“Do I Know You From Somewhere?” is a quirky and charming, if somewhat uneven, exploration of love and fate through a multiverse narrative. With its casual appeal and whimsical premise, director Arianna Martinez’s film provides a glimpse into a universe where ordinary moments take on extraordinary significance. It’s a good effort, but ultimately disappointing in its resolution. I hate to give this one a negative review, but it seemed to let me down at every turn.
Olive (Caroline Bell) and Benny (Ian Ottis Goff) are a happy couple living a mostly quiet life at their modest lake house. It’s just another ordinary day, until little things start to shift and cause confusion in their lives. First, it’s a misplaced package, and then a couple of new magnets appear on the refrigerator. But then the bizarre becomes the norm. Olive starts to have a strange sense of déjà vu and visions in the kitchen, some of which find Benny replaced by a woman named Ada (Mallory Amirault). This leads the couple to question not only their place in the universe, but their very existence.
It’s a fun premise, but Martinez doesn’t execute her storytelling well. She can’t seem to figure out if her film is a grounded love story, fantasy piece, or surreal science fiction, and she tries so desperately to tie them all together that none of her ideas form a cohesive narrative. The hook is there, and the shifts in reality are a lot of fun at first. But then Martinez gets pulled under the weight of her own themes of fate, choices, and the idea of a soulmate, and just can’t seem to figure out where to take the next chapter.
Since the story is such an emotional journey, much of the heavy lifting is left to the leads. Both relative unknowns, Goff and Bell give uneven performances that lack polish. At least they have enough chemistry to make it work despite some clunky line delivery. This, combined with the overall casual, live-in feel of the film lends an amateurish charm to the project.
The storytelling, however, is the biggest problem here. Despite a brief run time of just 79 minutes, the film feels at least twice as long. It meanders with a lot of filler, and I really wish the execution had been a bit tighter. Even more disappointing is that there isn’t a concrete resolution to what could’ve been a sophisticated mystery, which proves to be extremely frustrating.
“Do I Know You From Somewhere?” is an endearing and creative film filled with strong ideas, it just struggles to bring them together in a profound or thoughtful way.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 