The Education of Fredrick Fitzell

Mom is in the hospital, potentially brain dead. Our hero and his lovely young wife visit mom... but our hero is haunted with a memory from his past that he can't shake, so he investigates. As he goes down the rabbit hole it seems there is something much deeper to find which has been suppressed all these years. And just as if think a new reveal is about to happen.... it's 50 more minutes of video filters, scaryish collages, triple image effects, flashing lights, adding up to a whole lot of utter nothingness that doesn't even stop its metamorphasing until even the very last minute of the film. And boy does that non-ending turn into a non-tearjerking stinker.

There was a really good film begging to be unearthed. The performances are very good for what amounts to a whole lot of nothing. Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. Imagine a 2 hour movie that reflects a minute for minute wandering daydream of a drug addict where the sum of all its parts can just be your mind on drugs. No wonder this went straight to video. A waste of good efforts by the actors.

Flashback is so ambitious that the story becomes convoluted very quickly. I thought Tenet was a mess but this is easily way harder to follow. I do admire the attempt at doing something new, even if the director couldn't quite stick the landing.

All the actors give a great performance with Dylan O'Brien delivering a career best performance. When the directing and story collapse in on itself much like the concept of time and space that's used as a plot device here, we are still held together somewhat by the acting.

I love how the script flirts with very interesting concepts such as drug addiction, agency, accountability, reality vs maladaptive dreaming and love. The ending was surprisingly emotional and the bond between mother and son will tug at your heart strings.

All in all, don't expect a straightforward story, this is a different film. Instead go where the story takes you, suspend your belief and think about the themes the story explores and how they relate to your own life.

No spoilers cause there's nothing to spoil. Lots of obscure flashbacks into a man's past that lead back to a high school memory ... but the main actress has been directed to whisper her words making the meaning of the flashbacks less clear and much less interesting. Try to find a copy that allows captioning if you watch it at home.

90 minutes of my life I can never get back.

Don't pay attention to the bad reviews. If you like mindf@#$ movies like Donnie Darko, Butterfly Affect, Equilibrium, Trainspotting etc.. This definitely fits the bill! Your not supposed to completely understand it and that's what makes it great.

I was really only half paying attention to this film until it absolutely stopped making sense, at which point I rewound a little bit and watched until the end.

They do a pretty good job of revealing the intent and meaning of the film - spoon-feeding it, really, at about the 3/4 mark, and then the rest settles into place even though it remains disjointed and non-linear (which is, actually, the whole point).

It wasn't until the credits rolled that I wanted to do that slow golf clap.

And then I immediately restarted it and watched every moment, learning that there was important information in every scene and every line that made it much more logical, once you understand why those things are important.

I highly recommend watching it twice. Brilliant job. I hope to see more from MacBride.