‘Chariot’ VOD Review
Stars: John Malkovich, Thomas Mann, Rosa Salazar, Scout Taylor-Compton, Vernon Davis | Written and Directed by Adam Sigal
Chariot stars John Malkovich as Dr. Karn, an odd, eccentric specialist who guides unknowing patients through the reincarnation transition. When Harrison (Thomas Mann) experiences mysterious recurring dreams, he turns to Dr. Karn for help and reveals his encounter with a woman (Rosa Salazar) he loved in a previous life. Noticing a glitch in the system, the doctor must fix the issue before permanently derailing his patient’s future…
When Chariot started I had to stop for a second to find out if the film I was watching was Chariot. You see the film starts with a prologue set in 1840, with a man living alone in a cabin in the wilderness, who chops up some wood and coughs up blood. Then we skip forward to “now”, with Thomas Mann’s Harrison Hardy sitting in the office of a red (and I mean red) haired John Malkovich, discussing Harrison’s dream. A dream he’s had so many times (5000 in fact, as he keeps telling everyone) it’s driving him insane.
Unfortunately, the film’s official synopsis gives the game away and we know from the get-go that Harrison is actually remembering a past life, his reincarnation not having gone to plan and Salazar’s Maria is a part of that. And that’s it.
Chapter titles plot out the film, with the very first time we see Harrison marked “A Glitch in the System”, again revealing what the ENTIRE FILM IS ABOUT. How about we give viewers some intrigue? Some suspense? Nope, writer/director Adam Sigil – making his second feature film here – tells us what Chariot is about and then proceeds to meander to a conclusion that we already know. All the while trying to make a philosophical film about life set in a strange bizarre hotel filled with strange bizarre people. Methinks Sigal has watched too much Twin Peaks and not grasped how and why that shows oddness works – even the soundtrack riffs on the music of the show’s red room scenes for god’s sake!
Chariot looks good and, apart from Malkovich’s mad choice of hair, is well-acted – in particular Thomas Mann, who can do confused in his sleep and Rosa Salazar wide-eyed heroine; but the entire film falls flat. The bizarre aspects of the hotel and its eclectic mix of tenants hold some interest but that will only get you so far.
*½ 1.5/5
Chariot is available on digital platforms now from Altitude.
