It will be too unsettling to follow a sci-fiction film that keeps throwing questions but answers too few of them.
Though it might qualify a remiss to either never try so hard to understand, or to abandon the task of not missing anything, it may be understable to have a such leanings, especially when almost everything is blurred by utter lack of sense or comprehensible argument in the narrative. This fatal flaw may be present in the new Australian sci-fiction horror, “Infini”, but it knows too well which part of its entirity to highlight, for it to overcome its headachingly baffling set up.
In the future, a mysterious airborne contagion is sweeping through an entire space command center. To escape, newbie Whit Carmichael (Daniel McPherson), spacejumps to Infini–a mining station infamous for being the site of one of the greatest space disasters, and the very same place where the viral strain has originated. A rescue team, tasked to both rescue survivors and repel a potential cataclysmic threat to the Earth, from the East Command arrives. This ensures an unnerving hide-and-seek drama that would place the entire team, and Whit, in a game of survival.
“Infini”‘s plot adheres a common backbone, and it will not be hard to figure out how it is inspired by the past outings belonging to the genre. The mere attempt is bold, but at most parts, it fails to deliver compelling results.
Evidently, the movie’s biggest flaw is the narrative itself, which is often intricately convuluted and unfocused. Lack of clarity keeps it’s motives suppressed, if not barely relayed. Truth is, “Infini”‘s plot, doesn’t take a very long time to gather attention. It has strong arguments to compel audience, but the delivery itself is too bleak and bland to reach its targets.
Too seldom too, these arguments are often supported with answers that whatever it aims to portend, only loses sense in the end. The idea of time jump, which, on this case, is called “slipstreaming”, is a controversial subject, and here, is already interesting enough to pull attention. Yet, this wouldn’t be enough for “Infini” to maintain its hold over curious audience. The key, really, is the ability of the film to keep the action alive by making the “unseen enemy” an ever-imminent threat. This is where the curiosity mostly comes and the film utilizes this capacity up to the very end to maintain its level of suspense.
In the end, it will be really hard to assess “Infini” by its storytelling alone, nor it will be easy to give a verdict solely based on the level of intensity and suspense it presented. But judging both, this one’s a 6/10.
“Infini” hits Philippine Theaters on May 27.
