‘Area Q’ Review
Stars: Isaiah Washington, Leslie Lewis, John Deignan, Steve Filice, Ronnie Gene Blevins, Daniel Zykov, Lisa Crilley, Murilo Rosa, Jordan Jones, Tania Khalill, Ana Kelly, Jenny Vilim, Ricardo Conti | Written by Carina Sanginitto, Gerson Sanginitto, Julia Camara, Halder Gomes | Directed by Gerson Sanginitto
An investigative journalist, Thomas Mathews, risks losing everything as he obsessively searches for his missing son. After nearly being arrested, Mathews decides it is time for him to go back to work. When a special assignment about alien abductions and encounters brings Mathews to Brazil, he finds out that things are not all as they seem and that this place known as ‘Area Q’ might hold the answers he needs.
Area Q has an interesting story. It is almost like a ‘whodunnit’ crossed with something which would feel quite at home in the X-Files. It follows a reporter, obsessed with trying to find his son, who is sent to Brazil on a job to explore strange alien activity which is being reported, and everything is more linked than it seems (Gasp!). Fair enough. You follow him as he interviews locals, explores strange sites and generally is quite upset about his son being missing. Unfortunately, the interesting part is overshadowed by the many flaws in this film which make it pretty much unwatchable.
To start with, Isaiah Washington, who plays Mathews, has moments where he does really well, but then long periods where he just seems bored with this whole ‘acting’ lark. In fact, a lot of the characters seem quite uninterested in the world (and things slightly more out-of-this-world) around them. The cinematography in Area Q is pretty lacklustre as well, which isn’t helped by the fact that it all seems to have been filmed on a very low-end camera. Every colour seems muted and bland, some of the characters end up blurry if they stand too far away and there are some very strange camera movements which don’t quite work.
With these things in mind, and the fact that Area Q is nearly two hours in length, it can feel a bit of a chore to sit all the way through it. I had to take it in multiple sittings, just because beyond that I would lose interest and start to drift off. Area Q had the makings of being a really interesting film; I mean who doesn’t love a good “are the aliens real?” flick? But instead, I’m afraid I would advise against watching it just so you don’t have an encounter of the bored kind…
** 2/5
Area Q is released in the UK on October 5th, courtesy of High Fliers Flims
