RebelXStar

After having been fired from her job, dumped by her boyfriend and collapsing from anaphylactic shock after consuming a nut-laced coffee all in the same day, 30-something Erica Strange wakes up in hospital and meets a mysterious man known only as 'Dr. Tom'.

Erica learns that he is a therapist and she has been chosen to be one of his patients -- what she doesn't know is that Dr. Tom has the ability to travel time and his 'therapy' involves sending Erica back in time to various, regretful, moments in her life to allow her the chance to gain a new perspective and learn.

Initially reluctant, Erica refuses Dr. Tom's help, but after being shamed into feeling like a big loser who can't get her life together by her family she writes a list of her life's biggest regrets and so begins her journey into what 'being Erica' really means.

I watched a handful of episodes of 'Being Erica' a few years ago and it instantly grabbed my attention with it's quirky 'Sex and the City' meets 'Quantum Leap' concept. Unfortunately, as it aired in the mornings here the UK and my schedule wasn't always consistent I didn't see it all the way through to the end, despite being hooked.

I put 'Being Erica' on my list of movies and TV shows I wanted to revisit, and now, thanks to the gift of Youtube I've spent the last week of 2018 and the first week of 2019 binge watching the entire series from beginning to end -- and let me tell you, what an ending it was! (Spoiler alert: I cried)

The promo for this show really doesn't do it justice; though incredibly quirky and comedic at times, the promo really underplays the philosophical aspect of the series and how thought-provoking and emotionally engaging it was.

A thoroughly underrated show that I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in time-travel, philosophy or metaphyics... or just anyone who has ever experienced the pain of regret.

I must admit that when I first saw the trailer for this on Youtube the low-budget cinematography almost put me off. Almost. Fortunately, the premise alone intrigued me enough to give it a chance anyway.

The story centres around an imaginative but troubled little girl called Emma who is under the care of her grandparents due to her mother's recent death and John, her grieving father's reluctance to face up to his responsibilities.

In this world there are 2 inter-dimensional factions that co-exist unseen alongside the human world; the dream-giving 'Storytellers' and the nightmare inducing 'Incubi'.

One night, after having been visited by a Storyteller, Emma's soul is kidnapped by an Incubi, simply known as 'Ink' who hasn't quite earned his stripes yet and needs her to use as a bargaining chip so that he can become part of the Incubi elite.

In real life, Emma consequently falls into a coma and is taken to hospital but when John is still reluctant to come to his daughter's aid, the storytellers must work together to save her from the Incubi's clutches by helping John face up to his responsibilities as a father and Ink to realise his true identity.

I think you will enjoy this movie, if like me, you are intrigued by subjects like metaphysics, dreams, time travel etc.; the scene in which the audience witnesses how the Storytellers manipulate the events that led up to an earlier scene in the movie which results in John being in a car crash and having to be taken to the hospital where his daughter is lying in a coma had me holding my breath (if only because it visually depicted something I've thought about myself.)

I'm glad I saw 'Ink' in spite of its ugly cinematography and I can tell it was a real passion project for its creators.