Synchronic – An Interesting Premise That Doesn’t Quite Work

In an age of sequels and reboots, it’s always nice to see filmmakers try to bring something different to the masses even if it doesn’t always work out. The fact that they try in the first place should be applauded. Synchronic, the latest sci-fi horror-thriller, is another example of one of those films. While its premise is an interesting one on paper and it is surrounded with some compelling pieces including a great cast, it is one that seemed to never have fully realized which is kind of a shame. That being said, the film isn’t necessarily a bad experience as is sure to still find a following among genre fans as there is still some entertainment to be had here. Despite its lower budget, the film succeeds at creating an impressive gothic-looking world out of New Orleans and pulls of some decent special effects in service of that world.

Synchronic follows a pair of New Orleans paramedics named Steve (Mackie) and Dennis (Dornan) whose lives are turned upside down by a string of unfortunate deaths caused by a new designer drug with a rather unique effect. The characters themselves weren’t particularly deep as this drug, of course called synchronic, was the main linchpin of the plot, so much so that everything else essentially didn’t matter or only existed for the purpose of serving that linchpin. Once Dennis’ daughter Brianna (Ally Ioannides) goes missing under mysterious circumstances, it is up to Steve to get up close and personal with synchronic in order to find her. When it came to the relationship between Steve and Dennis, the pair couldn’t be any more different from one another. While Dennis was a family man with a wife named Tara (Aselton) and Brianna, Steve was mostly on his own, turning to alcohol, one night stands, and his dog for company. Faced with the recent diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, this made Steve the perfect candidate for this mission.

Little did Steve realize that synchronic was a drug that gave the user the ability to alter time in dangerous ways. While the film explored the concept of time in interesting ways both conceptionally and contextually through Steve’s mission, it doesn’t go nearly far enough and there wasn’t nearly enough of it while the rules were never made clear. Nevertheless, these moments were still very tense to watch though the lack of understanding of the situation tempered those feelings somewhat. Part of the suspense was the intended contrast between the danger of synchronic and Steve’s dwindling condition. However, the latter element felt shallow, contrived, and tact on therefore it was hard to care about thus the intended suspense wasn’t there. The lack of character development and the lack of stakes made for a whimper of a climax.

Ultimately, what makes Synchronic work was the performances of Mackie and Dornan as Steve and Dennis respectively. Though they didn’t have much to work with, especially the latter whose role was disappointingly small, their chemistry was solid. In the end, this was Mackie’s film and he certainly delivers in that regard. His charisma and screen presence carried the film and made up for the subpar material. The same was the case with Dornan for the most part but there was far to little of him here as the purpose of his character seemingly was to help establish Mackie’s character. However, the scenes that they shared together were a blast to watch.

At the end of the day, Synchronic should be applauded for its interesting premise despite its subpar execution but despite this, it is still a decent time to be had for genre fans.

still courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.