5 SOULS (2011)

Studio:       Inception Media Group
Director:    Brett Donowho
Writer:       Colet Abedi, Sam Sarkoob
Producer:  Brett Donowho, Martin Wiley
Stars:     Samaire Armstrong, Ian Bohen, Kristina Anapau, Steve Bacic, Allison McAtee, Steven Schub, Charles Solomon Jr.

Review Score: 

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Summary:

A demon offers a tortured man the chance to save his own life if he chooses to take the souls of five other people. 

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Former cop Sam Reynolds wakes from a dream that recalls the tragic death of his wife and daughter from a building collapse in Houston, Texas. On the television, Sam sees a news report about the collapse of a building in Dallas that was constructed by Bickman International, the same company responsible for the structure that killed Sam’s family.

Architect Noah goes to the hospital for routine vaccinations in preparation for a trip to Africa with his fiancée Miranda. Dr. Michaels administers the vaccines. Back in the lobby, Noah sees the news report about the building collapse. Noah realizes that there is a woman in the waiting room that the receptionist does not see before he becomes dizzy and collapses.

Detective Sara Walters finds Sam at the site of the latest building collapse. He lies about his identity and Sara allows him to stay on the premises. Another detective arrives to dismiss Sam and Sara realizes that she was had. Sara later finds Sam at a local bar and their conversation leads to sex.

Miranda attends to Noah at the hospital while he is in a coma. An evil entity named Yusef visits Noah and tells him that Noah must kill five people or else Yusef will kill Noah. For his first kill, Noah smothers another hospital patient by using a pillow. Noah realizes that the nurse does not see him. While returning to his room, Noah meets a blind woman named Jessica who tries appealing to his humanity.

Sara learns about the building tragedy that took Sam’s wife and daughter. Sam later confronts CEO David Bickman about the building collapses before being taken away by police. David calls Miranda to ask about Noah’s condition.

Noah receives another visit from Yusef. Papers are shredded at the Bickman offices. Sara berates Sam for confronting David. Noah claims his next victim as she prays in the hospital chapel.

Sara and Sam begin investigating Bickman’s files. Noah is haunted by the spirits of the two people he killed, as well as by Yusef. Sam inadvertently insults Sara about her past relationship with her father. Noah kills a woman by drowning her in the fountain outside. Jessica tries reaching out to Noah again. Sara recovers files deleted by Miranda. She also learns that Sam once assaulted David.

After being tormented by the drowned woman, Yusef leads Noah to kill a young boy. Sam and Sara visit Miranda and learn that she was in charge of purchasing building supplies for Bickman.

Sam threatens David after barging into the Bickman conference room. David reveals that Noah was the architect of the collapsed building. Noah ignores Jessica’s impassioned pleas once more. Now suspended without pay, Sara again berates Sam for having confronted David. Sam convinces Sara to join him at the hospital in trying to talk to Miranda.

Noah regains consciousness and strangles Miranda. Sam and Sara arrive in time to witness the end of the murder. Noah dies. Sam leaves the room and sees a vision of his daughter outside the hospital doors. Sara comforts him.

Yusef reveals that Noah was being tested to see if he would willfully kill the same people he unknowingly killed by building a faulty structure. Yusef then has Noah kill him. Noah takes Yusef’s place and targets David Bickman as his next victim.

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Review:

“5 Souls” features a duo of parallel storylines that takes so long to finally intersect that it feels like watching two completely different movies simultaneously.  Any bewilderment that besets the audience is an extension of a confused script that chooses seemingly arbitrary moments to randomly leapfrog between the two tales.

Broken by a building collapse that claimed the lives of his wife and daughter, disgraced ex-cop Sam starts his mornings with a prescription medication whiskey cocktail and a pre-breakfast round of Russian roulette.  Singularly obsessed with taking down the corrupt businessman responsible for constructing faulty highrises, his character arc qualifies him as a protagonist while his suicidal personality disqualifies him from being a relatable hero.

But Sam at least pops up the ball for an easy out when it comes to identifying with the audience.  The main attraction in the second story is a swing and a miss strikeout as far as captivating personas go.  Upon seeing the news report on TV regarding a new building collapse, Noah dizzies himself into a coma where a demon named Yusef strikes up a bargain for the man’s life.  Noah can either accept his own fate, or he can claim five souls for Yusef and be spared.  Before any real moral struggle can ensue, Noah practically exclaims, “who do you want me to kill first?”

Noah then proceeds to wander the medical facility campus in his hospital gown while shoving faces underwater or into a smothering pillow.  Yusef stops by and visits Noah in between kills while a blind woman with oddly cut bangs plays the part of an angel on the other shoulder.  This gives the script a chance to provide self-indulgent monologues from characters on either side of the good and evil line.

    It's usually smarter to empty a wastebasket of shredded documents *before* the police arrive. 

Meanwhile, Sam hooks up with a detective named Sara for a police procedural flavored with a touch of “Red Shoe Diaries” as the two strike up a sexual relationship for no sensible reason other than because it was written into the screenplay.  Eventually, as in after one full hour of the 77-minute runtime has elapsed, the audience is finally let in on the secret of how the supernatural killer relates to the real world investigation into corporate corruption.

By then, chances are that the viewer may be yawning too loudly to catch the revelation.  The actors fit their parts and the production is polished, but the nature of the character relationships and the setups for their motivations are on as flimsy of a foundation as the poorly constructed buildings.  The dialogue from the angel and the demon is eye rolling while the structure of the presentation keeps the audience disengaged from the outset.

The parallel plotlines and the climactic reveal are ideas that likely sounded clever on the paper of the script.  But the overall substance of that screenplay was shaky ground to begin with, and the cinematic style of “5 Souls” ends up delivering more smirks and groans than chills or surprises.

Review Score:  40

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