Fade

I'm really into artsy indie films, and a friend of mine met the director in school and told me about this, so I bought a copy. I have to say that for a first project this is really good. I've seen a lot of indie movies, but it's nice to see one that's so smart and really seems to be trying to be different from all the other ones.

The synopsis is really no-frills: a woman named Chloe374 lives and works in an isolated hospital type of building without windows or plants or any other color decor than gray and white. She monotonously lives a very simplistic lifestyle, passing out pills, cleaning things, etc. Things seem to take a turn after she is supposed to 'fix overpopulation.' After that, she meets a very fiery woman named Anna, and they share a few brief hours before Anna is to be 'fixed' herself (and there are some interesting nods to Anna being a lesbian). Then Chloe decides to leave the building and venture into this massive forest where she grows lonelier and hungrier with each passing day. At one point, she meets a strange man in a gas mask, who leads her even further into the forest. And then comes an ending that isn't really anything of a shocker, but I won't spoil it anyways because it needs the rest of the movie to build up to.

A lot of people probably don't like this, and I'm not surprised...there's actually a comment on the box that compares it to Gus Van Sant's Elephant, so that should be enough of a warning for people if you've seen that. It feels like an art project rather than a movie, and because it is so low budget, some people probably don't like the lesser quality. But for those of you who are into this kind of thing, I really recommend it. It's really philosophical, and really visually spectacular.