Coherence is a great movie that explores an unknown realm and shows the originality of the idea to the audience. This film falls under the Sci-Fi genre, and despite getting a good idea of what goes on in the trailer, “Coherence” can take your mind and thoughts for a ride.
The film starts off with a group of well-off friends meeting for dinner at one of their houses as a comet passes the Earth, causing a blackout, followed by weird and unexplainable events. Together, they try to figure out what is happening to them and the surrounding houses.
How the movie was made is the source for its success. The writers of the film, Director James Ward Byrkit and Alex Manugian, had written only a story and gave the actors a premise and some rules to follow while on set, then proceeded to allow the actors and actresses to freely create their own dialogue. This directing style, both unconventional and interesting, showcases the cast’s talents at finding ways to keep the audience entertained. They add to the slow paced plot in the first half of the film with the second half being more chaotic, adding to the mystery and drama of the unknown reality of where they are.
Important details that help the audience understand this psychological sci-fi are hidden with subtlety. (Spoilers below.) This film guides the audience right alongside the group of friends as they slowly find out that they are trapped in an almost “limbo” state of time as the comet has allowed them to travel through interdimensional space. Following the blackout, two people from the group choose to go to another house in the neighborhood that is seen to have power. Returning with a worrisome demeanor, they reveal that what was seen at that house, was themselves eating dinner. This escalates into more and more of the same people from a different reality realizing they are stuck in this loop of time. Sooner or later, the psychological aspect of not being able to escape drives the characters to become violent. This, however, does not take away from the plot. Instead it adds to an eery and delicate state that is shown within the group.Coherence is a psychological, eerie film that attracts the eye to subtle notes and clues which allow the audience to figure out what is actually happening to the main characters. Who can figure it out first, the audience or the characters in the film? I would recommend this film to anyone who does not mind okay cinematography paired with a great original idea, accompanied by a creative director and cast.
