A retro-tech fan working as an arcade game technician meets a beautiful girl as a game pulls him in deeper and deeper into a world where multiple possibilities collide.
Graham Skipper creates a story here that is dipped in 80s nostalgia but not one of those insanely-80s ones. As the writer and director of the film, he builds an environment and atmosphere that feels like some of the science-fiction films that were loved in the time period without mimicking them or over-doing the decade with fake-feeling imagery and ideas. Here he takes some ideas from then and molds them to his story and his settings. His lead character is deep into the arcade game culture and definitely an anti-current-technology guy but the film itself does not try to reproduce the period he is obsessed with. It has definite influences that it wears on its sleeve from War Games to Videodrome; Skipper takes all of these influences and melds them into his own world with his own characters. Yes, it’s nostalgic and has synthwave music, but his story transcends that and becomes something that makes sense with the current settings. Describing the story and characters without giving away too much is something that is almost impossible as this film is better seen without a clue what it’s about and where it’s going.
The lead actor Skipper chose for this project is Chase Williamson, who played his brother in Beyond the Gates, and their relationship outside of the movies seems to have given them a closeness that allows them to work in tandem beautifully. Williamson gives an odd but talented performance as Oz, a young man who doesn’t fully plan for anything or know where he is going but does have goals and some crazy talent. His gives an awkward as should be performance. Playing his love interest, the beautiful Tess is Fabianne Therese whose spunky attitude and fun-loving ways counter-balance Williamson’s Oz perfectly. Her performance brings a brightness, almost a lightness in places, something that is greatly needed or the film would have become one dark story.
These characters are supported by a score by Van Hughes who adds to the mood of the film with perfectly placed synthwave notes, something of a throwback to 80s sci-fi films that just works. The score takes the film deeper into a sort of almost trance with the lead and creates an odd connection with the viewer and their nostalgia in a way that adds to the film without yanking the viewer out of the story with too much 80s sound. Most of the nostalgia comes from the score here and from the occasional image or quick shot of things as well as from the central video game itself which is better left a mystery until the movie is seen.
Sequence Break has multiple themes and influences all layering in a way that creates an interesting story that digs deep into the psyche of its lead and doesn’t give everything away or explain everything. It’s one of those movies that leave some things to the imagination, something too few sci-fi films of late have done. It’s intelligent science-fiction with unobtrusive nostalgia that works. It’s layered and complex, giving the viewer a lot of look at and to think about as they watch.
Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 13th to August 2nd.