TEST ONE, TWO, THREE... // A FILM REVIEW OF "MINOR PREMISE"
The brainy, challenging and original new sci-fi indie MINOR PREMISE takes us on a journey of the mind. One particular mind in fact, and the memories that he holds. Ethan (Sathya Sridharan) is a neuroscientist who's been having blackouts while working on his study of consciousness. He's working on making a better self by removing selected memories and rewriting the brain around them. He hopes to create a better life through his experiments and is using himself as the test subject. He seemingly is not able to crack the code. The final piece is lost to him and things aren't going well. He's losing time, perhaps even forgetting it. He seems to have cracked his consciousness into several different aspects of his personality, switching off every six minutes. He doesn't remember them, so he uses cameras in his office and eventually his colleague and ex Alli (Paton Ashbrook), who helps him through this test trial. She's weary of helping at first but eventually becomes as determined as he to get this experiment to work. The real question will be at what cost?
What works very well in director Eric Schultz's twisty thriller is that the film's science is rooted in real science (courtesy of co-writer Justin Moretto's studies in university) and the performances are grounded and gripping. As we see Ethan makes more reckless mistakes, we both feel for him and scream for him to stop, knowing it could all blow up in his face. Sathya Sridharan is great in the lead role, showcasing the different personalities well and delivering a gaze that's just mysterious enough it keeps us at eye length until he wants to let us in. Paton Ashbrook also delivers a strong, solid performance as does her Uncle, Twin Peaks actor Dana Ashbrook who appears in a smaller role. What's missing is a strong emotional heart to have us truly understand why Alli would go to such lengths. Their relationship is much discussed but we don't truly feel it. They do have a good chemistry on screen though, and besides a bit of repetition (the film primarily all happens in Ethan's home) the rest of the film works quite well, building an uneasy tension around the proceedings. The story of the mad scientist often goes the same exact way, but MINOR PREMISE tends to surprise us with an engagingly original story. Mad scientist or not, this is an experiment that's worth checking out.
GRADE: B+
WRITTEN BY Justin Moretto, Eric Schultz, Thomas Torrey DIRECTED BY Eric Schultz STARRING Sathya Sridharan, Paton Ashbrook, Dana Ashbrook NOW PLAYING IN SELECT THEATRES, DIGITAL CINEMAS AND VOD EVERYWHERE. FOR MORE INFO: https://minorpremise.com/