New film Reversion features an innovative science fiction plotline

Reversion is a movie that will likely pass over most viewer’s radars and fade into the pit of forgotten films. First, it is a small-budget production of only about half a million dollars. It is also written and directed by the virtually unknown Jose Nestor Marquez, whose other two films, Isa and Ana Maria in Novela Land ,were released in 2014 and 2015, respectively. These factors make it rather unfortunate because this film, though perhaps not the most astute piece of cinema to grace screens this year, is a clever and entertaining movie that is definitely worth watching.

Reversion follows protagonist Sophie Clé (Aja Naomi King), the daughter of a very wealthy medical researcher (Colm Feore) who has decided to expand his horizons and develop a new gadget called the Oubli. The Oubli looks a little like a gold wishbone that rests behind a person’s ear. Accompanied by an all-too-real looking app, the Oubli enables consumers to revisit their happiest memories with incredible clarity (“with just one tap you can experience the greatest moments of your life”), and a seemingly positive side effect is that troubling memories might temporarily fade. Early in the movie, Sophie is kidnapped by an anonymous individual who claims that Sophie’s father is not the benevolent benefactor he claims to be. What unfolds is an action-packed film, filled with truly unexpected twists as Sophie battles to regain control over her own memories.

There are, however, some fundamental weaknesses that point to an inexperienced director. To begin, the title sequence stretches on for several minutes, accompanied by nothing but blurred images and background music. In this way, Marquez begins to lose the audience’s interest no more than five minutes into the movie. Additionally, the relationship between Sophie and her father, which forms the backbone of the plot, is often wooden and awkward. Though King and Feore individually play their roles reasonably well, their dialogue with each other is forced and uncomfortable, pointing to really poor chemistry. This is first illustrated through a conversation they have at the beginning of the movie, which is positively agonizing to sit through. The music, however, does a lot of the heavy lifting. The score is impressive and does an excellent job of building up tension and suspense; however, the music is often used in place of sub-par acting or a rather banal shot of a character running or looking scared. In this case, it is so blatantly clear that it becomes more of a burden than a simple addition to the chemistry of the movie.

At times it feels like Marquez is trying too hard to be too artsy and clever with his filmmaking, awkwardly using obscure shots and camera angles where they are not needed. It also seems as though the vast majority of the film is spent in close-ups of King’s face, and though she handles the weight of the film admirably, it often feels intrusive and even boring to spend so much time simply focused on one face.

Despite this, the movie still explores some interesting themes and raises a lot of questions about the ethics of technology. Specifically, the movie forces the viewer to question our ownership of our own memories in a society ruled by social media and the concept of human emotion as a commodity. Once again, the suspense in this film is truly excellent — even if the music is a heavy contributor to this. It is unclear what the intention of any character is, so the audience questions everything and trusts no one. Flashes of Sophie’s deceased mother in her final moments penetrate the narrative at unexpected times, adding an element of horror to the story.

In the end, Reversion is a movie that will keep people entertained, and, at times, on the edge of their seats. It has its problems and is unlikely to achieve much notoriety. Still, it is an enjoyable movie. It forces the audience to question how much  they would be willing to give up to technology and how much power they are willing to sacrifice. There’s also the question of how memories and emotions can be bought and sold. Ultimately, any movie that questions the technologically-driven aspect of society is definitely worth a couple of hours of time.