Friday, October 30, 2015

Coherence and Incoherence

In my continuing search for the best low-budget sci-fi films I watched 2013's Coherence. It was entertaining if imperfect, with a talented cast and a story line that would amuse those of us who enjoy films such as Memento, Mulholland Drive and Inception.
This and other genre films made on a pauper's budget show what can happen with a good story, as opposed to films that rely heavily on special effects (I'm thinking Pacific Rim and the Transformers series, among others). People are interested mostly in people, rather than machinery, which accounts for the failure of movies such as Prometheus, Alien without that most essential ingredient, Ripley.
The story of Coherence begins with the hypothesis that from every decision two or more realities are born, and investigates the question, what if people in these separate streams were able to cross over? As you can imagine, entertaining conflict can and does ensue.
The picture has its flaws. The first 15 minutes is full of banal conversations, the characters are annoyingly self-involved, and the science part of the premise is not so much developed as presented, and quickly issued off-stage. Nonetheless, it is a more entertaining film than many made on a much greater budget.