Chariot Review: Quirky Sci-Fi which is Aimless
The most difficult aspects of a film to nail are often the intangible ones: ambience, pacing, tone, and other aspects of the viewing experience that appear to arise spontaneously but are actually the result of multiple persistent choices. It's difficult enough to establish and sustain one tone, but some stories attempt to blend — or, even more difficult, change between — two or more, and the films and directors who succeed are among the most famous in the medium.
Those who strive and fail to strike the right balance are almost as interesting to analyse as those who do. Case studies on how to wind up on the wrong side of a narrow line dividing masterworks and misfires. One of these is Chariot, a perplexing film from writer-director Adam Sigal that appears to be unclear of its own aims. It draws its audience in with the overtures of a compelling puzzle only to leave them stranded in what is profoundly a failure of tone.
Dr. Karn (John Malkovich) is a mysterious figure who specialises in helping unknowing individuals through the reincarnation process. When his new patient, Harrison (Thomas Mann), arrives having had a maddeningly banal repeating dream over 5000 times without relief, the psychiatrist notices a rare system error when he meets and instantly connects with Maria (Rosa Salazar). This woman is someone Harrison once loved, and unless Dr. Karn intervenes quickly, their meeting has the potential to irreversibly destroy Harrison's future.