[Film Review] Synchronic (2020)

Following a recent trend in design choices that characterized the festival scene this past year, Synchronic presents a film that is entertaining, if not particularly groundbreaking. Synchronic is the latest from directors Justin Benson and Aaron Morehead and stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan. 

For the last few years, films at the intersection of sci-fi and horror have been characterized by a particular brand of trippy visuals and sound design (and, for some reason, a strong reliance on the colour purple). While Synchronic has its fair share of contemplative shots of the Milky Way, it takes a more subtle approach to its effects, leaning into the horror of the mundane through small choices rather than wowing the audience with bright lights. The film does not stray far from its weird design groundings as  the sound design contains lots of bass-oriented synth and ominous choral work that creates an appropriately untethered feeling at all times. 

Any synopsis of the film’s plot isn’t going to do justice to how interesting it really is, but here’s an attempt: two paramedics (Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan) get caught up in the consequences of a new designer drug craze. The catch is that this drug doesn’t make people hallucinate: it engages in some quantum physics tomfoolery and makes people experience time as nonlinear. When the drug kicks in, it will transport users to the same geographical location at another point in time, and if you are not careful, you will get stuck in the past, or bring something dangerous back with you. 

On the surface, another movie about a street drug gone wrong doesn’t sound intensely engaging , but Synchronic makes up for its overplayed narrative conceit with punchy vignettes about what happens when people take this drug, differentiating each instance starkly, so it never feels like it is overusing an image or a motif. By making individual experiences its focus and concentrating less on a cohesive vision, the film places more emphasis on the people than the drug. This makes for a more nuanced story with shades of commentary about (amongst other things) opioid addiction, though the social messages remain subtle. The film invites you to consider the implications of a world beset by harmful street drugs without attempting  to moralize addiction or recreational drug use; the people who die or are hurt as a result of the drug are never depicted as deserving it, but as victims. 

The film chooses not to take a direct stab at drug addiction, but instead it deals with another large and heavy subject: terminal disease. Without spoiling too much, Synchronic explores the fallout of realizing you have been diagnosed with something that will likely kill you, and the ramifications of how that makes you view your life’s work. It is not a new portrayal of illness by any means, but it is well executed tied together by a brief poignant monologue about the temporality of death, delivered expertly by Mackie. 

Benson and Morehead continue their string of well-received sci fi/horror with Synchronic as a follow-up to 2017’s The Endless, though Synchronic is perhaps less horrific than its predecessor; though there are a few gnarly scenes of bodily harm, part and parcel with following two paramedics, it does not rely on gore or jump-scare tension. The dread of the film is largely existential, with the narrative making you ponder your place and significance in the space-time continuum, all seen through the lens of the great equalizer of death. 

Anthony Mackie as Steve is the standout star of the film; his performance leans into his strengths as quippy and irreverent a la Marvel fare, but instead of being one-note it lends a sardonic depth to his character. In his job and his life, Steve has experienced a lot, and his pain and struggles to cope come through even as he is cracking sarcastic comments. Dornan tries to keep up, and does a fair amount of emotive legwork himself, but Mackie stands head and shoulders above the rest as a powerhouse. 

All told, Synchronic is a lot more interesting than an elevator pitch of the film would lead one to believe, but it never quite manages to break ground that hasn’t been trod before. All the themes (death, losing control of the self, fear of time) are mainstays in science fiction at this point, and Synchronic treats them well but doesn’t move out from the pack of other recent films  narratively and visually like it, such as The Wave or Color Out of Space. However, it’s still worth a watch to see Anthony Mackie sink his teeth into a dramatic leading role. 

You can view Synchronic here:  iTunes, Amazon and Amazon Blu-ray/DVD.

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