I really wish I could have enjoyed Jacob Bilinski’s short film about reality shifting and perceptions of romance in the end, but with the run time and premise often foggy both in its intent and ability to deliver its hook, “Obsolescence” often feels instead like a practice in monologue reading than it does an actual short film. From minute one I found myself fairly unimpressed by the line reading that occurs as “Obsolescence” is much more focused on the hook that leads in to the final confrontations than it does actually telling its story about a romance that may or may not have been pre-orchestrated to fit a goal for its characters to focus on.
When Nick refuses to let go of his lost love, he begins to kidnap local friends and confidants prior to his tragic loss and torture them in hopes of garnering some grasp of his loss and figure out why his memories are suddenly betraying him. As he delves deeper and deeper in to his past with his lover’s life, he begins to figure she may have just been an illusion. Is he just losing sight of his sanity, or are there darker forces at play. While I would have enjoyed watching “Obsolescence,” much of its seems too centered around the final dialogue to really be considered a true effort at a short film. While the performances are strong, “Obsolescence” is that film you can tell was originally just one scene built in to a movie for that purpose.
And when Bilinksi leads in to the big confrontation, you can sense this was the entire purpose. I’m not saying “Obsolescence” is a bad film, it’s just not one I felt compelled or all too impressed with by the time it was finished. And while it does intend to have shades of Phillip K. Dick, with plays on memory and the unconscious, it’s not anything to write home about once the credits have rolled. It’s a shame because Jacob Bilinski is a very good director who creates a fairly unimpressive and underwhelming short science fiction film that could have stood more extrapolation and depth in the end. “Obsolescence” left me basically blank and I had to collect my thoughts by the end of the film.