By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.75 cats
Director: Noah Hutton
Starring: Arliss Howard | Babe Howard | Dean Imperial | Dora Madison | Frank Wood | Ivory Aquino | James McDaniel | Madeline Wise
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
Running time: 108
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11540272/reference
Michael says: “I’ve got a nice start on my 2021 films now that I’ve wrapped up my nomination viewing. I recently watched the amusing and nicely done LAPSIS through the Brattle Theatre’s virtual cinema. For his feature debut, writer/director Noah Hutton tackles the uncertainty of the economy and marries it to a vaguely science fiction story set in a parallel present. Ray is doing his best to get by, and take care of his brother who is suffering from a new form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Problem is, Ray’s not your industrious go-getter sort. He wants the easy way to make a quick buck. Yet he’s also suspicious, so when people start telling him about the new get-rich quick cabling industry he’s hesitant. The newest trend and fastest growing industry is quantum cable, and it involves dozens of people hiking through remote areas, dragging carts of unspooling cable that they connect to large, cube-shaped quantum power sources in the wilderness. Through luck, maybe good, maybe bad, Ray inherits a medallion (think cab driver) of a past cabler who had logged lots of hours already, putting in place for the big money-making routes that also tax his out-of-shape physicality. On his first weekend out, he encounters suspicion and resentment when he shares his username, and he realizes that the previous medallion owner was well-known and rather infamous. When he shares his route with Anna for a time, he starts to uncover all sorts of politics and plots lurking just beneath the surface of this new industry, and he must decide upon which side he will stand.
“Hutton has created a very clever story, and he delivers it through characters we can relate to — regular folks just trying to make a living in a new and profitable way. Dean Imperial, himself a writer and director finds himself in front of the camera for the first time and he’s perfect for this role, and Madeline Wise, a veteran of short films and a little TV is fantastic as Anna – her direct and matter of fact manner reminiscent of early Hal Hartley films. The use of actual robots as a key element of his film adds to the offbeat reality, and it all seems thrown together, but somehow holds together really well. 4 cats”
Jeffrey says: “I watched LAPSIS last weekend on Michael’s recommendation. His review is spot on. Truly original idea, & Madeline Wise is a revelation.
“A potent commentary on the gig economy and automation, but also a nicely told sci-fi drama with, as I remember, a killer soundtrack by the director.”
Chris says: “It turns out our evil robot overlords won’t resemble hulking figures of superhuman strength so much as little worker drones hastily assembled together from used Radio Shack parts. 3.5 cats“