Nothing that happens in Coherence should be
allowed to happen. The film begins with a comet that may or may not be
infused with reality-altering powers screaming across the sky during a
dinner party, causing a temporary blackout and potentially upending
natural law. It would be a fool's errand to further summarize what
happens in James Ward Byrkit's heady chamber drama, but imagine if My Dinner With Andre featured
eight friends wondering if there are other versions of themselves in
another house and, if so, which incarnations will still be there when
this supposedly mystical comet disintegrates. Byrkit invokes everything
from Schrödinger's cat to Gwyneth Paltrow, making Coherence feel
like a puzzle whose pieces are constantly changing shape. The blurry,
handheld cinematography is so up close and personal, and the house so
small, that you feel the walls closing in just as surely as the
characters do. The questions Byrkit raises about the intermingling of
previously separate realities may be more inspired than some of the
answers that his out-of-their-depth characters stumble upon, but the
implications are quietly terrifying nonetheless: Every house is their
house, and no house is their house. They have always been there, but
they might never be able to return.
Critic's Grade: B
SEE IT: Coherence opens Friday at Living Room Theaters.
WWeek 2015