Backfire is about half a step up from the kind of nonsensical discharge one expects when exploring Shaw & Jackson's "Zen Filmmaking." This is slightly better visually, but still firmly embodies that 2020's digital nightmare look.
The only thing that's really worth a look is the awkwardness of the actors trying to deliver the borderline insane dialogue. The audiocult plot is impenetrable, probably just as bad on the page as it is on the screen, though the fact that this has serious delusions of profundity does add a certain horrible enjoyability to it.
It's the kind of thing I'd probably be more lenient on from a first-time filmmaker, visually stammering to get all of the thoughts out of their head. But Gregory Hatanaka has directed 34 "films" and written 12, so...yeah, I'm much less interested in cutting this any iota of slack.
I guess it's good that the film manages to spread almost all of the production duties around among the actors and producers. Letting everybody find what they'd like to do in the business, just in case the screen-side stuff doesn't work out.
