Coherence (US/UK 2013)

coherence_ver3D/S: James Ward Byrkit. Story: James Ward Byrkit, Alex Manugian. P: Lene Bausauger, Doug Blake. Cast: Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon, Lorene Scafaria, Elizabeth Gracen, Hugo Armstrong, Alex Manugian, Lauren Maher. UK dist (DVD): Metrodome.

 

On the night Miller’s Comet (a fictional body) is due to pass unusually close to Earth, a group of eight friends gather for dinner at one of their homes – little realising their world is about to shatter. As the comet passes overhead, mobile phone transmission cuts out. The internet crashes. Cellphone screens abruptly crack, for no clear reason. And all the lights in the neighbourhood go out, plunging them into darkness. Venturing outside, however, they see the lights are still burning in one house down the street. Two of their party decide to do the practical thing and investigate, while the rest remain behind; they’ll see if the neighbours have a working phone, then come straight back. But when they return – injured, shaken and carrying a strange box – the situation turns out to be far from straightforward. For the second house is an exact duplicate of their own. And in it, eight friends are gathered for dinner: eight exact copies of themselves . The comet’s arrival has triggered a quantum event, splitting reality into two or more possible states of existence; and soon, visitors from these alternate realities are sure to drop by…

coherence_xlgCoherence begins as an Altmanesque ensemble character piece, with a well-drawn cast trading sparky dialogue and conveying, quite nicely, a sense of long-standing (though not always convivial) acquaintance. Writer-director James Ward Byrkit deserves credit for not simply trotting out the usual preening, soundbite-ready twentysomething ciphers seen in most genre fare; the friends span a fairly broad age range, and an equally broad spectrum of personality types (from kooky New Age counter-culturalists to TV stars andprofessional dancers). Our heroine, Emily (Emily Baldoni), still smarting from a recent career setback, is further dismayed to find her partner’s ex-girlfriend (Lauren Maher) attending the soirée; beneath the smiles, tension simmers. As the evening’s events unfold, Emily’s self-confidence continues to unravel – until, in her increasingly paranoid state, the only way to get her life back on track is to retrieve it by force: from herself… (There’s a bestselling self-help manual in here: Better Living Through Quantum Wave Functions.)

coherence_ver2_xlgAlas, credibility does tend to wobble once these grounded and likeable folk are obliged by the plot to start ranting and vowing to kill their doubles (“before they kill us!”), before any threat has even been established. (To be fair, there is some throwaway talk at the outset of a 1920s Finnish comet causing a variety of odd personality changes – but that doesn’t fully excuse the awkward shift of behavioural gears we see here.) Exposition is a tad clunky, too, with a handy book on quantum physics, complete with an even handier abstract neatly summarising the paradox at hand, conveniently presenting itself to be read aloud. But this passage is too rushed and, yes, incoherent to yield much dramatic value, and is likely to leave even the most quantum-literate viewer frowning in confusion. Given that this scene is key to describing the entire scenario, its garbled presentation is unfortunate. (I suspect Shane Carruth’s Primer [2004] was an undue influence here.)

Still, clarity does emerge as the film goes on, and once the plot starts tangling with a vengeancethe viewer is happy to go along for the ride, even if the wrap-up doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Performances are robust, aided greatly by snappy editing and verité-style lensing (by Nic Sadler). Kristin Øhrn Dyrud supplies a thoughtful, low-key electronic score. Coherence contains enough genuine frissons – photographs marked with strange numbers, the Dark Zone between the duplicate houses, the “visitors” and their opaque agenda – to make it an absorbing and worthwhile chiller, though nit-pickers are likely to have a field day.