THE DEATH AND LIFE OF OTTO BLOOM ★★★
First feature film by Cris Jones, and funded in part by the MIFF Fund. It’s the second time in the past few years that we’ve had an opening night film based on time travel (the previous being Predestination). I like sci-fi, but I find that dealing with the mental head muck that is time can sometimes be hard to work with in film, as you keep needing to try and think about what’s going on, and it removes you from the experience before you. That doesn’t always happen, but it did with this one, where the story’s premise is about a man who experiences time backwards; he can remember the future, but not the past, opposite to the way we experience time. He ages the same way we do though. Overall, and especially for a first feature, I thought this was pretty well done. I think experience might’ve made for a better film and perhaps some slightly different decisions in length/storytelling, but it’s worth a watch. As far as opening night films go, this is one of the better ones I’ve seen.
