Written by Robert Scucci | Printed 1 hour in the past
In each movie, Neil Breen portrays a tragic hero with god-like powers. He’s on a mission to save lots of the world from itself via mysterious and unexplained talents that always make no sense. 2016’s Cross Via stays true to this method, making it a enjoyable look ahead to followers of outsider filmmaking.
Whereas most Briniacs like me would level to 2005’s Double Down and 2012’s Fateful Findings as his finest works, Cross Via just isn’t with out its charms. However be warned, it is also one of the vital disjointed works in Breen’s whole filmography, and that is saying so much.
“That message is simply too highly effective to be captured on movie.”
Right here, there are creepy crimson dots floating round with no goal in any way, a tiger that often seems within the Nevada desert for unexplained causes, and cans of beans littering the panorama. Corrupt insurance coverage, banking, and media “presidents” brazenly develop plans to develop into corrupt and immoral, however Thgil (Gentle spelled backwards), performed by Neil Breen, an extraterrestrial AI despatched to Earth to make Earth a greater place, is right here to save lots of the day.
Not a double down, however we’ll take it
Like most Breen joints, Passthrough is full of expansive desert pictures, uneven sound design, and preachy monologues in regards to the state of the world and the way Neil Breen, decked out in Canada’s best tuxedo, is the one one able to ushering in a brand new period of enlightenment. Self-indulgence apart, we see a messed-up story that begins with a gaggle of anonymous immigrants packed into the again of a truck and brought to an undisclosed location by enforcers who’re imagined to spherical them up and ship them again to the nation they fled.
Via Breen’s narration, we study that he’s an AI lifeform despatched to Earth from a distant galaxy, particularly to eradicate 300 million “dangerous individuals” via the Nice Cleaning. The issue is, in human type, he is hooked on heroin and when he isn’t consuming canned meals in his trailer, he sleeps within the trash. He befriends Amanda (Kathy Corpus) and her niece Kim (Chaise Macklin), who, after totally cleansing out trash to make the home extra welcoming, are reluctant to hang around with them of their cellular residence, regardless of claiming to be “the long run.”
In the meantime, a boy astronomer (Abraham Rodriguez), two woman astronomers (Taylor Sidney and Taylor-Johnson), and a wheelchair-bound professor (James D. Smith) head into the desert looking for a glowing crimson dot that appears like a damaged pixel on a display, however seems with a goal, although its goal isn’t correctly defined.
Someway, these separate storylines all converge when Sugil takes over a information broadcast to tell the whole human race how primitive they’re, and once more when he reveals up on the mansion to inform varied authorities officers and trade presidents that they’re corrupt. Moments later, CGI explosions blaze within the background as Neil Breen walks away from the wreckage with out trying again.
Not one of many classics, however a place to begin
Passing Via is clearly a Neil Breen movie, but it surely pales compared to its predecessor, A Discovery of Future. The movie is rooted in company espionage, authorities secrets and techniques, and dozens of laptops being destroyed because the protagonist vows to show the corruption that pervades this world.
The identical traps of conceitedness and disgust with the fashionable world are nonetheless current, however the pass-through cannot make the touchdown stick as a result of there are just too many shifting components. This film, which somebody like me actively seeks out as a result of it is laughably dangerous in each conceivable manner, is clearly missing in appeal, and I am unable to fairly level out what it is lacking.
If Neil Breen have been a musician, Cross Via could be his departure album. He has bent area and time as we all know it, going to deserts and distant galaxies many occasions. This was the final movie he shot totally on location earlier than turning into a grasp of inexperienced display in movies reminiscent of Twisted Pair and Cade: The Tortured Crossing. So it appears like what we’re watching right here is an artificially clever being struggling to achieve its closing type via typical means. This message is simply too highly effective to be captured in a film. At the very least that is the story I believe.
In case you’re a fan of Neil Breen’s work, Passthrough is a must-see. Simply know that this isn’t his finest time. To witness what Breen calls “a visionary, revolutionary movie that pushes humanity to the bounds of controversial and thought-provoking motion,” you possibly can study extra on his web site.
