Psychosynthesis

This film is an excellent example of doing a lot with a little; while not clearly evident that this film is low budget, there are principal techniques that inevitably give them away. That's not to come away from this film suggesting anything inferior, but given that indie appeal, the film does what it intends to do exceedingly well. The film takes on a very Hitchcock like approach to a psychological drama with an ending that definitely took me by surprise. Definitely worth taking a look.

A really tightly plotted, tense piece of filmmaking! There's no fat on the script at all and it really zips through it's 71 min runtime. It's great all round but I was particularly impressed with the cinematography - the bold colour palette, framing and aspect ratio feel claustrophobic and the atmosphere created really keeps you hooked. I didn't really like the characters and I predicted the ending very early on - but it didn't feel like they were 'the point' of the film so didn't spoil my enjoyment at all.

This unique, taut indie flick respects the art of filmmaking. It's evidenced by its creative cinematography and color grading, excellent music score, thriller-genre editing, and great use of the minimal locations. It is an impressive and enjoyable film.

She's an unpleasant, selfish, uncaring, vapid, empty woman in the beginning and nothing about those qualities changes. Luckily, it was a short sit. They get 3 stars because it's not flat-out awful (and because I watched a film of far worse quality earlier today, a film that was FAR more entertaining, ironically) in its construction, but it doesn't do anything interesting or new. Seems like a competently made student film, and that's fine, but is that enough? No. There are no character arcs, so you're left with a promise that the concerned, supportive husband and their child will receive more negative treatment. What was the point? It's anyone's guess.

As someone who's been following Noam Kroll's excellent blog for a while, I was very interested in seeing his second feature, Psychosynthesis. And while not perfect (the running time is too short to develop all the nuances of the characters), I'm really impressed with what Kroll has managed to achieve with such a limited time and budget. Despite its DIY nature, it sure looks like a real movie (more than some garbage I've seen on VOD) and the visuals are quite engrossing. The acting is good (specially the husband) and the low key nature of the project gives it some much needed authenticity. For people who like small and ambiguous character studies, Psychosynthesis is pretty much a must see even if it doesn't break any new ground. Nice job.