Imposters review
A great movie making its way around the festival circuit…but we can’t really talk about why.
Festival movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Imposters
Directed by Caleb J. Phillips
Written by Caleb J. Phillips
Starring Jessica Rothe and Charlie Barnett
Imposters Review
Imposters is currently making the festival rounds. I have no idea when it will be getting a release…or what kind of release it will be getting. There isn’t even an official poster at the time of this review. What I do know, and what matters in the long run, is that you should seek Imposters out whenever all that stuff gets sorted. This is a good one. It will appeal to genre fans…especially those who enjoy some sci-fi twistiness in their mysteries. Then…you’re going to love this one.
Imposters stars Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day) as desperate mother Marie. Her baby inexplicably goes missing one night despite the house being full of neighbors who didn’t see anything. Her husband Paul (Charlie Barnett) only set the baby in his crib for a moment before he seemingly vanished into thin air. The only lead they get is a cryptic one about a cave in the woods. Marie finds her baby…but claims she can’t remember anything that happened in the cave. Paul becomes increasingly convinced that what she brought back isn’t actually their child.
Now…that’s one heck of a plot, right? It also might feel like it’s giving away too much. It isn’t. That’s all in what brief marketing there is out there for Imposters at the moment. And it doesn’t even tell half the story. Have no fear about anything major being spoiled in this review. I wouldn’t do that to you. But I will tell you that Imposters is a very good movie. Rothe is excellent as the tortured and perhaps no longer completely tethered to reality Marie. All she wants is her son back. She’s willing to do anything to get him. Even if unexplainable things about the child begin to present themselves.
Marie gets to do some surprising and interesting things in Imposters. Paul is a bit more straightforward…at first. He’s looking for a permanent way out of the marriage he’s already stepping out on. He only stayed because she got pregnant…and now that the child has been taken from them…he wonders if it’s a sign that he was meant to leave. And what does that sign say when his child returns feeling…slightly off? Paul becomes more interesting as the story unravels around him. Marie simply becomes a bigger force of nature. Jessica Rothe kills it in this role.
There are so many things that we can’t talk about in Imposters that make it so good. The mystery of what happened in that cave, the answer to how the baby was taken in the first place…the entire wild third act. Imposters has enough twists and turns to make what feels like too much information in the plot summary look like a drop in the bucket. All that is just setting up something much cooler. Stuff you should experience for yourself and will not be spoiled here.
Imposters doesn’t stay the movie you think it is for long. It changes shape a couple of times until you understand it’s full game. A couple’s drama surrounding their missing child gives way to the discovery that what came back might not be what was taken. That morphs into something else entirely. The second half of Imposters isn’t expected based on that limited marketing or the seemingly full plot summary. I mean that in the best way possible. What Imposters becomes is even better than what it seems to be offering. And that initial offer is more than good enough to deliver a fine film on. But Imposters finds something new in that cave. And it changes the narrative completely. Hell, it even changes the genre.
It’s always hard writing reviews for movies making their way around the festival circuit. I have no idea when they’ll become widely available…and sometimes they never do. It’s especially hard when the movie is as good as Imposters is. Don’t worry, Imposters will be released at some point. It’s already been acquired by Blue Finch Releasing. But I’d love to be able to talk to people about its twists and reveals and what makes it such a strong film. I guess we’ll just have to wait and do that down the road. Until then…keep a close watch on your babies and stay out of those caves.
Scare Value
When the day comes that Imposters is playing in a theater near you…or available to watch via a streaming service near you…or however movies are released nowadays…don’t hesitate to watch it. It features a standout lead performance from Jessica Rothe, an intriguing premise that shifts into even more intriguing actions…and is one of the coolest little mind-benders out there. You know…when it gets…out there. Until then…avoid any reviews that can’t stop themselves from spoiling things. You’re going to want to watch this mystery unravel for yourself.
