Aaron Moorhead
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Connections, in both directions
An encounter with Synchronic’s mysterious creator reveals shocking details about the effects of the drug, and Brianna’s possible whereabouts, at which point Synchronic pivots from dark, atmospheric crime drama to idea-driven hard science fiction in the vein of Shane Carruth’s Primer .
The use of video diaries, whiteboards and time travel feel reminiscent of Primer with a dash more humor, thanks primarily to Steve’s partner in crime: his dog.
We can more or less divvy up time travel flicks into two distinct categories: Unrealistic, but fun ("Back to the Future," "Avengers: Endgame") or, in adhering more to the dense laws of physics, pretty impenetrable ("Primer," "2001").
Like their earlier genre picture “The Endless” (and its clearest influence, “Primer”), “SYNCHRONIC” can best be described as egghead indie sci-fi, in which the ideas are as exciting as the effects.
One recalls the time 'loopiness' of Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes" and the circular lost in the woods disorientation of "The Blair Witch Project."
One recalls the time 'loopiness' of Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes" and the circular lost in the woods disorientation of "The Blair Witch Project."
A mystery wrapped in a conundrum, “The Endless” is a sort of indie/sci-fi/horror movie hybrid, recalling “The Blair Witch Project,” “The Witch” and “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” — small budgeted, striking efforts shot on locations that are an integral part of the film’s story and power.
Mainstream horror/sci-fi movies like Alien, The Thing, and The Mist borrow heavily from Lovecraftian design but it’s modern filmmakers like Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead who have most dedicated their craft to a Lovecraftian tilt, with films like Resolution, Spring, and, most notably, The Endless, all playing with huge cosmic truths and the fragility of humanity sanity when confronted with these larger-than-life ideas.
The 21st century has seen a mini-boom in such spiritual cousins: The Mist (2007), Upstream Color (2013), The Void (2016), The Endless (2017), and Annihilation (2018) all come to mind as films that “get” Lovecraft in a manner that is not evident in more explicit adaptations of his work.
Variously, “Resolution” evokes Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” — an obvious inspiration, with its integration of mixed media — and David Lynch’s “Lost Highway” as well as more nominally straightforward genre offerings like “Pontypool” and “Bellflower,” which each possessed rich veins of warped, unsettling jealousy and ominous vibes that come at viewers sideways.
I suspect the directors are fans of The Crow (1994) from director Alex Proyas, a ghostly tale with similar familial themes, set in a disintegrating Detroit.
Like Ti West’s Jonestown-inspired The Sacrament , Benson and Moorhead’s film first shows the appeal of commune living—everyone eats healthy, follows their blisses, and drinks copious craft beer (an on-site brewery bankrolls the camp’s operation)—so that it’s all the more unnerving when the amiable façade falls away.
Spring (2014)
Directed by Justin Benson
influenced The Endless (2017), Synchronic (2020), Resolution (2013)
Benson and Moorhead moved away from the world of Resolution with their second film together, Spring , about a young man who unwittingly gets sexually and emotionally involved with a monster.
Just as Benson and Moorhead played with convention in 2014’s excellent Spring, which is like a Lovecraftian version of Before Sunrise, they usurp narrative standards in The Endless, using broad strokes as table setting to paint way outside the lines.
Enter Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the duo who brought us 2012’s Resolution and 2014’s Spring , both fantastic independent features that knew exactly how to take a “less is more” approach that still satisfied viewers.
Three years after their much-lauded but underwhelming sophomore feature Spring , indie directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead continue in the same Lovecraftian vein for their far more nuanced follow-up.
Benson (writer, co-director, co-star, co-producer, co-editor) and Moorhead (cinematographer, co-director, co-star, co-producer) have shown their knack for this sort of bargain-priced material before, although this is a bigger and more ambitious effort than their previous picture Spring.
Spring attempts to bring together two genres that ordinarily wouldn’t be seen on either side of the street together — horror and romance — but it turns out, under Benson and Moorhead, together they can make something beautiful and scary.
Meanwhile Moorhead's onscreen Aaron evokes a young Cary Elwes, somewhere between the innocent charm of The Princess Bride's Westley and the awkward idiocy of Jerry the stepdad in Liar Liar.
The Endless is inventive and imaginative in a low-budget, DIY way – it has some of the do-a-lot-with-a-little spirit of those early Brit Marling independents (multiple moons appear over the compound, recalling the twin planets of Another Earth ).
Meanwhile Moorhead's onscreen Aaron evokes a young Cary Elwes, somewhere between the innocent charm of The Princess Bride's Westley and the awkward idiocy of Jerry the stepdad in Liar Liar.
In the Source Code and Edge of Tomorrow variant of quick jumps back, it’s been science (man-made in one, alien the other) that has centered on sending a single actor (Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Cruise) to an earlier time frame to correct a situation (a bombing, an invasion).
Instead, they opt to make this a noir/sci-fi hybrid that calls to mind works like Bringing Out the Dead , Looper , Edge of Tomorrow and Altered States , all of which deal similarly with either mind-altering drug use or time travel.
In the Source Code and Edge of Tomorrow variant of quick jumps back, it’s been science (man-made in one, alien the other) that has centered on sending a single actor (Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Cruise) to an earlier time frame to correct a situation (a bombing, an invasion).
But does this horror-thriller that’s been compared to The Babadook and It Follows live up to the hype?
But does this horror-thriller that’s been compared to The Babadook and It Follows live up to the hype?
The circular visual motifs and circular (or repetitive) plotting evokes films that examine karma, evolution, free will and destiny by confronting their characters with variations of the same challenges over and over again: think of " Edge of Tomorrow ," " Groundhog Day " and " Looper ."
Just as Benson and Moorhead played with convention in 2014’s excellent Spring, which is like a Lovecraftian version of Before Sunrise, they usurp narrative standards in The Endless, using broad strokes as table setting to paint way outside the lines.