What if you could go back and change a catastrophic event that devastated your family? But to do so would have a lethal effect on the perpetrator of the event. Would you worry about the effect on other aspects of your and your loved ones' lives? Would you care about the consequences on the perpetrator's family? Does making one change in the recent past have a lesser ripple than multiple or changes further back in time? These are the questions debated and agonized over amongst the characters in Writer-Director Jared Moshe's latest film Aporia.
Sophie Rice (Judy Greer) has seen her life crumble since the death of her husband Mal (Edi Gthegi) He was killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street and despite showing up for repeated court hearings the driver is not being punished. Her daughter Riley (Faithe Herman) is skipping classes and has lost interest in her one true passion science that she shared with her Dad. Sophie works in a Long-Term Car facility. She is dedicated to her patients but the strain over everything has grinded her down. Her friend Jabir (Payman Maadi) who was best friends with Mal, bonding through their love of science. Jabir reveals to Sophie a machine that he worked on with Mal. It looks like a 70s muscle car engine on a metal stand with too many batteries and wires attached. But the machine can reach into the past and send a projectile to a specific GPS-targeted location with the force of a bullet. The payload able to write the wrong that devastated Sophie's family before the accident even occurred. When it works the real hard questions begin.
Moshe crafts a practical science fiction film with zero VFX. A time travel story where the main characters never leave the room where the machine fires up and sends its accelerated particle projectiles back into the past then the participants step out of the room to an altered timeline all around them. The differences can be subtle; a change of duties at the Long Term Care facility, different living room furniture and throw pillows picked put by your returning spouse, or something greater and vastly more significant. The homemade science project has moved from the theoretical to real-world impact bringing with it life-altering implications. The foreboding soundtrack that underpins the story is a constant reminder of the high stakes and potential consequences of everyone's actions.
Judy Greer commands the screen in the role of Sophie. She is overwhelmed with grief at the outset of the film. She is not getting justice. Her daughter is spiraling downward losing interest in everything and anything she used to hold dear. Edi Gathegi serves s connective tissue is in the role of Mal. He understands exactly what has occurred when Sophie and Jabir level with him on what they have done? His scientific mind works out all of the combinations and permutations. Faithe Herman plays multiple versions of the couple's daughter each time the machine is fired up. She is despondent at first then downright joyful once Sophie tracks her down in a new timeline after emerging from Jabir's household lab. The bottom line appears to be firing it up once you can get the desired effect. But human nature won't stop there meaning cataclysmic change is likely inevitable.
*** 1/2 Out of 4.
Aporia | Jared Moshe | U.S. A. | 2023 | 103 Minutes.
Tags: Drunk Driver, Widow, Grief, Court Case, Long Term Care, Physicist, Time Travel, Rocket Ships, Ponzi Scheme, Birthday Party, Hamlet.
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