Chattanooga Film Festival Coverage
Someone Dies! review.
A time travel comedy with a fool at the helm. Someone Dies! is a winner.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Someone Dies!
Directed by Justin Petty
Written by Justin Petty and Amy Anderson
Starring Joseph Graham, Amy Anderson, John Wessling, Adam Edwards and Anthony Obi
Someone Dies! Review
Someone Dies! turns a one setting story into an entertaining “what if an idiot found himself caught in a crime drama…with time travel” movie. The idiot in question is named Jim (Joseph Graham) …or, as we meet him, a hard-boiled detective. He arrives at an apartment via strange circumstances in search of information about something that doesn’t make any sense. With that confusing intro…Someone Dies! sets off to look for answers.
As odd as the set-up for Someone Dies! is…it only gets odder as it carries on. Jim is looking for the man who lives in the apartment. Instead, he finds Jane (Amy Anderson). A woman who is there for business that she is strangely coy about discussing. A lengthy awkward and comedic scene introduces us to both characters until the proper resident Glenn (John Wessling) finally emerges from the bathroom. He, too, is an idiot.
The business Jane is there for involves the purchase of a sword. An item seemingly unconnected from the emerging plot…but one that will come back around a few times to entertaining effect. The chemistry between the three leads is strong. It is asked to carry a lot of the movie early. Someone Dies! is purposely obtuse about what’s going on. Who is Jim? What brought him to this apartment? It takes a bit of time to get those answers. If you are worried that revelations will lead to a more subdued movie…know that there is an out of nowhere music video dropped right in the middle of the exposition. Someone Dies! is a weird movie that loves that about itself. And that’s before they discover that if you go under the sink you will travel through time.
It turns out, time travel was wreaking havoc long before we know to look for it. In fact, Jim’s purpose in visiting the apartment is the result of time travel. He received a note saying that he must visit this specific apartment and plant a listening device below the sink if he wants to see his daughter again. His daughter is a child who is safe at home with his ex-wife. The note was written in Jim’s own handwriting. He’s also not a detective.
As far as Jim knows he’s trying to prevent a future kidnapping. Glenn may be the key to it. It’s his only lead, after all. The only lead to a crime that hasn’t happened. What’s beneath the sink pushes Someone Dies! forward in an entertaining way. Discussions turn from confusing misunderstandings that we lack enough information to follow along with to humorous theoretical discussions. It ramps up further when they start heading under the sink.
Someone Dies! is filmed to evoke exploitation films of the 70s and early 80s. At least…at first. The style is notable to start but wears down fairly quickly. Still, it is funny to watch Jim, looking like a reject from a bad 70s action film step onto the scene while arguing with his ex-wife on his Bluetooth. It gives the movie the same confusing feel that it’s going to present narratively in its first act.
Though the story takes place in one location and is, by nature, incredibly heavy on dialogue…Someone Dies! is never short on energy. That’s a testament to it clever screenplay and a trio of strong performances. There are enough laughs, unique laughs at that, to retain engagement during lengthy exposition scenes. There are more than enough surprises and reveals to escalate interest as the story unfolds.
Scare Value
Someone Dies! should appeal to fans of time travel movies and quirky comedies alike. The story provides a well thought out time travel story by the very end. Things fit together a bit differently than they appear to at first blush. Someone Dies! provides a funny and entertaining road getting there.
