Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Michael Felker
Starring: Riley Dandy, Adam David Thompson, Chloe Skoczen, Justin Benson, Sarah Bolger
Previously an editor on the films of cult duo Justin Benson and
Aaron Moorhead (who serve as exec producers here),
Michael Felker makes his debut as writer/director with
Things Will Be Different. It's a film that's in thematic lockstep with those of his previous
collaborators, with metaphysical and time travelling elements similar to
those found in Benson and Moorhead's Resolution and its
sequel
The Endless.
After pulling off some sort of a heist that has left them in possession
of two bags loaded with banknotes, estranged brother and sister Joseph
(Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (Riley Dandy) meet up at
a small town diner and proceed to head to a remote abandoned farmhouse
that has been loaned to the pair as a hideout by a customer at Joseph's
bar. This is no ordinary safe house however: it possesses the power to
transport its inhabitants through time. Following directions in a
notebook, Joseph and Sidney use the hands of grandfather clocks to
unlock a door which leads them to a dark room. In the room, dialling a
number on an old rotary phone transports the fugitive siblings back to
an uncertain point in the past. The decrepit farmhouse they entered is
now fully decorated and stocked with food and drink. The plan is for
Joseph and Sidney to sit tight for two weeks and then return to the
present and make their getaway.
Over the ensuing fortnight, the brother and sister reacquaint
themselves with one another. We learn that they were each raised by a
separate parent, and that Joseph has long harboured guilt over leaving
his sister to take the rap for a crime they committed in the past.
Sidney assures him she doesn't hold any grudges, and it seems all is
going well. That's until it's time to return to the present and they
find a strange force has blocked their path. The farmhouse is surrounded
by an invisible force field that causes Riley to vomit her innards when
she tries to breach it. The doorway they used to travel back is now
inaccessible. In the adjacent mill house they find a corpse which Joseph
identifies as that of the woman who introduced him to this unusual
place.
When a safe containing a Dictaphone appears from nowhere, Joseph and
Sidney find themselves communicating with someone who appears to be in
the future and able to travel back to before the time they're stuck in.
Using the Dictaphone to leave messages back and forth, Joseph and Sidney
are told that the stranger has the ability to "wipe" them from time.
Sidney offers a cut of their takings from the heist, but the stranger
has no interest in their money. Instead he offers them a deal. At some
point they'll be attacked by another stranger. If they kill this
stranger they'll be allowed to live and return to the present.
I strongly advise you don't try to watch Felker's debut while nursing a
hangover, as you might give yourself an aneurysm trying to keep on top
of its mind-melting plot. In similar fashion to
Resolution it involves a pair of protagonists trying to
survive with the aid of messages from the future, and it has all the
metaphysical weirdness of a season's worth of cult British sci-fi show
Sapphire & Steel. I'm not sure if that show had the same sort of cultural impact in the
US, or if Felker has even heard of it, but there's a specific element of
the show that finds its way into Things Will Be Different. Part of the lore of Sapphire & Steel is that
objects out of time, like antiques in a modern home, can make that place
receptive to becoming a conduit to time travel. In
Things Will Be Different, we're told that Sidney runs a failing antiques store, and she notes
the presence of some curious antique items in the farmhouse.
Devotees of Fortean history will also note an allusion to the infamous
Philadelphia Experiment, with Sidney noting how the previous owners of
the farmhouse seemed to have a Naval connection. I was also reminded of
the case of the Dodleston messages, which saw a couple in 1980s England
claim they were receiving communications initially from an inhabitant of
their home in the 16th century, and later from one in the 22nd
century!
I have to admit I was left puzzled by certain elements of
Things Will Be Different's elliptical narrative, particularly regarding the identities of the
various supporting characters who show up. Some of the film's reveals
only serve to bring up more questions, and I'm not sure if the film
successfully answers them. I suspect Felker's film is one that requires
multiple viewings to get your head fully around its story, but as a
reviewer with an ever-growing pile of screeners to get through that's
unfortunately not a luxury I can afford.
For all I know, those who do indulge in multiple viewings of Felker's
film may well find it doesn't stand up to such scrutiny. What matters is
that the film convinces you in the moment that it knows exactly what
it's doing. Much of this is down to the committed performances of
Thompson and Dandy, who put very human faces to the film's heady themes.
If in possession of the power to turn back the clock, many of us would
want to course correct our relationships with family members. For all
its inter-dimensionality, Felker's film is grounded in a story of two
people trying to make things right. As someone who's very much
right-brained, I struggle with a lot of films that focus on scientific
ideas and the solving of narrative puzzles. But what kept me gripped
throughout Things Will Be Different was the human
relationship that provides it with as much heart as food for
thought.
