Coherence review – smart indie sci-fi at its best

‘Strange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party.’

The beauty of good sci-fi is that sometimes all it takes is a good and interesting idea and to just run with it. That’s certainly what James Ward Byrkit has done with Coherence, a film so small and lo-fi that its shot mostly in his own home with almost no special effects and with a handful of non A-list actors. The most famous of which, is the excellent Nicholas Brendon who played Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).

Byrkit himself isn’t that well known. His most famous other credit being co-creator of the 2011 children’s film Rango, in which Johnny Depp voices a talking chameleon. It wouldn’t surprise me then if you missed Coherence when first released back in 2013 while it was being overshadowed and pushed aside by the bigger blockbusters of that year – Iron man 3 (2013) and Pacific Rim (2013). Fortunately, tucked away in the Netflix UK catalogue [May 2016] you can find this little indie gem which is definitely worth ninety minutes of your time.

Which just so happens to be the night an unknown comet is flying close across the earth. During the evening a blackout occurs and when the group go outside they see in the distance that one house still has their lights on. They decide to go over and investigate. That’s as much as I can say without spoiling too much but it’s fair to say that the comet creates some strange phenomena which is at the centre of the story.

Byrkit has made a real headscratcher of a film with Coherence and it definitely demands your full attention. Part of what I like about this film is that it deals with real theoretical physics, yet doesn’t try to dumb down the science and patronise the audience, but instead asks us to keep our brains switched on and to pay attention. On paper, the premise shouldn’t work, but yet somehow does and is able to grip and compel us as an audience to keep watching. If anything you’ll certainly feel slightly more intelligent for watching it. The closest comparison I can think of is Shaun Gareth’s Primer (2004), another low budget sci-fi film which unashamedly wore its science on its sleeve.

A big part of what makes Coherence work is the cast. Byrkit has assembled an excellent group of actors who you’ll instantly believe have known each other for a long time. The fact that they’re all relatively unknown also helps sell the idea that these are your average group of friends, meeting up as friends do. When A-listers are present in a movie you can normally tell who is going to survive or how their arc will play out due to typecasting. With the Coherence cast you get the sense that these are ordinary people, with no clear hero or villain to label, where anything could happen to any of them.

These are all normal individuals just reacting to what’s going on around them. The cast are able to do the crucial job of grounding the film and making sure it’s character based, as well as just being about the science, which importantly will keep us invested and engaged till the end.

When making Coherence Byrkit didn’t write a traditional script but instead used notes to guide the actors. Shot over five days in and around his house. He would give each of them their character’s motivation, backstory and an idea of where the narrative needed to go but allowed them to improvise the dialogue. This creates natural and authentic interactions where people are talking over each other and several conversations are happening at once. The only negative to this approach is it might make things hard to follow at times but I get the impression that Byrkit isn’t that bothered about making Coherence an easy experience.

The cinematography also is done in a way that makes it feel like we’re observing something real. With shaky movements and images slipping out of focus occasionally. With shaky movements and images slipping out of focus occasionally. It gives the impression we’re watching a fly on the wall documentary with a deliberate amateurish style. Byrkit also uses Kristin Øhrn Dyrud’s music subtly and sparingly. An otherworldly sounding score that really amps the tension and paranoia when it needs to be, almost turning it into a horror film at times.

‘Armed with nothing but an interesting concept and a handful of actors, Byrkit has made a truly great little science fiction film.’

He shows us you don’t always need spectacle in sci-fi and big special effects; sometimes all it takes is just a good story grounded in believable characters, which Coherence definitely has. It’s a smart, well-crafted film and will certainly have you thinking long after the credits roll, most likely requiring a repeat viewing.