DISCARNATE (2018)

Studio:      Uncork’d Entertainment
Director:    Mario Sorrenti
Writer:      Marcello Ochoa, Mario Miscione
Producer:  Harald Kloser, Marcella Ochoa
Stars:     Thomas Kretschmann, Nadine Velazquez, Josh Stewart, Chris Coy, Matt Munroe, Jake Vaughn, Nelli Jimenez, Cassandra Clark, Bex Taylor-Klaus

Review Score:

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Summary:

A supernatural creature stalks a team of scientists testing a hallucinatory drug capable of opening dimensional doorways.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Neuroscientist Dr. Andre Mason witnesses his young son Benny being taken by a shapeshifting supernatural entity. Due to her grief, Andre’s wife Rebecca eventually commits suicide.

10 Years Later – Andre goes to see Maya Sanchez, who has exclusive access to unique botanical compounds. Maya prepares a tea for Andre while warning him not to get lost on the other side. After drinking the hallucinogenic tea, Andre encounters the ghost of Maya’s dead little sister Isabel.

Andre gets funding from the Milford Foundation for Experimental Neuroscience to test if a serum created from Maya’s compounds induces hallucinations or is genuinely capable of opening a doorway to another dimension. Maya agrees to give access to her compounds provided she can participate in Andre’s study.

Orange Heights, Sierra Madre, CA – Andre sets up a makeshift lab in an abandoned house with fellow scientists Violette and Travis Sherman as well as Travis’ brother Shane and Maya. Casey Blackburn arrives to observe as a representative from Milford.

Trial Day 1 – The scientists discuss their theory that the pineal gland, which calcifies after childhood, could hold a person’s soul. Andre, Maya, Violette, Travis, and Shane begin taking controlled doses of the experimental serum to stimulate the gland in hopes of glimpsing ghosts.

Maya has a momentary supernatural experience and later briefly encounters Isabel. Andre encounters a ghostly girl wearing a mask named Eva.

Shane encounters a discarnate entity that materializes from the ground outside. Shane tells the others what he saw, but they conclude he was hallucinating.

Andre secretly injects himself with more serum than he gives the other program participants. Casey becomes suspicious of Andre.

Andre has another encounter with Eva. Andre asks Eva if she has seen his son Benny. Eva tells Andre that the boy is afraid of “the smiling man.”

Trial Day 2 – Casey finds empty serum vials hidden in Andre’s desk. Casey later tries warning Violette that Andre is injecting more serum than everyone else.

Maya encounters her dead sister once again. Maya warns the others that they aren’t visiting another plane like they thought. Rather, they are coexisting with it.

Violette sees the grotesque discarnate entity birthing a baby and then eating it. The entity kills all of Travis’ lab rats.

With the control subjects dead, Casey moves to shut down the trial. Andre threatens Casey into giving him another 24 hours to reassess the experiment.

Violette, Maya, and Andre encounter a teenage ghost that Casey cannot see. Maya passes through the ghost when she tries touching it. Andre makes physical contact with the ghost, causing a cabinet to explode and injure Casey.

Andre encounters Benny and the discarnate entity at the pool.

While treating his wounds, Violette secretly injects Casey with a dose of the serum. Casey asks Violette to consider why Andre was able to touch the ghost while Maya could not.

Andre has a vision of his dead wife Rebecca that turns out to be Maya in reality. Maya warns that Andre is endangering everyone by taking too much of the serum. While alone later, Benny’s ghost compels Andre to continue injecting himself.

Violette theorizes that the discarnate entity is a supernatural Norwegian shapeshifter known as a nacken. Maya recounts a legend told in her family about a condemned spirit who seeks to return to the land of the living by devouring flesh.

The entity contorts into Travis to lure Shane to the greenhouse. The entity kills Shane.

Casey finds evidence proving that the house they are in actually belonged to Andre’s family. Violette and Travis find the carnage in the greenhouse. Everyone confronts Andre.

It comes out that the true motivation behind Andre’s experiment was to hunt the supernatural entity that took his son. Andre explains that the entity took children because they were the only humans it could see. By taking the serum to stimulate their pineal glands, everyone was able to encounter the entity.

The entity chases Violette and Casey when they try leaving the house with Maya. The creature knocks Casey unconscious.

When Casey regains consciousness, he, Andre, Maya, and Travis go looking for Violette. The quartet sees dead people stalking them everywhere before everyone becomes separated.

Travis finds his brother’s body. The creature kills Travis.

Casey finds Violette. Maya finds Andre dead of an apparent serum overdose. Maya learns Andre’s death was a shapeshifter illusion when she finds the real Andre in the other room with Casey and Violette. Maya realizes Violette is actually the shapeshifter in another disguise as it chases and kills Casey.

