Back when I wrote for Rogue Cinema, I was offered a screener of a film on the festival circuit, SOMNIO, I loved it. I was disappointed that didn’t hear anything about it after that. Turns it was because XLrator Media had picked it up and changed it’s title to INFINITY CHAMBER.
Frank (Christopher Soren Kelly, HOAX, MURDER MADE EASY) wakes up in a cell with no memory of how he got there, or what he did to be placed there. His only companion is Howard, (Jesse D. Arrow), a disembodied voice who’s job he is told is to keep him alive. It also seems to be to get inside his mind to get evidence of his crime.
In the film’s near-future world this is done by “Processing”, making the suspect relive the event until the required evidence is found. As he relives it we see his world, an America well on its way to something out of Orwell’s 1984. We also see how Frank and others, especially Gabby (Cassandra Clark ELEPHANT GRAVEYARD) hold onto their sense of self in this world.
Written and directed by Travis Milloy who wrote the 2009 thriller PANDORUM, INFINITY CHAMBER has almost nothing in common with that tale of deep space cannibalism beyond both are excellent films. This is a very low budget, personal work. With a small cast and limited sets, almost all of it happens in one of two locations. There’s more than a touch of GROUNDHOG DAY as written by Kafka to the film. What has he done, or has he done anything at all? As he keeps reliving it we start to wonder what is real and what might be induced.
INFINITY CHAMBER is a dialogue-driven film, although with some action scenes towards the end. The film is carried by the back and forth between Frank and Howard. While the scenes between Frank and Gabby add a lighter touch to the proceedings, humanizing them as it were. The actors really do justice to the script.
It’s a testament to them that with so little to work with in terms of other cast members or outside events they keep this from getting dull or stale. Special mention must be given to Arrow. With only his voice to work with, he conveys a wide range of emotions as the film’s events unfold.
A mention should also be made of the set design. Frank’s cell has the clean, sparsely furnished look that’s out of 2001 or Space:1999. It makes it look instantly believable. Even though they were set in a future that is our past, they still seem futuristic. The set does so much for the film’s believability while not costing much. Another film that gets a thematic and visual nod is George Lucas’s THX-1138.
INFINITY CHAMBER is currently available on NetFlix and various VOD and digital download platforms as well as DVD and Blu Ray. Get it, it’s one worth seeing.