Do not miss this unpredictable sci-fi thriller on Amazon Prime Video

A baffled man wakes in a windowless metallic chamber with no reminiscence of arriving. His solely pal is a sarcastic robotic guard. He desires to interrupt out of the jail cell, bizarre issues occur, and by the third scene, you may in all probability expertise deja vu from the day you watched Ex Machina or Moon.

Sure, 2016’s Infinity Chamber — at the moment streaming on Amazon Prime — primarily follows everybody’s favourite “mysterious sci-fi film” template. There is a foreboding backdrop, clear integration of humanity and expertise and an clever protagonist who seems to be the voice of purpose whereas grappling with a curious dilemma.

Regardless, its cerebral story immerses you deeply sufficient to root for the principle character via the end line whereas he performs a posthuman model of escape-the-room.

And in case you make it to the climax, you are in for a deal with.

Constructed with an impressively low funds of simply $125,000, partially funded by Kickstarter, director Travis Milloy’s perplexing movie experiments with a posh plot that’ll take a look at your capacity to foretell endings — and your persistence.

Whereas Frank Lerner (Christopher Soren Kelly) tries to go away his forsaken locked-up area, he is panged with lucid goals of sitting in a quaint espresso store and chatting with a captivating barista named Gabby (Cassandra Clark).

Instantly after, Frank abruptly wakes up as soon as once more in his little chamber with solely the corporate of Howard, an assigned machine companion who’s paying homage to 2001: A House Odyssey’s Hal, Interstellar’s Tens and Moon’s Gerty.

This sequence, which supposedly explains Frank’s imprisonment, repeats itself once more… and once more… and once more, giving Infinity Chamber its claustrophobic vibe. All of the whereas, heat and genial robotic Howard does not have a lot to say about any of this. Howard’s solely job is to maintain Frank alive.

Because the film progresses, you begin to notice what’s actually occurring — with Frank, Howard and even Gabby.

A self-proclaimed glorious twist-guesser, I used to be ready to dismiss Infinity Chamber as a passable retelling of the basic apocalyptic survival story. It is certainly one of a slew of movies that contain folks puzzling their approach out of a box-like room in a dystopian world. Some that fall into that area of interest style embrace 1997’s Dice, 2008’s Fermat’s Room, 2009’s Examination and extra not too long ago, 2019’s Escape Room.

However in the course of the movie’s final quarter-hour or so, I set free a couple of involuntary “wait, whats” that have been promptly adopted by shock-fueled goosebumps. Infinity Chamber units itself aside by taking overused tropes and including taste.

The chamber is not only a room. Howard is not merely a snarky AI and the goals aren’t random.

However whereas Infinity Chamber’s ending is satisfying sufficient to deem the movie a stable weeknight grab-a-glass-of-wine-and-chill alternative, it is not with out shortcomings. These come from the movie’s half-baked sub-plots.

The film introduces a love story, the notion of current in your personal goals, the query of whether or not people can really bond with synthetic intelligence and the ethics of prisons just like the one Frank finds himself in.

As a substitute of delving into these ideas, nonetheless, a ton of time is spent rehashing Frank’s ache of residing within the metallic chamber and constructing as much as the primary milestone — one which’s so apparent, I used to be confused by the way it was purported to be a shock in any respect.

Proper across the midway level, Infinity Chamber begins to get barely boring shortly earlier than choosing up once more for act three. Maybe that would’ve been solved by exploring the movie’s different juicy sci-fi concepts — there have been so many fascinating avenues left untaken.

Even so, from begin to end, Infinity Chamber is a delight. The shoestring funds and restricted drawbacks are barely noticeable on account of pristine manufacturing high quality, terrific appearing and a wise story chillingly tied collectively in its closing scene — one which makes the entire hour and 38 minutes 100% price it.