Apocalypsis

This movie is I don't want to resort to calling this movie a spectacle of intensity. Intensity is a lazy way of phrasing nothing; no thoughts properly conveyed. What I experience was more intricate and serving of a more apt description. Eric Leiser presents us the audience with visions accompanied by a marvelous music composed by his brother Jeff that really serve to immerse the viewer in the vision more so. The word vision over used so it doesn't evoke what I want it to evoke, but what else can I say? Just as the Book of Revelations is filled with John recounting various visions he is experiencing so is Eric immersing us in these visions by having the main character; Evelyn having visions while reading the book of revelation. Eric Leiser seems to be a product of world cinema and experimental cinema. Bergman said of Tarkovsky that he "captures life as a reflection; life as a dream." When I say that Eric emerses us, the viewers, in a vision, I mean it in the same sense that I imagine Berman says of the nature of Tarkovsky's films. Eric Leiser profoundly with reverence approaches the Book of Revelation; emerses the viewers in this vision of visions. It's some sort of patch work like some sort of tapestry both in the structure of the film and the nature of the content. This movie feels like at times a random passion project cyberpunk web series you randomly stumble upon on you tube, then it feels like some sort of folk art, then it feels like more of a Tarkovsky or Parajanov or Svankmajer film. Apocalypsis brings to the mind the work of the likes of Stan Brakhage or Apichatpong Weerasethakul or the last couple films of Carlos Reygadas or the more recent work of Terrence Malick. I also feel comfortable comparing it to a movie like On the Silver Globe. There's a consistent spiritual thread for the main character (Evelyn) follows all while juxtaposing her faith with people with whom she's close with but have very different perspectives on the nature of the universe, but of course Evelyn's journey takes center stage because while she's reading revelations she begins to get bombarded with visions; and these visions that Eric works towards portraying. In which at points certain torments surface and the struggle portrayed in revelation is really felt.

A unique film of a popular (if not visionary) plot combining pressing issues of today; mainly cyber security, the police state, Christian spirituality, astrophysics and pseudoscience. Apocalypsis is surprisingly calm given the extremity of these issues, for better and for worse. Lots of soothing, beautiful and effortless moments.

I feel like this movie would only appeal to aging hippies who are perpetually stoned.

It's 10 minute bursts of random imagery, followed by 1 or 2 minutes of "plot" if you can even call it that. It's just a bunch of random conspiracy theories rapidly thrown at you by some guy with an extremely irritating voice before you're thrust back into another 10 minutes of random flashes of images that have seemingly nothing to do with anything and are just there to make stoners go:

"Like...wow man, that's so like... deep! Did you see that... like... eyeball that had the like... images flashing on the retina, man? That's like... such a ... deep introspective of the human soul, man."

This is the kind of nothing burger film that only someone desperately seeking meaning where there is none would enjoy.

I will say, the camerawork is mostly good, lots of wide angle drone shots and whatnot, but I'm just too sober to be engaged by the flashing lights and shiny images. I'll also concede that the claymation, albeit amateurish at best, is the show winner here, saving it from a 1 star review. At least it's something different to see for a few seconds as it rapidly flashes across the screen for no reason.

Most of the performances are pretty low skill, and the writing just feels forced a lot of the time. Nobody speaks to each other in a way that any living human being naturally would.

I didn't hate it, but it's just SUPER ARTSY FARTSY to a fault, and absolutely not for me.

Chris o'leary's voice made this movie almost unwatchable...whoever cast him needs to find another line of work...just a whining little sniveling voice that sounds like a cartoon character...this movie is one of the worst I've seen in a long while...movie was all over the place, vague, confusing even to me, and I and I grew up through the church and know Revelations like the back of my hand...there are far better movies about the ending times that you need to see other than this atrocity...please do...because this looks like someone on an acid trip...

You need to think outside your normal trained movie expectations and truly watch, listen, and open your mind. I was mesmerized by the music, sounds, and the visuals with complex oddities of sound, hypnotic interludes of motion in this film. The leaves flowing in nature remind me of innocence and freedom.

My genre of film includes international documentaries, Independent Film, Marvel Film, Guillermo Del Toro, George Lucas, Disney, and many others like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with Johnny Depp. Eric Leiser uses new actors never seen on film, and ties in the symbolism well while taking you on a journey into the mind. Sit back and pick a night to be attentive with all your senses and enjoy the puppetry, photography, and story.

It's refreshing to see filmmakers take the time to shoot movement old school style, and it takes a lot of investment and money to make films organically. This film made it to Cannes, and saw the premiere at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, with the opportunity to meet the Leiser Brothers. I recommend watching this film as there is so much more to come in art, film, and music from the Leiser Brothers.