Maya kills the discarnate entity using a shovel. As the only two survivors, Maya asks Andre why he didn’t tell everyone the truth from the beginning. Andre explains he only wanted to be with his family before telling Maya to go live her life now that the ordeal is over.

Maya wonders if there may be more than one discarnate entity. Andre suddenly vanishes. The camera cuts to dozens of discarnate entities gathering in a group.

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Review:

“Discarnate” director Mario Sorrenti has a distinguished background in film, just not of the narrative feature variety. Predominantly a fashion photographer, Sorrenti’s print work has appeared in publications like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vanity Fair. High profile clients include Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, and Estee Lauder. His spreads feature celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, and Tom Cruise.

I’m willing to risk sounding pretentiously judgmental by saying, “Discarnate” comes across as the kind of dreamily discombobulated indie horror movie you might imagine could only come from the vision of an Italian fashion photographer. The movie is “weird,” which is a word you’ll see repeated frequently throughout this review. And I don’t mean “weird” like far out nightmare logic “weird” or David Lynch-like auteur artistry “weird.” “Discarnate” just seems slightly “off” in an irregular way that cannot be precisely pinpointed.

Sorrenti’s unusual eye might not be the sole source of oddness. Exact details of involvement were murky, but co-producer John Elfers appeared at “Discarnate’s” Screamfest screening Q&A to discuss how he directed a significant amount of pick-ups. Actor Mick Ignis was also on hand to talk about taking over for Olivier De Sagazan as the creature performer. Maybe I’m drawing conclusions, but I got the sense that more than one creative disconnect came up over the course of filming and producers seemingly sought solutions outside of Sorrenti to plug the gaps. Multiple cooks in the kitchen could offer another explanation for the funky feel.

The film starts with neuroscientist Dr. Andre Mason losing his son Benny to a supernatural entity. “Discarnate” then jumps to a ’10 Years Later’ prelude cut like a trailer, to the point where I half-wondered if a preview was running by mistake for a split second.

Edits rip right through expository dialogue as though only every other sentence is included. This sequence hurriedly establishes Andre’s search for rare botanical compounds only Maya Sanchez can provide. Maya prepares a hallucinatory tea for Andre that has him seeing ghosts like Maya’s dead sister Isabel. Andre is sold. He wants Maya’s herbs for a serum he thinks could open a dimensional doorway to glimpsing the afterlife.

“Discarnate” next goes from skipping dialogue to skipping entire scenes. Superimposed over a sudden travel montage, three full screens of text explain that during the following months, Andre received funding from a research institute to conduct an experimental trial for his serum. Maya agreed to provide her compounds on the condition she could participate in the program. Now Andre’s team of scientists who look more like hipster baristas is off to get the drug study underway. What a weird way to catch an audience up on several weeks’ worth of exposition for a movie already in progress.

The crew sets up shop in an abandoned house that belonged to a silent movie actor in the Orange Heights area of Sierra Madre, CA. None of those details are important, yet the movie tells us anyway. Intertitles also identify ‘Trial Day 1’ and ‘Trial Day 2,’ yet no other days, because I guess someone thought distinguishing those two particular 24-hour periods was necessary for some reason.

Weird camera shots with unmotivated movements and an ADD music video rhythm initially put an experimental arthouse overlay onto a movie that basically becomes a typical thriller. After its artistically disjointed first act, “Discarnate” calms down considerably to follow a sensibly standardized “Flatliners” template.

Although the shift into typical territory where Andre’s Moby Dick monster haunts the team has a patina of predictability, it’s easier to gulp down because of “Discarnate’s” excellent actors. Thomas Kretschmann gives Andre gravitas. Bex Taylor-Klaus of the “Scream” TV series and Josh Stewart of “The Collector,” among other things for both of them, are favorites of many genre fans. Chris Coy puts as much personality into his part as he does on David Simon projects like “Treme” and “The Deuce.” And Matt Munroe provides personable comic relief without being obnoxiously inauthentic about it.

Perhaps feeling a bizarre bookend is in order to remind viewers of how weird it was at the outset, the movie ends almost as peculiarly as it began. I’m clearly criticizing “Discarnate” for its clumsiness. But Devil’s Advocate argues, even if it isn’t intentional or ideal, at least “Discarnate’s” weirdness makes it distinct among a subgenre full of similar stories.

Initially intriguing mostly as a curiosity, the onscreen talent molds ordinary midsection material into enjoyable performances that make “Discarnate” worthwhile. I wouldn’t necessarily use “good” to describe the film or its objective entertainment value. Yet given the caliber of its cast, cool creature, and alluringly atypical texture, “Discarnate” rarely fails to hold your attention in a vague “WTF?” way.

Review Score: 60

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