Synchronic (film)

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Synchronic
Synchronic poster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written byJustin Benson
Produced by
  • Justin Benson
  • Aaron Moorhead
  • David Lawson Jr.
  • Michael Mendelsohn
Starring
CinematographyAaron Moorhead
Edited by
  • Aaron Moorhead
  • Justin Benson
Music byJimmy LaValle
Production
companies
Distributed byWell Go USA Entertainment
Release dates
  • September 7, 2019 (2019-09-07) (TIFF)
  • October 23, 2020 (2020-10-23) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.5 million[2]

Synchronic is a 2019 American science fiction horror film written by Justin Benson, who also directed and produced with Aaron Moorhead. It stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan as paramedics who investigate a series of inexplicable deaths and their connection to a new designer drug.

It had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released on October 23, 2020, by Well GO USA Entertainment.

Plot[]

Steve, a ladies' man, and Dennis, a married father, work together as paramedics in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are called out to a series of cases where people are either dead in strange circumstances or whose stories are incoherent. The cases are linked to a new designer drug called Synchronic.

At a domestic abuse call, they find a stabbing victim and an old sword embedded in the wall. While Steve tends to an injured man, he is accidentally pierced by a dirty needle. Being tested for possible infections leads to the discovery of cancer in his underdeveloped and non-calcified pineal gland. The second call, a burn victim, is a completely burned body. The third call is a bite from a venomous snake no longer found in the area.

On a call to a drug party, they find a dead boy, and a girl says there was a third girl, Brianna, Dennis's teenage daughter. The next morning. Steve goes to a local smoke shop and buys all the Synchronic, which he learns is discontinued. As he leaves, Steve declines a man's offer pay triple its worth. The next morning, Steve catches the man breaking into his house. He says he is the chemist who created Synchronic, which alters the pineal gland's perception of time. Children, who have a non-calcified pineal gland, pass through time. Adults seem to only partially move through time like ghosts.

During their next call, a victim of a sword fight dies. Steve, who is a fan of the history of science, quotes Albert Einstein on the meaninglessness of time when faced with his friend's death. Under the stress of Brianna's disappearance, Dennis's marriage deteriorates. When he learns someone has been stealing morphine, he misinterprets Steve's poor health and use of painkillers as evidence he is a morphine addict. The two come to blows while treating a shouting patient.

At home, Steve takes Synchronic, travels back to when the area was covered in a swamp, and as an alligator approaches him, a conquistador emerges from behind and lashes out at the alligator. At that instant, Steve returns to his time and notices a huge slash on the floor where the conquistador struck. Steve records his observations, deducing that Synchronic allows traveling backwards through time for seven minutes in the same geographical location. When he travels back to the Ice Age, he realizes that his location when taking the pill determines the destination year.

During his next attempt, Steve takes back his dog, Hawking, to the 1920's where he is chased by the Ku Klux Klan. Moving from the original location while evading the hostiles, he loses Hawking and is unable to bring him back. Taking another Synchronic pill in an attempt to find Brianna at the location where she disappeared, he discovers several tribal men, who chase him up a tree. He later learns from one of the people at Brianna's party that where he jumped from might not have been where she was when she took it. He also realizes that touching objects from the present where one jumped from can serve as an anchor or based to get to the present when the time comes as it appears.

Steve and Dennis talk at a bar. Dennis, who has taken his life for granted, believes he is headed to a divorce. Steve tells Dennis about his cancer, and the two reconcile. Their driver, Tom, was stealing the morphine. At the graveyard of Steve's family, Steve shows Dennis the videos of his time travel, and they deduce that Brianna may have left a message for them to find in the park...the boulder she was sitting on in the park that says "allways." Steve travels back in time from there with Dennis present and finds himself on the shore of the Mississippi River during the War of 1812. He sustains a leg injury from fire while searching for Brianna, then finds her alive in a trench full of casualties and gives her his last Synchronic pill. Steve praises her quick thinking to mark up the rock so they could find her, but Brianna doesn't know what he is talking about. They quickly move to the boulder, but are intercepted by a looter who, believing Steve is a runaway slave, threatens to kill them both. Steve holds the looter's attention, allowing Brianna to safely return to the present, but he gets there too late and doesn't jump. After Brianna returns and is hugged by Dennis, Steve appears ghost-like in the present, only partially there, and shakes Dennis' hand.

Cast[]

Production[]

In September 2018, it was announced Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie had joined the cast of the film, with Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead directing.[3]

Release[]

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019.[4] Shortly after, Well Go USA Entertainment acquired distribution rights to the film, announcing a 2020 release.[5] It was released in theaters on October 23, 2020.[6]

Synchronic was released on digital and video on demand in the United States on January 12, 2021. The movie was released on Netflix in the US on April 16, 2021.[7]

Reception[]

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 79% based on 155 reviews and an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Synchronic sets off on an intriguingly idiosyncratic journey that should satisfy fans of Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson's earlier work."[8] Metacritic reports a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]

References[]

  1. ^ "Synchronic". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "Synchronic (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  3. ^ White, Peter (September 17, 2018). "'Captain America's Anthony Mackie & 'A Private War's Jamie Dornan To Star In 'Synchronic' From 'The Endless' Directors". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  4. ^ Vlessing, Etan (August 13, 2019). "'The Aeronauts,' 'Burnt Orange Heresy' Added to Toronto Film Fest Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  5. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (October 10, 2019). "Jamie Dornan-Anthony Mackie Sci-Fi 'Synchronic' Sells To U.S. & Major International Markets". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  6. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (September 11, 2020). "'Synchronic' Starring Jamie Dornan And Anthony Mackie Gets October Release Date From Well Go". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  7. ^ "Anthony Mackie's 'Synchronic' Making SVOD Debut on Netflix in April 2021". What's on Netflix. April 1, 2021.
  8. ^ "Synchronic (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "Synchronic Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 1, 2020.

External links[]


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