Multiverse

Normally I am not overly keen on sci-fi movies, but every now and again I do dabble and sit down to watch one. And so it was with the 2019 sci-fi drama titled "Entangled" (aka "Multiverse"). Well, I should say that it wasn't because it was a sci-fi movie that I opted to sit down to watch this movie, but it was because the movie had Marlee Matlin on the cast list, and it was a movie that I hadn't already seen.

So I gave it a chance. And while writers Doug Taylor and Michael MacKenzie did manage to put together an interesting enough storyline, the movie was just sort of mediocre. You know, the type of movie that you will watch once and never again. "Entangled" was watchable, sure, but it wasn't a movie that in any way impressed or blew me away with its concept.

However, I did find that the storyline was more focused on the teenage drama that took place in the movie than it did with the whole quantum mechanics and multi universes aspects that the storyline sort of started out by presenting.

The acting performances in the movie were good, I just wish that Marlee Matlin had a bigger part in the movie.

Visually then "Entangled" wasn't really working with special effects. But then again the movie didn't really need an impressive display of CGI to deliver its storyline.

I am sure that there are sci-fi buffs out there that will be a kick out of the storyline told in "Entangled".

My rating of director Gaurav Seth's 2019 sci-fi drama lands on a very bland five out of ten stars.

The production costs of this movie are evidently low. A young amateurish cast and Marlee Matlin do their best with a script that is poorly written, and the dialogue is clunky yet does contains some good ideas. One of the main problems with low budget Sci-fi is the terrible special effects, but in this movie they successfully solved that problem, there are none, which for me works. In the hands of the right scriptwriter and a pot of cash this could be turned into something really good. I have seen far worse movies from the big studios this year, so it definitely gets an 'A' for effort.

If you don't expect much clarity about the laws of the multiverse, this is not a bad film. The young cast works hard in their roles and some of the ideas are intriguing enough - but the multiverse is a pretty random place and you'll find yourself scratching your head much of the time. I appreciated that the film goes the extra mile of using deaf actors to play the roles of deaf characters and pulls off one neat trick with a voice-over assist.

7 March 2023. I just finished this movie. I read the synopsis on Hulu and I thought I would give this a try as sci-fi movies on my thing. I am not disappointed at all - I was glued to the screen until the end. I love the twisted ending and I felt that all characters did extremely well. I just look at the other reviews and people were complaining about bad script - I don't think so. I could not have done anything close to this and I have to tell you how much I enjoyed this movie. All the characters were very believable - they look like real friends in real life. The character of the mother was terrific, as well. Thank you all for this movie. I will keep an eye on future projects.

Where this film shines: The performances of Munro Chambers, Sandra Mae Frank, and Marlee Matlin. The wibbly wobbly sci-fi stuff is enough to be interesting and mostly engaging. Mostly excellent cinematography, albeit the whole movie is a little color muted for my taste.

Where this film burns: The writing is all over the place - some scenes are great (like moments between Sandra Mae Frank and Marlee Matlin), but others have stilted dialogue that feels like it's there to take up space. It's hard to fault the acting when the lines are boring and don't feel natural. Without spoilers, my opinion is that the overall premise didn't really know what it wanted to be - and for me, that resulted in a predictable ending that fell flat and left me frustrated.

HOWEVER, it's a solid fun little sci-fi ride! My frustration with this film is that all the pieces were there for it to be really great, but it just missed the mark. Still worth a watch if you can stomach your sci-fi with a little teen drama. I bet it'll be a cult classic in another universe!