The wistful, melancholy piano score in writer / director Ace Thor‘s “Infinitely Dense” immediately sets the tone as a film steeped in loneliness. You can feel that sadness before the story really gets going (and throws you for one doozy of a loop).
Tom (Glen Steele) is desperate to escape his isolated life, so he merges his mind with an advanced augmented reality system that allows him to shape reality however he wants. At first, it’s intoxicating. But as the technology begins blurring the line between his imagination and the real world, Tom’s repressed fears and unresolved trauma start taking over.
That’s where the film becomes genuinely unsettling. The AR system doesn’t simply create Tom’s vivid nightmares, but it gives his subconscious a way to manifest them. His desire to escape from loneliness turns into a confrontation with everything he has tried to avoid.
The concept works as both psychological horror and a warning about technology. In his script, Thor suggests that no matter how completely we immerse ourselves in an artificial world, we still can’t escape ourselves. Our fears and traumas eventually find a way through, and they come back to haunt Tom is the most dangerous of ways.
The film occasionally becomes too abstract and could use some editing, but the originality of the premise, strong lead performance, and disturbing imagery make it worth watching. “Infinitely Dense” is a cerebral, character-driven thriller that uses science fiction to explore something very human: the desperate desire to escape reality and the realization that you can’t leave your own mind behind.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 