If you’re looking for a pretentious psychological thriller that manages to reverberate nonetheless, you could do worse than Apart which stars High School Musical alum Olesya Rulin and Josh Danzinger (who co-conceived the film’s story).
In this independently financed effort from editor-turned-first-time-writer-director Aaron Rottinghaus, Rulin and Danzinger play a pair of high schoolers who have been psychologically bonded together since surviving an incident in childhood — only they’re not aware of it nor each other, really.
Having recently awakened from a coma caused by head trauma, Noah (Danzinger) can’t recall the disastrous house fire that claimed his father’s life or that he barely escaped by the skin of his teeth, sometime earlier. Determined to piece his life back together, and wanting answers to questions that mostly everyone around him warns him against seeking out, he soldiers on partly out of survivor’s guilt but mainly out of the need to know what happened and why.
While trying to make sense of fragments of information that come to him in either flashbacks or hallucinations, he meets Emily (Rulin), an equally troubled young soul that he’s instantly infatuated with. She wants nothing to do with him and initially shoots down his advances.
Of course her hesitance subsides, otherwise there could be no purpose for the rest of the movie. As their bond deepens, both Noah and Emily have premonitions pertaining to their loved ones that grow increasingly more violent in nature. Are these two people so psychologically damaged they can’t help but bring the worst out in each other instead of the best? Could their union be cursed?
The filmmakers go out of their way to establish that Noah and Emily are afflicted with a rare psychological disorder called induced delusional disorder (or “madness of two”) in which two people inhabit the same psychosis.
That said, Apart is a little too slick for its own good at times, and its muddled narrative keeps it from gelling into a choice, B-grade nail-biter.
Of the two leads, Rulin is the most successful at rising above the script’s shortcomings. Danzinger’s Noah may be the perceived lead, but it’s Rulin’s Emily who holds the most interest and elevates the picture whenever the focus is on her. He’s good, but she’s the film’s MVP.
Among the supporting cast, veteran character actor Bruce McGill and Chasing Amy star Joey Lauren Adams are pretty effective as shrinks to Noah and Emily, respectively.
Grade: 2 stars (out of 5)
Stars: Olesya Rulin, Josh Danziger, Bruce McGill, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Davis and Michael Bowen
Directed By: Aaron Rottinghaus
Written By: Aaron Rottinghaus
Story By: Aaron Rottinghaus and Josh Danzinger
Produced By: Ryan Rettig
Distributor: SystemX Media
Rating: Not Rated (contains adult language, bloody images, and some violence).
Running Time: Approximately 86 minutes
Website: www.madnessoftwo.com
Budget: N/A
Genre: Horror/Mystery/Romance/Thriller
Release Date: April 6, 2012
