Review of Coherence (2013)
Seen in 2016.
Written as science fiction because the writer-director had only one set—his own house—and wanted to make it feel big. It seems that the creators like the same things about this movie that I dislike. Instead of a plot, it’s got a dinner party. Instead of an intelligent SF premise, it’s got a misunderstanding of quantum theory on the level of a six-year-old. Instead of good improvisational acting and photography, it’s acted and shot like reality TV. Instead of exploring existential terror at the climax, the writer jumps into the foxhole of marital infidelity and violence, settling for myopic human drama.
The lead-up is never promising, but the pettiness of the climax is especially strange considering the writer’s apparent belief that his premise is superficially credible and worth buying. Even discarding the pathetic quantum woo, any recycling of the idea would still work like a game show. Instead of a Primer (2004) or even a The Man from Earth (2007), it’s a Knowing (2009) without any of the fun stuff.