‘Backward Faces’ VOD Review
Stars: Lennon Sickels, Andrew Morra | Written and Directed by Chris Aresco
Making his feature debut, writer/director Chris Aresco opens his black-and-white film with Sydney (Lennon Sickels) and Ken (Andrew Morra) sitting on opposite sides of a bed. The pair struggle to talk after their disappointing one-night stand, although the eventual conversation just makes matters awkward. In-between attempts at self-deprecating humour, claims of “practically” writing the story for a new film, and a missing necklace, the two rapidly annoy each other.
While theoretical-physicist Sydney is ready to consider the previous night an unfortunate mistake, Ken isn’t ready to leave things there as he’s invested in their potential future. He asks whether she likes her reality, as he reveals that he’s from another universe. His method of transport? The bathroom, which is a wormhole to transport to another universe with no way of returning.
Utilising the many-worlds interpretation, each choice creates a new universe based on the chosen that wasn’t selected. Imagine an ever-expanding version of the Futurama episode “The Farnsworth Paradox”, as all possible outcomes are realised. The only way to prove that’s true is to leave behind your life by entering the wormhole, something which understandably leaves Sydney sceptical.
Central to this story are the dual performers, terrifically capturing different iterations of their characters. Sickels effectively conveys disbelief at the unfolding situation, while her focus on explanations over emotions leads to humorously blunt instances. Morra is given more opportunities to play different characters, with the standout being an iteration that was content in his universe realising the weight of this situation he’s been thrust into.
What Aresco has done is take an interesting sci-fi concept which hints at larger things outside its confined settings, only to utilise the low-budget setting to its advantage. The idea of travelling to a random universe and forcibly making yourself the only version inhabiting it is a big idea. Yet, it being used for petty purposes like running out of milk is a humorous way of minimizing such a large-scale concept.
The branching paths from people’s actions mean they are judged by the physical manifestations of their inner thoughts, something the creations had no say in. This is an effective example of how such big concepts are filtered through a character focus, such as the question of what such knowledge does to a person. Is there a way to return to the life they previously knew after understanding how small they are within this ever-expanding scenario? These weighty ideas are thankfully lightened by utilised humour, with a standout being witty wordplay which calls to mind the “Who’s on first” routine which Abbott and Costello perfected.
While the dialogue can threaten to be impenetrable, it’s one part of this engrossing film which smartly keeps deconstructing the implications of its premise and answering questions which are brought up during explanations. In the middle of that is a story about the choices people make and how they should treat themselves better, which forms the emotional centre of this inventive and unique film which attempts so much across the lean 69-minute runtime.
**** 4/5
Backward Faces is available to rent or buy on digital platforms now.
