Synchronic is a 2020 sci-fi film that intricately weaves together elements of time travel, psychological drama, and body horror. It paints a haunting cinematic story. Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan feature in the film, which was written by Justin Benson and directed by Benson alongside Aaron Moorhead. The film explores the themes of fate, addiction, and mortality which critics praised deeply alongside the narrative and minimalist sci-fi concepts.
Plot Summary
The film is based in New Orleans where two long-time paramedics, Steve Denube (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis Dannelly (Jamie Dornan) start noticing a series of bizarre deaths. The deaths are associated with strange injuries and some people even disappearing entirely. All victims share something in common because they use a new designer drug called Synchronic.
Steve works the night shift at the city answering emergency calls to the strangest things like people being stabbed by what seems to be centuries old swords or die from snake bites of extinct species in the region. The more cases, the more strange things Steve begins to suspect.
Steve discovers that Synchronic, produced by a sketchy pharmaceutical company, is a synthetic drug that allows the user to travel through time. The catch? The experience is volatile, and the user’s physical location as well as their mental state determines the time they will access. The medication works best on those whose pineal glands have not fully ossified—basically, the young.
When Dennis’s teenage daughter Brianna disappears after taking Synchronic during a party, Steve burns his heroin stash and orders a dose of Synchronic out of desperation to rescue her. He witnesses firsthand the dangers of a drug-induced adventure through time as he travels to Louisiana during the 19th century and New Orleans in its violent days. With each journey, he fights the unchanging, brutal reality of history and the relentless cruelty of time.
Steve, wrestling with a terminal brain tumor diagnosis, grapples with time travel both as curse and opportunity. Time, quite literally, slipping through his fingers, he must race against his own mortality to save Brianna, balancing a countdown to his clock, both literally and figuratively.
Characters and Performances
As Steve, Anthony Mackie delivers a powerful and introspective performance. Mackies’s portrayal of a man burdened by isolation, regret, and a life sentence in Synchronic showcases dramatic depth seldom seen in action film veterans. The character’s journey is one of self-redemption emerging from emotional reckoning.
In his role as Dennis, Jamie Dornan depicts a man crushed under the collapsing supports of his domestic life. He takes a more reactive and subdued position, contrasting sharply with Steve’s increasingly bold and reckless, self-destructive spiral.
Ally Ioannides plays Brianna, the daughter of Dennis, and the narrative’s catalyst for Steve’s deepening involvement with Synchronic. Despite her limited screen time, she looms large over the story representing both lost innocence and the urgency of Steve’s mission.
Direction, Cinematography, and Style
Benson and Moorhead are recognized for their low-budget, high-concept storytelling, and Synchronic is no exception. They rely on minimal visual effects grounded in real-world physics and psychology to depict the time travel mechanism. The film employs natural lighting along with muted color palettes, and coupled with the sound design, gives an eerie, melancholic, suspenseful, and dreamlike quality.
The cinematography showcases New Orleans with all its beauty and decay, capturing the sentiment of time as both a place and a feeling. The passage of time is marked with smooth and jarring camera movements, unsettling changes that mirror Steve’s experiences and provide the viewer with a sense of disorientation.
Music complements the film’s overbearing distortion with a foreboding electronic soundtrack. Ambient sound effects add to the underlying realism of the film’s otherwise surreal happenings.
Themes and Symbolism
Time and Mortality
At the center of Synchronic is the concept that time is not singular, rather a chaotic consolidation of intermingled moments. This exploration is accelerated by Steve’s terminal illness. His encounters with the past serve as a disconcerting reminder that history is not always a nostalgic place—it can be brutal, unjust, and merciless.
Escape and Addiction
Synchronic serves as both a real and an abstract drug. While offering users an opportunity to escape from reality, it simultaneously endangers them. The film offers a critique on the ever-present desire to seek external solutions to internal suffering, shedding light on the overwhelmingly harmful consequences of doing so.
Racism and Historical Trauma
Traveling to the past poses distinctive risks for Steve, a Black man. Consider one scene where he nearly gets lynched. This adds a layer of social commentary. Not only is the past not a safe place for everyone, but history also often punishes instead of teaches.
Friendship and Sacrifice
Steve and Dennis’s relationship is pivotal to the plot. While they have a shared history of failures and secrets, their friendship ultimately becomes the heart of the story. Steve’s love for Brianna, especially the lengths he goes to save her, portrays love that defies blood ties; it emphasizes chosen family and selfless love.
Critical Reception
Critics and viewers granted their praise to Synchronic for the originality, emotional depth and, multifaceted themes. From the audience’s perspective, some found the time travel confusing as well as the pacing sluggish. However, despite these critiques, many appreciated the movie’s lack of over-explanation. Its invitation to ponder the concepts of time, death, and personal accountability serves as a reminder that there is room for interpretation.
Anthony Mackie’s performance was often highlighted as a standout moment, demonstrating his capacity to carry a film with emotional depth. The direction by Benson and Moorhead also received praise for its focus and restraint, balancing a high-concept science fiction narrative with limited resources.
Legacy and Impact
Though not a blockbuster, Synchronic gained a loyal following through streaming services and word of mouth. It further established Benson and Moorhead as filmmakers who could masterfully blend emotion and intelligence into original genre films beyond the confines of Hollywood. For Mackie, the film marked a considerable advancement as a dramatic lead, allowing him to pursue roles that delve into emotionally complex territory.
Discussions surrounding the film tend to position it in the company of philosophical science fiction like Primer, Coherence, and Timecrimes. Its focus on atmosphere, character, and consequence distinguishes it within the time travel subgenre.
Conclusion
Synchronic goes beyond being simply a time travel film to explore themes of mortality, bereavement, and the essence of existence. It grapples with profoundly human anxieties and longings, centering on whether we would take the opportunity to alter our history or flee our current reality. Synchronic, complemented by powerful performances and masterful direction, crafted an ominous atmosphere that makes it one of the most reflective and deeply felt sci-fi thrillers of its time. It may not provide straightforward solutions, but poses the most critical issues—and at times, that is what matters most.
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