Worm

Tour de force for triple threat Andrew Bowser. As writer/director/actor, Bowser has created a gripping and unique film that is amazing in more ways than I can count easily. The viewer takes every step with the main character and experiences his journey for 90 breathtaking minutes. This film should have a national distributor and millions of people should see it, and I am concerned for the moviegoer's sake when I wish that.

You can hardly believe what this movie and its lead actor pull off logistically, and beyond that it is a great story with great acting. Part drama, part action thriller, there is no comic relief to this hard hitting tale of an underdog in a race for his life. Highly recommended.

Worm is a ne'er do well petty criminal who finds himself in quite a pickle as the unwitting scapegoat in a grisly double homicide. He gradually comes to realize that nobody close to him can be trusted, and that the life of his young daughter may be in urgent jeopardy.

Audaciously avant-garde low budget neo-noir filmed in two long takes, with the camera focused squarely on the face of the central character. It's a bold stylistic push, but the proceedings are so well supervised that it never feels like a contrived gimmick. The story, which plays out in real-time, is tense and engaging, and the characters, despite being largely unseen, are developed and well dramatized. Andrew Bowser is award worthy in a highly complex and demanding protagonist role, spinning his initially somewhat unappealing loser character into a relatable and valiant hero with a pitiable history.

WORM is far and away one of the gutsiest film experiments to come along in quite a while. Sure, it's flawed. Big deal...the Venus De Milo ain't got no arms. It might not appeal strongly to mainstreamers, but if your tastes run per-contra the dull polish of Hollywood, you won't want to miss it.

7/10.

The biggest reason to see this film is not for the plot line, but for the unique perspective resulting from the method of filming. It was shot with a GoPro Hero camera mounted to a Snorricam and produced with a seamless edit. This enables the audience to experience the events of the story along with the main character, Worm, in a cool way that I'd never seen before. The second biggest reason to see the movie is Andrew Bowser's portrayal of Worm that wins the audience's sympathy so fully. The story line isn't bad either, with the exception of a couple of plot holes. These were totally overshadowed by the thrill of feeling like I knew exactly what Worm was going through every second. I saw the film at DeadCenter Film Festival, and at the end of the movie, it was obvious from the audience's reaction that they had come to identify with Worm and his plight completely. I can't wait to see what Andrew Bowser comes up with next.

Excellent film, noir type black and white underground...I have watched this 3 times. Difficult to describe...at times sad, wrenching, still uplifting. Well worth the watch. Looking forward to Bowser's new film coming out later this year: onyxthefilm.com