#702 – Synchronic (2019)

Synchronic (2019)

Film review #702

Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead

SYNOPSIS: Two paramedic workers, Steve and Dennis, increasingly have to deal with patients that have take a new drug called “Synchronic,” which allows the user to experience powerful visions through time. As Steve discovers he has an incurable brain tumour and Dennis’s daughter Brianna goes missing after she uses the drug, Steve begins to experiment with the drug itself and discovers it actually allows the user to travel through time. Steve believes that Brianna has disappeared somewhere in time, and is determined to work out how to find her before it is too late…

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Synchronic is a 2019 sci-fi film. The film centres around two paramedics, Steve and Dennis, are having to deal with a host of new patients using a new drug called synchronic, which allow the user to experience strange hallucinations, particularly around travelling through time. Steve is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, and Dennis’s’ daughter Brianna goes missing after using the drug. With little time left, Steve decides to experiment with the drug himself and figuring out how it works to allow someone to travel through time, concludes that Brianna must have got stuck somewhere in the past, and tries to find a way to rescue her. the first thing that springs to mind about this film is that it’s somewhat dense and difficult to get into: the drug producing these bizarre effects makes it difficult to grasp just what is happening and how real all of it is. The film eventually settles down and becomes a bit more defined with regards to it’s objectives, but it takes a while to get there. The other thing which holds the film together is the relationship between the two leads, and this is done quite well throughout, providing a solid tether in an otherwise unstable narrative. The latter half of the film is a lot cleaner, as Steve learns about how Synchronic works and we learn alongside him. It’s a bit literal, and feels like it swings too far the other way from the overly dense to the overly exposition-based, but it sets up the stakes and the motivations for the characters, and you can follow the plot well enough.

I’m not too familiar with the directors other films, but it seems to fit in with their cinematic style, so if you like those, you’ll like this one. It’s weird, stylish and dramatic, giving you a good amount of things to experience and consider. Given that the time0-travel concept is used, it inevitable throws up some plotholes and things which are difficult to make sense of, but that’s par for the course. It is strange how the film starts off very odd and explores its concept in a more abstract and surreal way, before settling on a very straightforward premise of rescuing someone for the finale. Certainly not a bad film that tries to push the envelope a little, but fails to balance it with a sharper script and purpose.