B.I.T.S. '19 Film Review - M.A.J.I.C.

Roswell, New Mexico,1947, A crashed weather balloon is mistaken for an alien spacecraft; so  Pippa Bernwood (Paula Brancati) starts her podcast The Alarm Clock a weekly wake up call from an internet dreamworld of lies and conspiracies. It all starts with Rosewell. Bernwood is an atheist, skeptical debunker but agrees to meet with Anderson (Richard Fitzpatrick) in a neutral setting. The latter hypes up the cold war espionage meter the moment they meet handing Bernwood a pen for her to keep on her person at all times ala a totem. Anderson is in his seventies seems confused not knowing that the current year is 2008. Burnside is doing research on M.A.J.I.C. or Majestic 12 as she knows it and Anderson has a story to tell. The bend in the timeline is introduced with a throwaway reference to former President Gary Hart launching the intricate but intriguing narrative forward.

Writer-director Erin Berry alongside co-writer David Pulscauskas' script is heavy on procedural dialogue in the first act. The recruiting agency that started out as a post-WWII Air Force maintenance contractor is introduced along with references to the Gemini project and N.A.S.A. alerting the audience that the film is headed deep into Sci-Fi / Spy Agency territory.

Bernwood follows the facts and discovers some supporting evidence for the one tangible document that Anderson provided to her. Her agent injects himself into the mix flogging a product that would lead to sponsorship of her podcast and money for them both. The downside, its mind-altering and she would have to ingest it. Bernwood dismisses him, goes to see a known true believer Fishburn (Anand Rajaram) to discuss the case over a game of chess. Later, she checks some old school microfiche, then turns to fellow skeptic Truckspoor (Debra McGrath) to go over what she has found out to date. A note under her door follows spreading an expanded nugget in her brain on the road to becoming a believer.

M.A.J.I.C. is a conspiracy Sci-Fi story that ticks as the request boxes plus a few additional ones. Paula Brancati shines as the hardcore skeptical debunker that finds her position starting to shift the more she digs into Anderson's story. Richard Fitzpatrick devours the role of Anderson the post-war era card-carrying Republican Government Agency recruit who has no history after his discharge from the Air Force in 1954.  Anand Rajaram and Debra McGrath add to the proceedings as a true believer and fellow skeptic receptively. It's a compelling watch with the best take on an alternate U.S. Presidency timeline since the repeated elections of Nixon in The Watchmen.

**** Out of 4.

M.A.J.I.C. | Erin Berry | Canada | 2019 | 83 Minutes.

Tags: Roswell, 1947, Skeptic, Debunker, Space Pen, Air Force, Republican, Podcaster, Hallucinogenic, 20%, Chess, True Believer, Dick Cheney, Obama 08.