Lake Artifact

Well to say this is utterly nonsensical would be an understatement! I can imagine the confusion from the filmmakers at the meetings with cast and crew having to constantly explain what number loop they are in on any particular day ! The ending, well what can I say, by this stage the viewer would have a brain ache and be on the gin !

Oh boy. What to say on this one. I'm leaving it a 5 and it's almost painful to do it because the moments that are great in this movie really are great but the ones that aren't significantly drag it down.

As you've already seen in other reviews, this movie deals with separate timelines. It does it in a way that is somewhat unique and I appreciate what writer and director Bruce Wemple set out to achieve, but it feels like he either didn't quite understand his own concept or didn't have the time to flesh it out. Where most indie movies could use some time shaved off of them, this is a rare example where I feel like we could have easily had another 15 to 20 minutes added on to really develop this story, or maybe we could have lost the nearly 20 minutes of "buildup". I appreciate a story taking its time in the beginning for character development but this bit did little for developing its characters and until the end their characteristics are nearly indistinguishable.

The cinematography is another thing that aggravated me throughout because at times it was simply splendid and at others it was painful to look at. How do you get something so right in one moment and so wrong at others? This question is the one I found myself asking with so many pieces of this puzzle.

The one thing that is never off course is the acting. Bravo to every performer in this movie, as they all did very well in their respective roles and the performances all felt natural and comfortable.

Overall, this isn't a terrible movie by any means. It has some genuine humor and some legitimately frightening bits to it as well. At times the differing styles don't always mix the way they should but there was only one moment where it completely took me out. I can't decide if this movie was too ambitious for its own good or not ambitious enough, which is also strange. This entire thing it a conundrum that I would neither recommend for or against.

I'll be interested in seeing where Wemple goes from here.

30 minutes. That's when the film actually starts, and when it does, it's a mess and feels very much like a live-action Scooby-Doo episode. The plot is set around a cabin/plot of land where time is in a constant loop and everything that can is and ha's happened, that make sense? Sort of? Yeah well so does this film. The concept itself is nothing new as there are lots of versions of this type of story out there.

I can't help but feel as though this film tries to come across smarter than it actually is and that the writers had an idea for an ending of the film and kind of wrote backwards from there with no real direction. I get the concept, I understand who is who and what is going on so PLEASE stop explaining everything to me several times.

Plot holes; It's all one big plot hole really. The 'connecting of dots' to unravel the great mysteries and the 'big reveals' either make NO SENSE and are seemingly thrown in there for reasons I can only imagine were thought up by the creators breathing in their own farts, OR they were painfully obvious ages before it was explained.

Characters motivations; Aren't any. Seriously, The only person who made any sense was Timmy and even he had zero development. Everybody else has moments that set up a sub plot or story arch that go no-where and just leave you scratching your head on confusion (looking at you especially Megan)

And finally, I honestly could not tell if this film was attempting to be a comedy half of the time, a large portion of the acting and dialogue actually gave me a real belly-laugh because of how silly and satirical it came across.

Having said that, I've just ordered a McDonald's from Uber Eats, so it's not all bad.

I enjoyed this film from the opening credits right through to the end. It's nicely photographed and well acted. Certainly the story contains some challenges for the viewer - at the start of the film information comes in from all angles, but stay with it and it assembles into a good story.

What you have here with this movie is a nice effort that doesn't let its low budget hinder its production quality. The movie is directed and shot very well and the actors are outstanding in their roles. The score is basic but it manages to do the job it was intended for. If I have one complaint with this it would be the script. It isn't bad by any means at all but it feels like the concept could have been explored just a little better for a slightly more coherent story, even if it feels like ambiguity was intended. Ambiguity and coherence don't have to be mutually exclusive and this movie would have benefited greatly from the latter.

Still. I can't say that the minor flaws take away from an enjoyable and somewhat unique sci-fi experience.