Talent Keyhole

Kassandra works at a military research facility and joins secret project that tries to extract information from people's minds in this stylish and original indie movie. The story is about the blurring of reality and the filmmaking serves this theme in all its aspects. The look of the film is cool and distant with pared-down locations and sleek production design. The editing has startling jump cuts that make you question the reality of scenes. As both a spy and a sci-fi movie the cinematography evokes film noir and the neon aesthetic of hyper-stylized films set in the future.

The cast is movie star good-looking and sexy. Why can't I work in a place like this? The actors underplay their performances to fit into the overall cool aesthetic. Kris Luna as Kassandra and Karli Isabella Stunkel as Rachel make impressions as detached but motivated characters who surrender to the increasingly complex layers of this secret project. If anything, they might be a little too detached and the direction sometimes keeps too much a distance between them and the action.

But the director keeps this constant tone and it adds to the overall style of the film. This is definitely an original film and the director-filmmaker Michael Lauter is one to watch for his future projects.