THE LABYRINTH (2015)

Studio:       Rabbit Bandini Productions
Director:    Kaushik Sampath, Quyen Nguyen Le, Tarek Tohme, Katrelle Kindred, Victoria Rose, Camila Ohara Tanabe, John Berardo, Jessica Kaye
Writer:       Rosanne Flynn, Taylor Martin, Jordan Trippeer, Kristen Davila, Robert Funke, Matt C. Sanchez, Anna Musky-Goldwyn
Producer:  Nicolaas Bertelstein, Gil Marsden, Sev Ohanian
Stars:     Various

Review Score:

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Summary:

The symbol of a labyrinth links eight tales of the unknown and the impossible.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

Vincent – Caught in a traffic jam caused by a medical emergency in the road, bus driver Faith has an argument over the phone with her fiancé Troy about being late to meet his parents. Elderly actor Vincent Marionetti insists on boarding the bus. Vincent stumbles into a passenger, Shelby, before taking his seat. Shelby realizes her purse is missing and accuses Vincent. The confrontation causes Vincent to have a heart attack and the resulting commotion compels everyone to exit the bus, including Shelby. Faith lays Vincent down to rest and finds Shelby’s purse under his seat. The purse contains drug paraphernalia instead of the $300 Shelby claimed. Vincent confesses that he was only acting to prove a point that everyone lies while also hinting that Faith should reconsider her marriage. An EMT arrives and Faith sees that Vincent has disappeared, along with the engagement ring she wears as a necklace. Faith describes Vincent to the EMT. The EMT takes Faith to the accident site up ahead and she sees Vincent lying dead on an ambulance gurney. Her ring falls from Vincent’s hand. Faith calls Troy to tell him she is not ready to get married.

Cliffside Bend – Visibly injured while wearing a suit, Malvo stumbles into a remote gas station searching for Cliffside Bend Church. Cashier Lucia tells him that no such place exists on the mountain, but Malvo insists on finding the church on foot. An old man named Hunter finds Malvo in the woods and offers to give him a ride, but his truck will not start. Malvo rushes to the church and sees a bloody bride at the altar. He has a flashback to a horrific car crash with his girlfriend in the passenger seat. Hunter attempted to rescue Malvo, but Malvo insisted that Hunter free his trapped girlfriend instead.

The Sweet Taste of Redemption – After alcoholic Ray tells the story of his daughter’s death at an AA meeting, mysterious man Midnight persuades Ray to come with him to his speakeasy. Midnight collects people’s tragedies and distills them into alcohol. Midnight offers Ray a second chance to go back to his daughter. Ray voluntarily pricks his finger on a keg tap and Midnight puts him down a hatch. Ray goes back to just before his daughter’s drowning, but Midnight pulls him back. Determined to reverse the tragedy, Ray continues fighting against Midnight’s pull. Ray ultimately overpowers Midnight’s machine and pulls the hatch down on himself, giving up his soul in exchange for his daughter’s by drowning in her place.

Alchemy – As a boy, Gabriel finds an alchemist’s stone that his mother tells him belonged to a man who found the secret to eternal life. As an adult, Gabriel takes the stone to Leanor at the Department of Esotericism. Gabriel and Leanor fall in love as Gabriel uses the stone to search the world for the six components that will create the elixir of life. After several years, Leanor tries convincing Gabriel to give up the quest so they can simply be together for the time they have left. Gabriel continues searching for decades more and eventually creates the elixir. Gabriel returns to Leanor with his youth restored, but discovers that Leanor built a family with someone else. Elderly Leanor rejects Gabriel’s offer to use the elixir, saying she is satisfied with the simple life she already had.

Mandroid – As a display unit at the Museum of Obsolete Technology, Mandroid PL8-0 accidentally breaks his charging cord. PL8-0 leaves the museum in search of a way to charge in the real world, where he encounters bigotry from humans. When PL8-0 collapses from energy depletion, a lonely woman named Rosie takes him home for repairs. After recovering, PL8-0 returns to the museum despite Rosie’s disappointment, but discovers that he also desires companionship. PL8-0 goes back to live with Rosie.

Oak – Realtor Betsy shows artist Sam a house he ends up purchasing. Sam becomes obsessed with a locked door in the cellar with an oak tree image on it. When he is finally able to open the door, Sam steps into a grove where he finds himself lying under an oak tree and holding an acorn. Sam takes the acorn and inside it he sees himself experiencing a fulfilled life starting from his past and culminating in a happy family. Sam closes the door and takes the place of his previous self under the tree as he continues being entranced by the acorn.

Strings – Mallory attends a concert where her violinist sister Claire Howard is set to perform. The audience is stunned when Claire takes a gun from her instrument case and commits suicide onstage. Mallory confronts a vision of her sister in Claire’s apartment. Claire teaches Mallory to play her instrument and gradually begins possessing her. Blaming an affair with married conductor Raydon as the cause of Claire’s suicide, Mallory goes to Raydon’s house and kills him. Mallory looks in the mirror and sees a reflection of Claire before using the gun on herself.

Shortage – While being restrained to a gurney by several men, Bob has flashbacks to putting lipstick on his mother at various stages in life while also developing a sexual attraction to her. Bob’s Oedipus complex eventually grows to a point where he sets fire to the house.

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Review:

No one could guess that the eight shorts comprising anthology feature “The Labyrinth” are student films just by looking at them.  While technically accurate, it is mildly misleading to even speak of “The Labyrinth” as a student film in the first place.  For one thing, only the writers and directors are students, and third-year graduates at that.  The rest of the crew consists of properly paid USC alums currently working professionally.  For another, “student film” is sometimes synonymous with amateur effort, and that is not the case here at all.  The eight films in “The Labyrinth” are so polished and fully formed that they are among the most technically accomplished and entirely engaging shorts a genre fan will ever see.

