Written and directed by Atharva Kale, trapped within the enigmatic corridors of his own mind, a man’s recurring nightmares manifest as a segment from a talk show. Starring: Amol Mane, Shruti Deshpande and Anitya Vardhan.
Playing around with the inner workings of the mind is an endless treasure trove when it comes to cinema, there’s unlimited avenues to explore. Existenz plays with that idea, tapping into a blend of conscious and subconscious, commercial versus everyday personas and the strive for fame. Using the talk show format to do that is a good concept, bringing through that question of how much is real? In a relevant way, as well as conjuring its nightmares.
You can feel those intentions but the way that the story is pieced together can feel like it’s unfinished. The beginnings of that exploration are there but it hasn’t taken the time to flesh out its different layers. Particularly in that a surprising portion of the film is given to that initial talk show scene, which does set things up but ends up taking too much of the runtime, which could have been used to develop the story.
It’s missing out on additional context to really land its ideas with a resounding note, or to shape its characters more strongly. Although that doesn’t restrict the performances, they make for a good trio and have a certain satirical presence which is a great addition to the film.
Those ideas are supported by a solid visual, the back and forth mix of talk show, nightmare and blurred lines of reality never feels rocky, it all flows well. Atharva Kale’s direction does a good job of blending the different tones but the lines between each perspective could be sharper. The cinematography can also feel a tad flat, it’s decent work but lacking an individual personality, something to elevate the film and feed into its questioning, curious qualities.
Existenz had an interesting concept but feels like it needed more time to develop, the foundation of the story is there but it never reaches its potential. Ultimately, it’s trying to do a lot within such a small amount of time, and especially on a budget, it’s a very tricky challenge. Although the direction and acting are solid work, and there’s some good questions about the nature of the industry and private versus personal personas.
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