Pulpmovies Reviews

There are some films that are so full of concepts, that are packed with reality-bending twists that the sheer rush of ideas and the enthusiasm of the filmmaking is enough, on its own, to hold your attention for the whole of the film. Not only is Proxima is just such a film, but it’s also a very good piece of cinema in its own right.

The plot centres on Tony (Oriol Aubets), a man for whom things are not going too well. His relationship with his live-in girlfriend is failing fast, due in no small part to the fact that he’d rather play video games than spend time with his in-laws. His video shop, which is funded by his father in law, is also on its last legs. The shop specialises in science fiction films, from silent classics to modern b-movies, has some very loyal customers but nowhere near enough to break even. As a result, Tony takes the decision to wind up the business even though he has no idea what he will do next.

If the previous paragraph hadn’t made this abundantly clear, Tony is a science fiction fan and one who takes the genre seriously, regardless of the medium. It is no surprise, therefore, when the news that a nationally recognised science fiction novelist, Felix Cadecq (Manel Solás) will be eschewing his usual reclusiveness in order to speak at an SF convention, guarantees that Tony will also be attending.

Although Tony has already had a couple of odd experiences, it’s at the conference that things really start to become strange. Felix uses his speech to announce that he is abandoning writing, that science fiction has been superseded by reality and that he is in contact with aliens. Most of the audience react in much the way you would expect when faced with a crank, but Tony is intrigued enough to pick up a copy of the author’s CD, and to try to follow the advice.

From here on in, things become increasingly surreal and it is a real tribute to Oriol Aubets’ performance that he keeps you engaged with the narrative as it twists and reverses its way through the middle part of the film. This strength of Aubets’ performance, combined with the character of Tony, really does hold things together as the film throws out so many revelations, conceptual twists and reversals so that you are kept very much in the dark as to how reliable a narrator Tony is.

He may be delusional, brainwashed, a member of a UFO cult, a victim or he may actually be onto something. Beneath all of this, Tony is very much a drifting everyman (and a bit of a geek, which helps) and someone with whom it is easy to identify. It’s this essential ordinariness of the main character that makes the film is so effective when it delves, very deeply, into Dickian themes of identity and reality.

Visually, Proxima is a stunning film to look at. Whether Tony’s travels are taking place in reality or in his mind, the alien landscapes he encounters are strikingly well realised and really do feel out of this world. This visual sense is apparent long before Tony reaches outer (or inner) space. Although the film is very clearly set in the present day, even the more mundane settings – particularly Tony’s video shop and the abandoned church at which he finds a UFO cult – are well used and provide an excellent visual counterpoint to the events.

Proxima is very much a film for the literate SF fan. Although it has some flaws, the narrative is both effective and disorientating. The cast put in consistently strong performances and this, combined with both the visual feel of the film as well as the sheer volume of ideas and conceptual twists with which it is packed not only keeps you engaged throughout, but is also enough bring you back to the film, many times over.

When a previously unknown virus strikes a small town, affecting both humans and livestock, local vet Sydney Stevens (Alesha Clarke) and county coroner, (Doctor Green) call the Centre for Disease Control. They are more than a little surprised when the army turns up, very promptly, and places the entire town under quarantine.

Sydney, along with the rest of the community, is even more surprised to discover that this quarantine extends to closing down the town’s telephone and internet access. In fact, the only person for whom these turns of events don’t appear to be unexpected is Spenser (Peter Asle Holden), the local conspiracy theorist. Inevitably enough, has his own ideas as to what is really happening, and he’s terrified. Against her better judgement, Sydney finds herself pairing up with Spenser as she attempts to disentangle the various facts and false leads in order to try and establish what the complete picture really is.

Pandemic is a remarkably effective film and a very powerful directorial début for Jason Connery. Much of this effectiveness derives from the pacing of the film, which is both steady and unflashy. Connery certainly knows how to stand back and allow the story to unfold as Sydney tries not only to take in the enormity of what is happening around her, but also to decide which, and how much, of the various conflicting stories she believes.

Much credit must also go to the cast here, all of whom put in very strong, and very believable, performances. It is very easy to identify with Sydney as someone who realises she isn’t hearing the full story and wants to know what is being kept from her and why. Shedding both light and confusion on the events are Spenser, whose crazy theories just won’t fall down, and General Matthews (Ray Wise), the senior soldier who comes across consistently as an essentially reasonable man whose overriding priority is to keep the pandemic under control.

While all of this is going on, the body count continues to mount and the town’s community – who have even less information than Sydney – become increasingly nervous. All of which comes together, along with some incredibly striking cinematography, to build a superbly paranoid atmosphere that will keep you both unnerved and on the edge of your seat.

Pandemic is a very well scripted and remarkably tense conspiracy thriller that manages to avoid overstating what exactly is going on. While, like Sydney, you think you know what is happening, the script manages to retain an effective element of uncertainty right up to the end.

And when the ending does arrive, it is both inevitable and incredibly powerful.