Flashback Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 3/5

Plot Synopsis: Fredrick Fitzell (DYLAN O’BRIEN) is living his best life – until he starts having horrific visions of Cindy (MAIKA MONROE), a girl who vanished in high school. After reaching out to old friends with whom he used to take a mystery drug called Mercury, Fredrick realizes the only way to stop the visions lies deep within his own memories, so he embarks on a terrifying mental odyssey to learn the truth.

Review: Flashback is a fantasy-mystery-thriller that might trippy or loopy, but a bit too much for its own good. While I never found the movie disengaging or dull, as there is a lot going on, it was also a tad too hard to follow. The film does keep to its name as we follow our main character played with great finesse and emotion by Dylan O’Brien going from childhood, high school, adulthood and back and forth, sometimes within minutes. The best way I could describe the storyline is it’s akin to something like The Butterfly Effect (with maybe some Donnie Darko thrown in), however I was able to follow both movies pretty well. And for half of the movie, I was wondering, even out loud by myself, what the hell was this even about?

Well, all that said, and give writer and director Christopher MacDonald some credit, Flashback had me thinking about it far after the end and as such, there was some sense of the insanity, a film that ultimately came down to the idea of choice and the effects it could have on one’s life. I can appreciate the thought that went into the story, not lazy and not the kind of movie you can zone out while watching.

Now on the downside, the writing and more to the point, dialogue did come to the line of being pretentious, especially the type of philosophical… stuff espoused by the Cindy character, played quite well by Maika Monroe. I don’t think it crossed that line but came close to where I did roll my eyes a time or two.

The cast mostly give fine performances, though the highlights are Dylan O’Brien and the captivating Monroe, both having some nice scenes together. Meanwhile, Hannah Goss (she played young Penny in Joker) was fairly good as O’Brien’s devoted, to a point, girlfriend and Emory Cohen as Sebastian, who provides the mind-bending, and pure, Mercury drug, has a few fine scenes as well.

Obviously I don’t know what the future holds for Flashback, will it sort of fade into the annals of cinema like The Butterfly Effect or find some sort of cult following like Donnie Darko? Not sure at this time but amongst the confusion, there are many elements that I appreciate and would make this a recommendation, just don’t expect anything straight-forward.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD. Features include an Audio Commentary by producer-writer-director Christopher MacDonald, three Deleted Scenes (TRT 3:59) and the Theatrical Trailer (2:14).

VIDEO – 4½/5

AUDIO – 4½/5

OVERALL – 3/5

Flashback is a movie that might be too trippy for its own good. There are some interesting ideas and the acting from Dylan O’Brien and Maika Monroe were both pretty good, but it can be difficult to follow and comes to the line of pretentiousness with some of the dialogue. However, I would give this a slight recommendation at least as a rental.