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Film: Things Will Be Different
Year: 2024
Director: Michael Felker
Writer: Michael Felker
Starring: Adam David Thompson, Riley Dandy and Chloe Skoczen
Review:
This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Amelia from Strike Media. I originally was going to catch this when it showed at the Gateway Film Center, but I couldn’t make the times work. Seeing that Aaron Morehead and Justin Benson helped get this made, that was a perk in its favor. I did know there could be time travel elements, which is something else that I’m a fan of.
Synopsis: in order to escape the police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points.
We start this with the credits as well as getting up to speed with the elements of the synopsis. The siblings are Joseph (Adam David Thompson) and Sidney (Riley Dandy). She meets him at a diner. He tells her what the plan is and where they’re going. There are police sirens in the distance and seem to be getting closer. They head out. Their route takes them through the woods. The closer they get to the house, they do find a campsite. This makes Syd pause and question if they should continue. Her fears are founded as the house they’re looking for, there is a group of guys drinking and shooting. Our siblings are able to scare them off and get inside.
Joseph has a notebook that gives him what he needs to do. He obtained this and learned of the place from a regular at the bar he owns. It is specific. They treat two of the clocks like a combination lock. The police sirens approach and they go through an upstairs door. It takes them to a dark room with a rotary telephone. Joseph gives his sister the notebook and holds a match so she can make a call. They leave the room to find the house is the same, but also different. The rooms aren’t as messy. There also doesn’t seem to be anyone around.
The plan here is to stay for two weeks and then go back. The heat from the authorities should be gone by then. This house seems to stay stocked with food and alcohol. It is a nice time where these two siblings get to know each other better. When their time to return comes, they find the door barricaded. No one else is here and this spooks our duo. There is also a locked room outside of a mill that is no longer sealed. It is inside here that they find a dead body as well as a table with a note carved on it. It is how to contact the person or the people who know about them being here.
Joseph does what is asked since there isn’t a way out. Syd tried to run, but didn’t get far before she was vomiting blood. They’re told at first that they’ll be ‘wiped’. Syd pushes as to what that means. They don’t seem to have a position to negotiate. Joseph does find a way and it involves killing someone else who is coming to this time. They aren’t sure when this other person will arrive. It strains these two as they try to pass the time. It also puts stress on them as they weren’t prepared to make a decision as to what needs to be done.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is bringing back up what I said previously, this had my interest knowing that it dealt with time travel. There is a simple enough premise here. We have these two that commit a crime and then they’re going to hide out in this farmhouse, during a different time. It is a lonely place. Not bad for the two weeks that they think they’ll be here. They end up stuck for much longer so we see how being isolated with one other person and how that affects you. I appreciate the basic concept for sure. Seems to be influenced by quarantines during the pandemic.
Now that I’ve set that up, this is an interesting character study of Joseph and Syd. We get to learn more about their past, what they’ve done in that stretch where they weren’t talking and then how they deal with their time here. I’ll start by saying that Thompson and Dandy bring their characters to life. They’re a perfect fit. They do feel like siblings and then going farther than that, we feel that stress of being trapped together to see how that strains the relationship. What we learn through dialogue is that Joseph owns a bar and all but abandoned his sister when she was making bad decisions. Now that she is trying to get her life back on track, he feels guilty so he’s willing to rob this bank to help her. He will also use his cut to pay off things with his business. They both have things to lose, his bar and she has a daughter. That adds to the tension the longer they’re here. Also, when the stakes rise due to this other stranger who appears eventually. I dug that.
I was originally going to include this in the breakdown of the characters, but I felt this needed more. How these two deal with their isolation from the rest of the world is interesting. They are also different from each other. Syd falls into almost exploring conspiracy theories. There are documents and different things that she reads through, when she isn’t sitting at her post, drinking and working out. She sits Joseph down to tell him what she’s found. It doesn’t amount to much to him, whereas it does for her. It gives them a place to start. Joseph on the other hand continues to go out to the mill to talk with the entity that gave them the deal. This is eerie since it is done through a safe and a tape recorder inside. Syd doesn’t trust them, but I get the idea that he needs to talk to somebody else. We are seeing both descend into a madness of sorts.
The last thing here before shifting into filmmaking is to say that what they’re planning to do would be tough. That is a life changing decision. I love the idea that as humans, we can do things we don’t think of when pushed like that. This does build tension, but it also makes this a slow-burn. I did feel my interest lower a bit. I’m not sure the payoff was good enough. It is a depressing outcome if I read everything correctly. I do like what they do with filmmaking and framing to show how isolated their location is. Even more so that we don’t see anyone else. There are good effects, but those are used on a limited basis. It isn’t that type of film though either. The blood looked good, I did want to say that. Other than that, I thought the sound design added a dimension here and the soundtrack fit what was needed.
All that is left then is the rest of the cast. Chloe Skoczen is someone we first meet through Joseph recounting the person who told him about the house. So, she is his regular. How she came back to this was interesting. We have Benson and Sarah Bolger in an interesting cameo. They both have good voices for what was needed. Our director, Michael Felker, and Moorhead have a cameo on a video that our siblings watch. I thought that overall, the acting was good and fit what was needed.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the overall idea of what this movie was doing. It is an interesting one of going to a different time to hide from a crime you committed. Things aren’t as easy to get back and it tests our two characters. Their acting was good so credit to Thompson and Dandy. The rest of the cast around them was solid to push them to where they end up. I’d say that this is well made with the cinematography, framing and sound design. If I have a gripe, I don’t think that the payoff at the end was enough for what we built. It doesn’t ruin the film though by any stretch. If you want a time travel horror film, I’d recommend giving this a watch. It is light on the horror, but more about the stress of getting out.
My Rating: 7 out of 10