PopHorror Let's Get Scared
High Octane Pictures presents The Answer, an exhilarating new sci-fi thriller from Iqbal Ahmed, releasing this month. Premiering on VOD on July 11th, the film stars Austin Hébert, Alexis Carra, and David S. Lee star. Was it worth a watch?
Official Synopsis:
The film tells the story of an introverted young man that – after an attack- must follow clues left by his dead parents in order to figure out who is after him – and who he really is.
As you may have guessed, The Answer is an imaginative yet highly implausible story. Is it good, or at least exciting? I’d say it’s a mixed bag. It’s actually not that exciting, honestly.
To begin with, Hébert plays a rather timid, Colin Hanks-like guy named Bridd, who we quickly learn has some lightning fast skills when it comes to making stock trades at work. What kind of work does he do specifically? Well, it’s an office, and he has computers around, and some stock trades are going on. Yep. Boring stuff, ultimately. Still, he must be so fast for a reason, right? That’s a big ol’ Yep as well. On top of that, Bridd is himself considered mysterious. In fact, his closest pal claims to know almost nothing about him.
Then the movie gets even weirder. Bridd has an interesting encounter with an office girl named Charlotte (Carra). As she’s leaning over a desk, she almost impales herself on a letter opener. Fortunately, Bridd uses his lightning fast reflexes to save her from her life-threatening ineptitude. Long story short – it pretty much assures he’ll get laid afterwards (sorry to be so blunt, but there it is).
And that, people, is pretty much the strength of this film. It’s not that great of an action movie, and I didn’t feel the thrills that are supposed to accompany a thriller. Really, the only interesting thing for me is the introverted-nerd-gets-the-girl dynamic.
Of course, that’s not all that happens. At some point, for whatever reason, the two burgeoning lovers find their boss dead. Then, some guys in weird, futuristic uniforms with masks start chasing them around, shooting at them and whatnot. At this point, I was thinking, “Ooo-kay.”
Living Off The Bridd
Bridd and Charlotte find a video game. Strangely, Bridd’s eyes suddenly start to glow orange, and his hyper senses kick in. He wins the game with his ultra-fast, ultra-slick moves. He gets the address to a library, and a Dewey Decimal system code to a book.
With marvelous, mysterious foresight, Bridd knows enough on how to find the book, which was not shelved correctly. He reaches for it on top of the library shelf. How did he know that? Maybe he’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybeline.
Anyway, he gets some info from his dead dad. In so many words, the guy says, “Son, you’re an alien, and you’re supposed to stop other aliens from doing bad alien stuff. Do a good job of it and pay your taxes.” (Not an actual quote.)
So, what’s the horror/sci-fi thriller element thus far? A dead boss was found, and some random library officer also gets killed, and a dead dad is leaving messages unlocked by a video game.
But the questions began piling up in my mind, though. If Bridd is being hunted by aliens, why is he sleeping in a parking lot in plain view, right outside a hotel?
Charlotte’s Web
Another question: Why is Charlotte so bizarrely calm during the whole thing? I’d be pretty amazed by all of these events. Wouldn’t you? Instead, she seems like a supportive prop, staying mostly to the sidelines (aside from her kidnap victim potential). She basically has no story of her own, which is another area where the film went wrong, in my book. So much could have been done with her character, but nope.
During one vaguely interesting scene, Charlotte tries to hone Bridd’s bullet-dodging skills and ends up shooting him in the arm. The guy doesn’t even get upset! Come on, Bridd, do you even have a frickin’ pulse! Your lady just shot you! Ouch! Then again, he arguably asked for it by letting her target practice on him. I mean, alien or not, it’s probably not the smartest move.
Another confusing thing: Why do the aliens sometimes just leave Bridd and Charlotte alone? It’s like they’re saying, “Okay, you two. We have to do some laundry, feed the cat and mow the lawn. Now, don’t you attempt to escape our clutches or anything!” I can imagine one of them wagging a gloved finger at Bridd and Charlotte.
Anyway, I should finally mention that there’s a big league alien dude whose given name is simply Leader. He’s played by David S. Lee. He does free Matrix-y action-fight scenes with Bridd. No big whoop.
The verdict on The Answer:
1. Aliens are the coolest thing since Vanilla Ice.
2. Seemingly at random, Charlotte tells Bridd, “I told you not to cry wolf,” even though I could almost swear she hadn’t said that before.
3. This movie is a strong candidate for MST3K treatment — even if the production is slicker than other movies they’ve done.
Do you think you’ll watch The answer? Let us know in the comments!
