Review by
Paul Grammatico
Directed by: Kodi Zene
Starring: Josh Bangle, Cat Merritt, Devin Leigh, Ryan Barnes, Andre Pelzer,
Shashana Pearson
The world has contracted and endured many plagues that have rambled and
ravaged across the globe for many centuries. The people who are cursed
with the latest pestilence are labelled with the stigma of being infected
or branded by some uncaring, cruel or ignorant slur associated with the
disease.
An example of this would be in 1992 when then Governor of Arkansas, Mike
Huckabee (who later ran for President in 2008) advocated that HIV/AIDS
patients should be isolated from the general public. He then doubled
down on his view by stating, "I feel homosexuality is an aberrant,
unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous
public health risk." This ignorant statement was then proven false by
science and that anyone, despite sexual orientation, could contract the
disease.
Now with COVID-19, along with many other modern illnesses, any person can
be marked a pariah and can be peppered with insults and ignorance if they
are faced with these afflictions.
Tempest Studio gifts us with Monochrome: The Chromism. This DIY kitchen sink sci-fi feature screened in grayscale shows us an
example of how a world goes wrong over a virus that fleshes out the
infected in full technicolor.
A hood-wearing Isaac Ward (Joshua Bangle) roams a dusty, burned
out, black and white countryside. He comes across a diner where he
stops to get a glass of water. When one of the diner customers pulls
Isaac’s hood back, he is exposed as a "hue." Isaac, in full colour, stands
out in sharp contrast to the throng clad in monochrome. When Isaac is
knocked out cold by one of the diner’s waitresses, the film takes us back
to Isaac in his pre-hue days in a dystopian landscape as his environment
has been carved into zones chequered with checkpoints.
At the end of Isaac’s workday, he is off to a restaurant with his brother
Jerry (Ryan Barnes) for a surprise proposal to Isaac’s girlfriend
Victoria (Kat Merritt). As Isaac goes back to his car for the
engagement ring, he is shot in the street. As Isaac bleeds from his wound,
he has been inexplicably infected with the hue virus.
Battling the
chaos in the streets, a nuclear war with England, and a suited man named
Donovan (Devin Leigh) with his shadowy entourage, Isaac must find a
way to escape his situation as his foes have put a bounty on him as the
first hue.
The film is scribed, shot, and helmed by Kodi Zene, who performs an
expert job on the story and gets kudos for venturing into the realm of
black and white. The story exemplifies the virus as a metaphor for racism,
ignorance and chaos, which mirrors many of the ills in present society.
From a filmic standpoint, it provides the feel of a low-budget,
underground film with its no-frills, unvarnished shooting style coupled
with an understated sound style. It is unfiltered and raw, but for this
film, it works as it provides an audio and visual experience not seen and
heard in more polished films.
Bangle gives a strong performance as Isaac. As played by Barnes, Jerry is
a great contrast of brawn to Isaac’s brains. Merritt as the distraught
damsel provides excellent energy, and Leigh is decadent as the deadpan
heavy.
Despite its low-fi look, Monochrome: The Chromism should be
crowned as a prime example of how no matter what equipment you have on
hand, a good story will always win out. This film could light the fuse and
be a standard for similar films to come, and we can all be thankful for
that.
Monochrome: The Chromism is on US
VOD now. A UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
