ignores that possible effect.

It could be that the co-directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are simply trying to make the point that the past is dangerous and perhaps shouldn't be romanticized. Their point could be to stress living in the now and appreciating the present. This point is slightly reinforced with the notion that Steve is diagnosed with a deadly disease, specifically an inoperable cancer. He secretly gets treatment, chemotherapy, but he has to decide if he's going to continue. That point is again slightly reinforced, not enough to make Steve's emotional journey feel that impactful.

As I watched this film, it felt like an extended episode of The X-Files (1993). I'm not saying that it's derivative of that series, but, simply in terms of its structure and tone, it feels like The X-Files, which was one of my favorite series. Making that comparison though is actually a compliment, so Benson and Moorhead succeed in that regard. That, coupled with Mackie's performance, which is always charming and engaging, makes the film a good indie sci-fi.

Rated R for drug content, language and some violent / bloody images.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 41 mins.

Available on Netflix.