Worm

Released by: Synapse Films
Released on: August 12th, 2014.
Director: Doug Mallette
Cast: John Ferguson, Shane O'Brien, Jes Mercer
Year: 2013
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The Movie:

Directed by Doug Mallette and based on his own short film of the same name, 2013's Worm is low budget indie genre filmmaking done right. The movie is set in a future where people have quite literally lost the ability to dream. This leaves a hole that people want to fill in their lives and they do that with what are essentially little parasites called Fantasites. These genetically designed worms crawl into your ear canal before you go to sleep at night and once they've borrowed their way in, off you go to fantasy land. Of course, as you could assume, there are those who absolutely love this new trend and those who see it as a potential problem.

From here we meet Charles (John Ferguson), he lives in an apartment building where he just sort of… exists. There's nothing exciting about him, he doesn't really have much of a life. As he's socially on a different plane than those around him, Charles doesn't have a lot of friends and while he's tried to acclimate to Reed (Shane O'Brien), another resident in the building, Reed doesn't really want much to do with him. Reed's girlfriend June (Jes Mercer), however, feels sorry for Charles and decides she and Reed will give him a shot. Through his introduction to Reed and June so too is Charles introduced to the Fantasites that they've been using. Given his humdrum life and lackluster social skills, he understandably takes a liking to the fantasy life they give him when he kicks off to slumberland each night. Things get complicated when Charles and June develop feelings for one another right around the same time that the government bans the use of Fantasites. Despite the fact that they know the little things are bad for their brains, Reed and Charles start going to underground sources to get their fix and when those sources start to dry up, well, they go to even more extreme measures to get what they want…

A well-made mix of genre elements and human drama, Worm is a clever film that juxtaposes the need to 'dream' with the need for human interaction and wraps it up with some sci-fi trappings. At times it feels a little bit like Cronenberg's eXistenz but it's not as hard edged or clinical as that picture nor is it as ambitious. The resemblance does come up in how both movies use something living or close to it to take them somewhere else. Mallette's film is scaled back in a lot of ways though, it's a quieter picture and while some of that is likely a budgetary necessity, it completely works in the context of the story that is being told in the film.

The movie isn't heavy on special effects work nor does it overreach with grandiose set pieces. Rather than go that route, Mallette uses faux-news broadcasts to fill us in on events that might have been too difficult to portray otherwise but this is done well, it works. It also allows for some clever social satire. The movie is well acted and well shot, the production values typically do not relay the fact that this movie was made for little money. It's the clever script that really stands out here, however, and as the movie goes into progressively darker and darker places, the earlier comedic elements seem to no longer matter. The shifts in tone are drastic and maybe a bit overdone but otherwise, the cast and crew behind Worm have done a very fine job even if at times some of the character interaction scenes seem to lose focus. It's not a perfect film, but it is a very good one.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Worm looks great on DVD framed at 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen. The image is clean and colorful and the well authored disc is free of obvious compression issues and edge enhancement. As the movie was shot digitally there are obviously no print damage issues to note while detail and color reproduction look very good here. A strong standard definition presentation.

The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix is also solid. The score is strong here but not to the point where it causes any problems in terms of understanding the dialogue, which always comes through quite clearly. There are no issues with any hiss or distortion and the levels are nicely balanced.

The extras start off with an audio commentary from Jeremy Pearce, Julian Herrera, Jennifer Bonior and Doug Mallette. It's a lively talk that covers the origins of the film, how the short evolved into the feature, who did what in front of and behind the camera and more. There's some discussion of the different characters that appear in the film, the effects, the music, the writing and the locations - this is pretty thorough and a good way to get the whole back story on the film.

Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer, eleven minutes of deleted scenes from the feature, the original eight minute long Worm short film (originally made as a short for Nashville's The 48 Hour Film Project) on which this feature was based, animated menus and chapter selection.

The Final Word:

If you're looking for something off the beaten path, something original, give Worm a shot. There's a lot of talent on display here, both in front of and behind the camera and Synapse have given this quirky, unique and genuinely compelling indie film a very strong DVD release.