Parallel directed by Ieva Makselyte and produced by Alexander Cooper is a low budget British psychological thriller, which explores the concept of a parallel universe, which greatly contrasts the lives of the main protagonists Neil and Heather.
A chance meeting with a medium who goes by the name Machlis allows the couple to explore their dark sides or negative alter egos and live vicariously via the medium, by visiting a world in which they embrace their negativities. This soon becomes a deadly obsession and wreaks havoc upon their lives, ultimately destroying everything they hold dearly.
It is certainly an interesting concept and the narrative was easy to follow. This was a low budget movie but the use of black and white footage to narrate the alternative universe is nicely done. There was a genuine sense of foreboding throughout many of the scenes and at times I felt my nerves on edge as the characters descended into chaos and faced danger.
One area that I felt needed a little tweaking was the audio. There is one point near the beginning where the couple meet Machlis and the sound track is louder than the dialogue and it was little hard to follow what was being said. There were also a few points in the movie where the audio dipped in and out and was a little inconsistent.
Other than this, Makselyte has created a remarkable and original piece that leaves you thinking long after the credits role. For me, that is the mark of a good movie and something that is extremely hard to achieve on a low budget.
Makselyte clearly has a creative talent for ideas and bringing them to life and this signifies a bright future for this talented film maker.
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Behind The Scenes Shot On The Set Of Parallel
