Sublime

Title: Sublime (Unrated Cut)
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Starring: Tom Cavanagh, Kathleen York, Katherine Cunningham-Eves, Lawrence Hilton-Jacob
Director: Tony Krantz

This is a film that feels perhaps a little mismarketed, a low-budget horror with little in the way of a budget and outside of a handful of festival screenings, going straight-to-DVD. Anyone at all versed with the genre probably already has some idea of what we should be expecting; if it’s a good quality budget horror I should be laughing for a good portion of the film, and if it isn’t I should be falling asleep, but instead this film falls under a completely different category. This is a horror driven more by a psychological, intelligent aspect than it is tired clichés and models pretending to act, and whilst the end result is something of a mixed bag theres certainly enough here to keep your brain engaged.

The concept is at least on the surface a simple one, following the protagonist George (Cavanagh) for a routine colonoscopy, it is only upon his re-emergance from the general anasthetic that he realises something is amiss. Mysterious figures ominously walk the hallways, information slowly trickles down to the injured party; there was a mistake in surgery. Paranoia induced by fear and confusion, and as time progresses he becomes ever more suspicious of foul play, exploring his surroundings as the nightmare thickens we are left to pick up the pieces. Exploring his home life through flashbacks, we come to learn of his family and the events preceding the surgery, lending realism to the characters.

This is a really difficult release to assess as there are distinct areas done well and others that were quite frankly horrendous; the worst of it detracting heavily from their strengths making this an oddball blend of stone cold realism and sequences almost laughably poor in conception. Cavanagh himself performs exceptionally well, the pivotal roles played by Cunningham-Eves and Hilton-Jacobs lending an unusual sense of disconcerted awareness to the scene that the lead emphasises with the genuine sense of confusion conveyed. The use of the darkness and gentle ambient sounds throughout only add to the steadily building atmosphere, the shots themselves not merely gratuitous but intentional in what is on display, all strengths that could be attributed to a talented director.

But then theres the other side of the coin, the times that left you a little confused as to what they were thinking; the close up of the lips unusually mesmerising to the point of the actual dialogue losing focus, or what can only really be described as a ‘ska’ piece of music being used in conjunction with a serious scene early on in the film. Then there is the issue of all the small underlying messages placed throughout; the Iranian doctor; the attractive nurse who is often the recipient of derogatory, sexist remarks; the black man treating every accusation as a result of the colour of his skin; abuse of ethnic minorities; even the state of the US healthcare system and its capitalist intentions, these are all prominent political messages within the film, often made abundantly clear, allowing us to gain insight into the directors thoughts (in theory) as well as demonstrating the character in the film.

But these are mere sidelines to the main point the film seems to be trying to make; filled with oddly recognisable symbolism, cryptic clues within dialogue to piece together like some impossible puzzle and suggestions as to a deeper meaning than the bare one presented to us. Even the characters have hidden depths; open-ended questions as thoughts on their sexuality, financial success over personal happiness and how well two people can truly empathise with one another, and perhaps its my mind making illogical leaps now, but by the end I had made a religious connection as well – the metaphorical angel on one shoulder and the demon on the other – but sadly none of this ever becomes resolved. As a result it becomes a blend of half-baked ideas compressed into such a short time frame that it can only very briefly afford to explore them; the equivalent of going ‘racism is bad’ and then failing to make any further argument or elaboration.

The good and the bad more or less in equal with one another, it is perhaps disappointing to see what could be a great film let down by too many inconsistencies and coherency issues (or a really poor film raised by sequences of inspiration; it could go either way). At the end of the day, this isn’t another ‘Jacobs Ladder’ or ‘Anti-Christ’ but the director clearly had aspirations for something more than just a cheap standard affair horror, taking a risk in producing something a little more creative and it this fact in itself which makes this directorial debut more of a success than most.