Can a sleeper Sci-Fi movie capture an audience? It’s not unusual, but these days it feels like a rarity. With sci-fi like The Martian garnering Oscar nominations, do films like Synchronicity have a shot?

Well, some films do, but I’m not sure Synchronicity is going to be one of them.

While it was a decent film, Synchronicity left me underwhelmed. With a predominately unknown cast, headed by Chad Mcknight, AJ Bowen, Brianne Davis, Scott Poythress, and Michael Ironside, this ‘Sci-Fi Noir’ film tackled a tough subject: Worm Holes. I think it did well in the ‘let’s give the audience just enough science to make it credible’ department, it never had me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t feel any connection with the characters, and because of that, I felt no need to root for the main character, physicist Jim Beale played by Mr. Mcknight.

The film promotes itself as a “mind bending sci-fi noir film in the tradition of Blade Runner, Gattaca and Memento”, but falls short in the thrill section.

Physicist Jim Beale (played by Chad Mcknight) has invented a machine that can fold space-time and the supposedly but not very ruthless corporate tycoon Klaus Meisner (played by the only recognizable name, Michael Ironside of “Total Recall” and “Top Gun” fame) will stop at nothing to get it. At least that’s how the ad folks pitched the movie. I never really got the sense of danger from Klaus as the bad guy, to be honest, even though Ironside does a credible job at being a hardnosed, all or nothing, business man.

When Jim uses the machine to tear open the fabric of the universe, a rare Dahlia seemingly appears from the future. In order to keep the rights to his invention he must prove that it works by finding the flower’s identical match in the present. Jim soon discovers that the Dahlia lies in the hands of the beautiful, but not as mysterious as you really want her to be, Abby (played by Brianne Davis), who seduces him into revealing his secrets. Convinced that she is in league with Klaus to take ownership of the worm hole machine, and subsequently Jim’s life’s work (probably because she’s sleeping with Klaus and is, basically a paid concubine), Jim attempts to travel back in time to stop the conspiracy before it can happen. But once through the worm hole, Jim attempts to uncover the truth about Abby, the machine, and his own uncertain future.

The movie is set up as a time travel film, but towards the end, focuses more on the many worlds theory, that opening up a hole in the space/time continuum leads Jim to an alternate universe that so closely resembles his own time line, instead of actually taking him back in time a la “Back to the Future.” Which is interesting in the fact that the one character who seems to know what could really be happening, the Sheldon Cooper-esque scientist, Matty (played wonderfully by Scott Poythress, who you may have seen in bit TV roles from “Sleepy Hollow” to “Revolution”) is dismissed by both Jim and his best friend and scientist Chuck (played by AJ Bowen). It seems foolish to me to discount Matty’s many worlds theory, in exchange for time travel, do to what a lot of people who watch sci-fi know to be true about time travel and running into your former self and changing the course of history.

That being said, the premise of the movie is definitely intriguing and I’d love to see what someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson would say about this film, it sadly didn’t grab me the way I expected a darker sci-fi film should. It wasn’t boring… and by that I mean there was no point in time where I started thinking about my shopping list or my bills instead of watching the movie, but it didn’t make me sit up in my seat or have my head spinning about theories and possibilities as movies like Gattaca or Memento did when they came out.

All in all, I give it 2.5 stars… maybe worth the watch on iTunes.

SYNCHRONICITY is a mind-bending ‘Sci-fi Noir’ in the tradition of Blade Runner, Gattaca and Memento. Daring physicist Jim Beale has invented a machine that can fold space-time and ruthless corporate tycoon Klaus Meisner will stop at nothing to get it. When Jim uses the machine to tear open the fabric of the universe, a rare Dahlia appears from the future. But in order to keep the rights to his invention he must prove that it works by finding the flower’s identical match in the present. Jim soon discovers that the Dahlia lies in the hands of the mysterious Abby, who seduces him into revealing his secrets. Convinced that she is in league with Klaus to take ownership of his life’s work, Jim travels back in time to stop the conspiracy before it can happen. But once in the past, Jim uncovers a surprising truth about Abby, the machine, and his own uncertain future.

Cast: Chad Mcknight, AJ Bowen, Brianne Davis, Scott Poythress, and Michael Ironside
Directed by: Jacob Gentry

#Synchronicity
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