“The Labyrinth” is a collaborative project born from a course taught at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts by John Watson and James Franco.  In addition to funding the film as an Executive Producer, Franco lends his voice as the narrator.  If Franco’s disembodied presence is your primary lure to “The Labyrinth,” don’t bother.  His single sentence interludes probably add up to 60 seconds of content and are so meaningless that it is impossible to remember one word once the movie is over.  While Franco’s influence is essential to the project’s existence, his tacked-on voice-overs are not.

The other main element linking the eight tales is a labyrinth symbol that can occasionally be spotted on various props such as a keychain or button.  Aside from that, and a few reused behind-the-scenes crewmembers, occasional thematic parallels are all that the shorts share in common.

“Vincent” opens with a junkie accusing an old man of stealing her purse on a bus.  Another man calls the junkie a bitch.  Other passengers visually groan and demand to be let off.  In short, the only thing missing is someone blaring garbled music from an iPhone and it would be a mirror image of every ride I’ve ever had on the L.A. Metro.  “Vincent” is a somewhat typical tale involving the sci-fi staple of a mysterious man who was never really there, but this condensed incarnation of a Rod Serling parable is a fitting stage setter for where “The Labyrinth” continues taking its ideas.

The placement of “Cliffside Bend” as the second story strikes an initially worrisome chord.  Too predictable to warrant enthusiasm, “Cliffside Bend” is a nonlinear dream piece with a purgatory-trapped protagonist having trouble piecing together his fragmented memory faster than the audience.  The hiccup with “Cliffside Bend” is that it is the kind of experimental narrative one might expect of a fledgling filmmaker, which isn’t indicative of how subsequent shorts in the anthology are approached.

Flavor Flav features as an unlikely incarnation of Mr. Scratch in “The Sweet Taste of Redemption.”  His tempting devil in human form is a typical presence in tales such as this, but Flav plays the persona with a surprising amount of reserve.  That an offscreen personality known for outrageousness can be tamed with onscreen acting subtlety is one of the first indicators of directorial depth in the talent behind “The Labyrinth.”  From here, the impression really begins to crystallize regarding how much control these young directors have over their visions.

By the time the film approaches its midpoint, “The Labyrinth” distinctively separates itself from other genre anthologies concerned primarily with commercial entertainment.  That value also exists in “The Labyrinth,” but the majority of its shorts are based around poignant reflection and fascinating fables instead of shock twists or visual stomach-punches.

Audiences remember crucial scenes from classic “Twilight Zone” episodes such as Burgess Meredith breaking his glasses or discovering the true identity of “The Howling Man.”  Yet what really affects about those episodes and the reason they resonate lies in the meaning behind those moments.  It is not the reveals themselves that are important, it is what they signify for the cautionary wisdom being imparted.  “The Labyrinth” has that quality.

With enough content for a feature packed into a handful of minutes, “Alchemy” is a bittersweet love story about appreciating what you have instead of focusing on what you don’t.  “Oak” offers a similar message told in a very different way.  The movie’s metaphors about marriage, self-worth, and chasing imaginary ideals are insightful without being preachy, delivered almost in disguise as fantastic fantasy entertainment.

“Mandroid” opens on annoyance.  Looking like a disco dancer doing “The Robot,” Josh Peck’s overplayed performance as a mechanical man is overpowered only by whirring servo sound effects excessively accompanying every single stilted movement.  Throwback production design is also so retro-stylized as to be eye-rollingly on-the-nose.

Just when it seems as though “Mandroid” is taking “The Labyrinth” from enjoyable to tolerable, a nearly imperceptible tonal shift is executed with such precision that the entire piece 180s into an unexpected highlight.  The short’s message about a desire for companionship knowing no prejudicial bounds suddenly pounds through the performances.  The reason this stands out as remarkable is because very often, up and coming filmmakers are overly focused on turning shorts into highlight reels to demonstrate creativity with cameras, effects, or complicated staging.  Here, director Victoria Rose has the confidence to detach her narrative from any unnecessarily indulgent artistry and allows her leads to tell their story through nuance.  This is a rarity usually reserved for more experienced directors, and the way Rose humbles the viewer with emotion by first funneling him/her through a deceptively comical presentation is refreshingly mature.

Penultimate piece “Strings” has the heart beating closest to horror.  The segment is entertaining, with a terrific throat-grabber in its opening minute, although its slightly sensationalized content leans closer to “Tales from the Crypt/Darkside” when the remainder of the movie is more “Twilight Zone” or “The Outer Limits.”  Reportedly up for expansion as a feature, “Strings” also wades in shallower thematic waters by comparison to its companions.

Instead of a whopper, “The Labyrinth” ends on a whimper.  Confusingly selected as the film’s closer, “Shortage” warrants little mention aside from acknowledgment, or forewarning, that it is an interpretive art piece about a man with an Oedipal complex.

“The Labyrinth” bounces one arrow off the target (“Cliffside Bend”) while another is a complete miss (“Shortage”), but six near-bullseyes is a terrific ratio for an eight-film anthology.  Disregard presumptions regarding that irrelevant “s” word referenced earlier and rest assured that the limited experience level of the film’s creators is a non-factor.  “The Labyrinth” is a classy collection of sci-fi, fantasy, and suspense shorts worthy of any film fan’s attention.

Review Score:  80

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