APORIA
Starring: Judy Greer, Edi Gathegi, Payman Maadi, and Faithe Herman
Director: Jared Moshé
This film has been reviewed by Nick, Paige, and Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival.
PAIGE
Director Jared Moshé’s Aporia is thought-provoking as it explores the impacts of grief and morality. The genre-bending time-travel film is a risky and chilling tale that makes you ponder about the choices we are presented with in life and the impact of the decisions we make. However, due to its middling script, it falls a little flat. While Judy Greer, Edi Gathegi, and Payman Maadi deliver solid performances, the film lacks momentum and character depth. Aporia needed more build-up for the audience to care about these characters' journeys.
QUENTIN
If you’re a fan of 2004’s indie time-travel movie Primer or the films of Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson (The Endless, Something in the Dirt), Aporia is for you. It’s the kind of slow burn, cerebral sci-fi that asks important questions…in this case, about the ethical dilemma of using a time machine to change the past for personal reasons, as well as the unintended butterfly effects…but it fails to ask them in super interesting ways. As much as I love the premise, the truth is that the movie is fairly boring. But I also thought Primer was boring, and people love that movie, so…
NICK
Featuring a highly interesting premise and a solid lead performance from Judy Greer, Aporia is a film stuffed with potential for a unique sci-fi tale. Unfortunately, most of that potential is unrealized. It's certainly watchable, and the focus on the consequences of changing the past and the spiral effect of trying to amend those very consequences is well done. However, its slow pacing does it no favours, and the character logic can be beyond head-scratching at times. Again, this isn’t a bad film, but as it ended, I couldn’t help thinking about how much better it could have been.