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Altered Reality
USA 2024
produced by Charles Agron, Armand Gazarian, Michael Agron (executive), Tobin Bell (co), Lance Henriksen (co) for Blue Horse Pictures
directed by Don E. FauntLeRoy
starring Tobin Bell, Charles Agron, Alyona Khmara, Lance Henriksen, Krista Dane Hoffman (= Krista Dane King), Edward Asner, Kayla Adams, Paul Rodriguez, Kate Dailey, Demián Castro, Kamran Kam Shaikh, Jay Michael Isbell, Cassandra Walton, Beve Regas, Phuong Kubacki, Kasandra Bandfield, Nathan Rothwell, Renier Cortes, Jimmie Cummings, Rege Lewis, Quincy Faler
written by Charles Agron, music by Andrew Morgan Smith
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Having found a cure for all kinds of cancer will make Oliver (Charles
Agron) unbelievably rich - though "found" is the wrong
expression, he actually got it from Jack (Lance Henriksen), a creature
existing outside of time. However, the very day he celebrates his
medication going into mass production, his wife Caroline (Alyona Khmara)
loses sight of their little daughter while in a park, and the girl just
disappears from the face of the earth. Neither she nor in fact Oliver who
was supposed in the park with er ever forgive themselves the loss of their
daughter.
Fifteen months later, Oliver and his best friend and lawyer Cooper
(Tobin Bell) have something so celebrate, and Cooper is bringing his
latest conquest, lovely Alex (Krista Dane Hoffman) along for the ride. And
Alex quickly enough makes herself the engine of the party, guiding them to
a strip club where she persuades Oliver to pay a visit to a backroom with
stripper Brittany (Kayla Adams). She tries her best to seduce Oliver, but
he insists he can't cheat on his wife, and when she makes a remark of her
daughter, Oliver is only reminded of his loss and the magic is gone.
Still, apparently Alex had some cameras installed in the backroom, and
some of the photos she has taken are rather compromising, enough so that
when Alex shows Caroline, she falls into a fit of rage and has a big
argument with Oliver, during which she accuses him of being responsible
for their daughter's death. Oliver storms off, and apparently he's
intending to kill himself. But this plane of existence isn't done with him
yet, so creature out of time Jack pulls him out of time, to become the
master of his own messed up fate ...
Now this is a quite unusual movie, as it's part soap opera, part
psychothriller and part esoteric fantasy - elements that don't necessarily
go together, but a clever script makes this blend work rather nicely, also
helped by well fleshed out characters with engaging character arcs and
some very poignant dialogue. Also, a nicely flowing directorial effort
that keeps the film well-paced and a very solid ensemble cast make this
one a very entertaining piece of genre cinema.
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